I have a 95' Z28 and i have noticed a rhythmic ticking sound lately that seems to be a little louder then when i first heard it. I have had a few people tell me that it is just the lifter and that it needs adjusted. I was wondering if anyone could tell me if that might be the problem and how much i should expect to pay to have it fixed completely. Any info/advise would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

Could also be exhaust manifold / header gaskets or an arcing plug wire.

Have you installed headers?

 

Have not yet, planning to in the near future. If you have the hood up you can hear it on the drivers side towards the front of the valve cover. Its not a very fast paced ticking, if that helps any.

 

Does it get louder when you open the throttle?
Or just faster?

 

It seems to get a little faster. It doesnt really get much louder. Going down the road i cant hear it that much and i cant really hear it when at a stop sign/light, just when its echo comes back off a building or something or sitting in the garage idling. It just makes me mad because i just got my flowmaster 80 series on and it made my car sound so much better and i have this damn ticking that takes away from that awesome sound.

 

If you turn the throttle (rev it up with your fingers, with the hood up)
and it doesn't get louder, it may very well be internal.

It could be lifters, it could be something worse.

How's the car running overall (sluggish, or pretty much normal?)

 

The car runs awesome. Has 105K on the whole car and stills runs like new except for that damn tick. LOL. Could it possibly be a rocker or something other then a lifter?

 

I had the same noise, it turned out to be a lifter with a flat spot. I would adjust the lifters (see shoebox site) yourself. It is not very hard to do.

 

Whats shoebox's site. Im still kinda new to here and i hear everyone talk about his knowledge and stuff. What did u have to take off to do it. I halfway know my way around cars, but i dont really have the tools to do anything major, so if i had to take it to get done by a mechanic, how long would it take them do you think? Thanks for your response and info so quick guys.

 

www.shbox.com the guy has so much useful information on there it's not even funny.
I'm sure someone will have access to the service manual and time estimates,
mine is in the car and I can't get to it right now.
Assuming it's a lifter, I wouldn't expect more than 8-10 hours labor.

 

I did a cam swap with just basic hand tools. I had to borrow a couple of pullers from work to pull the balancer and hub. Adjusting the lifters is easy. Shoebox lays the steps out really well. If you have the infamous intake leak, this might be a good time to fix that as well.

 

Thanks for the replies. When I get around to adjusting im gonna replace the intake manifold gaskets so that the infamous leak never starts.I would like to get an used intake manifold and polish it up really and swap them out while im there, so i dont have to have it sit for days. BTW, anyone know where i can get a pair of the stock rectangular tips for cheap?? I have the slash tips but i would love to put the stock ones back on, think it makes it look so much meaner.