Had the Camaro out today and it was running great. After a 20 minute drive, we stopped for 15 minutes or so and then pulling out of Home Depot, I noticed a loud ticking noise that followed the speed of the motor. Higher r's, faster tick. It definitely sounds like its in the area of the head or valve cover and I'm hoping it's an exhaust leak. It's a pretty loud tick though and the idle is definitely affected. It idles a bit lower since the ticking and it almost died at a red light on the way home.

I pulled over immediately and checked out what I could with limited tools. I did find it to be a quart low on oil and added a quart i had with me. Im running running 20+ lbs of oil pressure at idle and 60 lbs at 2k rpm's, which is the same as before the ticking started, so I doubt that caused the ticking.

It's a 383 with headers and Flowmaster 40's so it's pretty loud. And the ticking is loud enough to overcome that noise. How do I diagnose a leaking header gasket?

If not an exhaust leak, what else could it be?

Thanks in advance

 

Header gasket leak can be detected by carefully putting your hands near and around the headers. (They are hot) You can typically feel any exhaust leak that is that severe. Exhaust leak could cause ticking but would not affect idle speed or how the car runs. Sounds like could be a lifter problem.

 

one or couple of your lifters are hung up probably do to low oil / presure, get your oil level to normal get your oil temp up to a 190-220 and rev it a couple times it should free it self.

 

I don't consider your oil pressure low at all, it actually sounds fairly normal. And a quart low isn't going to cause the lifters to make noise either. However, since it has now affected the way your engine runs, it appears to be a lifter issue. A leaky header gasket is not going to affect how the engine runs. Best to pop off your valve cover(s) and do some investigating. Look for loose rocker arms, bent push rods, etc.

 

Ok, we pulled the valve cover off and 6 of the 8 rockers on the driver side have some type of play in them and 2 of which are loose enough that you can spin the push rods. The lock nuts are all tight and they all look to be the same height on the stud.

I don't have any specific documentation the motor, cam, etc. Is there a process I can use in adjusting/tightening these that doesn't require the cam and rocker specs? I assume they're hydraulic lifters but, not quite sure on that either.

Any help or suggestions on next steps is much appreciated. Here's a pic of the rockers if it helps at all..

 

Concentrate more on the up and down lash of the pushrod, some may spin easier than others at zero lash. The video also shows 1/2 turn past zero, I would see what 1/4 gives you. If the lifters are quiet, leave it. If they still clack, then go another 1/4 of a turn on all.
Since the noise just started, either one or more of them were adjusted close to zero lash, or you may have cam lobe or lifter issues. When you're turning the engine over to check lash, pay attention to, and measure if you can, how much total travel the rockers have at the pushrods. If you have one or more where the pushrods noticeably aren't moving as much as the others, you have a wiped lobe on the cam, or the lifter is dead. If you have one like that, back the pressure off that rocker and check measure again. If there still isn't much travel at that point, the cam is shot.
Valve Lash Adjustment Video - Engine Building Car Repair DVD - YouTube

 

found the culprit- busted valve spring... Now to figure out which replacement springs to get as I have no specs on the motor and existing internals.

 

Sheesh, your springs aren't binding, are they? You'd still want to check the lash on the rest while you're at it, since some felt loose. Call around to find a machine shop to measure the pressure on one of your unbroken valve springs, that will help to find a comparable replacement.

 

Hmm...not sure how to see if they're binding. A local guy I was talking to asked if they could be bottoming out... is that the same thing as binding?

I think I may need to find a local shop to look at it as I'm nervous digging too much into it without enough knowledge.

 

You should be able to visually look at any valve spring with valve fully open and see how compressed the springs is on that valve. If there's no gaps between the coils when the spring is compressed on the open valve, then you've got a real problem. If there's still good gaps between the coils then you probably don't have any binding issues.