just installed mac headers with high flow cats, and converter, and under accleration, it makes a ticking noise, i thought it might be a exhaust leak, then i heard that these headers are know for making a ticking noise, is this true

 

they do make some minor noises, but you mayhave a leak.

Eric

 

You probably have an exhaust leak. They shouldn't tick, my roommate had those and they didn't tick.

 

I rode in a '99 Z w/ a full MAC Exhaust and it had some minor ticking. The guy that owned the car said that MAC's were known for that problem.

 

well i know the sound is coming from the manifold, what kind of gasket should i use, i put some fel pro gaskets on it, is that good enough

 

Fel-pro or Mr. Gasket copper gaskets seem to work well. I heard from a local mechanic that the gaskets should be "torch heated" and then allowed to cool before installing. It softens the gasket and provides for a better seal. This man's been doing exhaust work for almost 40 years, so i have no reason to doubt him.

As for your leak, check the torque on all the bolts. Even ith Stage 8 fasteners, I had to verify and retorque a couple bolts three separate times. Tighten all the bolts, run the car for a couple hundred miles and then recheck them. By the third time, the bolts are usually set for good. (The constant heat/ cool cycles cause them to back off sometimes.)

Also, dumb as it sounds, check your spark plugs and make sure one of them are backng out. I had this problem with the Lt's on my LT1. Why, couldn't tell you..... but it will cause a tick as well. If you have EGR, that connection can also cause a tickng noise.

Hope this helps.

Schantin
2002 Camaro Z28 M6

 

so you have to torque the bolts on, i just tighten them good, what are the torque specs

 

You might wanna check into the restrictor plate mod for the AIR tubes. If I remember correctly, this can also be a source for noise.

http://riptide63.homestead.com/restrictor.html

 

According to my Haynes Manual, it's a two step process. The first one tightens the exhaust manifold bolts to 132 in/lbs. The second step further tightens them to 18 ft./lbs. I know that most of the bolts will be unattainable with a torque wrench. Tighten those that you can with the torquw wrench. (I'd suggest tighening one to 17 ft/lbs. (to keep from over-torquing the bolt in the next step.) Then use your standard wrench to see how much pressure is required to move the bolt. This will give you a baseline "feel" to adjust the bolts that you can't reach with a torque wrench. Recheck the "tester" bolt with a torque wrench...it will probably now be 18 ft/lbs

A bit confusing, but I hope I got the general idea across. Good luck.

Schantin
2002 Camaro Z28 M6

 

thanks i'm gonna try this check valve mod, because i know it could have not blown the manifold gasket so soon, it made the ticking sound right when i drove it off, so hopefully this will fix it, thanks for the advice

 

Yea the tick is an exhaust leak...I had a bad one after my Lt1 header install...thats what it is...did he use crappy gaskets...thats what caused mine

 

i used fel pro gaskets, and its not a bad sound, its a low pitch ticking noise

 

Most poeple buy new stock gaskets they work awesome! we put them on my buddies flp install and didn't leak a bit.

 

Why did you get the MAC mid lengths?

 

they are much cheaper and have pretty good gains.