Okay, so it's been 10,000 miles since all the mods in my sig, and there have been some developments. Three sounds have manifested and I've narrowed down their sources a little. The first seems pretty obvious, a clicking coming from both valve covers. At 190,000 miles I guess I should expect some valve train wear. A friend suggested a valve job, but wasn't able to go in depth on what's involved and how much it costs, does anyone know?

The second is a clicking coming from the clutch area. It's fairly easy to hear at a stop light and it's in sync with the rpm's. The clicking quiets a little when I push the clutch pedal down, and goes away when I put it in gear.

The third is the worst, sounds like an exhaust leak on the passenger side. Very loud clicking when the engine is under load but is non-existent when there is no load. I can smell exhaust when I'm driving but the car is running as if nothing is wrong. I checked the header bolts and tightened the ones I could reach (all of drivers side, middle 3 on pass side) and they were all tight. I guess it could be one of the bolts I couldn't reach on the pass side but they LOOK fine. My scanmaster readings are all normal, even the manifold absolute pressure which should read low if there was vacuum leak.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

I had a god aweful ticking sound for a while, thought it was my header, took that off to find that it was a loose spark plug. Check that first before you undo one bolt.

 

I forgot to mention that the third sound manifested quickly, it wasn't a gradual increase at all. I remember that it was fine on friday, then I noticed it on sunday. Hope that's a relevant clue.

 

1. More than likely a lifter.

2. Throw out bearing.

3. Loose plug.

 

Yep I agree.

1. get a stethoscope <sp? and just listen around to pin point which cylinder.

2. probably the throw out bearing, could be the pilot. Did you use a bearing or bushing?

3. What plugs are you running? Ngk's have removable tips and it could be backing off. but i'd just check all the plugs.

 

My plugs are stock, whatever that is (delco?). I tried wiggling them and there was no movement. Bought a stethoscope too, everything sounded the same to my untrained ear. I put it on the valve covers, the header pipes, the area around the gaskets, nothing that stood out. I had a buddy hold the engine at 1500 rpm and 2000 rpm but that didn't help any. I was smelling exhaust the whole time my face was buried under the hood. I checked what pipe I could see under the car (w/o the stethoscope) which was the cat and maybe a foot in each direction. I could clearly hear the #2 noise and the #3 noise but didn't see any exhaust. Maybe there is a leak where the header meets the y-pipe?

 

Just a quick update, the third sound was a leak where the header meets the y-pipe, can't work on the first two because I'm overseas but will do so as soon as I return.

 

#2 could be the throw out bearing. But usually when it is the throw out bearing it gets loud when you push the clutch in, and goes away when the clutch is out.
If it goes away when you push the clutch in that it sounds like transmission noise. A little bit of groaning and whining from the transmission is normal. I see that you have added a Pro.5. shifter. Did you use RTV to put it back on? To cut down on the noise that comes up through the shifter you can use a rubber gasket instead of RTV (you will have to make one from gasket material). If the shifter has a metal on metal contact with the top of the transmission, the shifter will resonate/magnify any normal noise coming from the tranny.

 

On my old mustang, my throw out bearing went out. Only made noise when the clutch wasnt pressed. So anytime I was at a red light in neutral, my car squeaked and drove me crazy, it even did it while I was driving but I could barely hear it because of my side exhaust blarring.

 

#1. I had a really loud tapping from under my valve cover once, after I had missed a shift, I went 1st 2nd 3rd 2nd and dumped the clutch.... so I overev'd the crap out of the motor. When I removed the valve cover, one of the rockers was kicked over to the side, and it wasn't seated properly on top of the valve...

Pull the valve covers (this is not hard) and adjust your valves.. you can do this with the car off, or on. If you do it with the car on you need clips that plug the oil hole in the top of the rocker so that you don't make a mess..

 

So just for purposes of closure, here's what sounds 1 and 3 are.

1) Pulled the valve covers and found nothing wrong at all. I guess that's just the sound the valve train made.

3) Clutch fork

May this thread rest in peace.