When I start my 96 Z28 I hear a ticking sound coming from the general area of the alternator. It's loud enough to hear from inside the car. After it warms up the ticking goes away. Any ideas what this could be?

 

valvetrain, exhaust leak. specify mileage on motor.

 

It has about 90k miles. If it were an exhaust leak, wouldn't i hear the ticking all the time?

 

if the ticking sound increases whaile accelerating then it could be a exhaust leak. i would first check the AIR metal hose that goes from the passenger side exhaust manifold/headers to the back of the intake

 

depending on how bad the leak is, not always. As it warms up, it will seal itself. If you let it go, it will get worse until the point where you do hear it all the time.

 

That's not an AIR hose, its the EGR riser pipe (except on 93's, where its a combined AIR/EGR line). The AIR connection is on the front of the passenger side exhaust manifold, and may also be causing a leaking noise, if the check valve is bad.

http://shbox.com/1/diverters.jpg

 

ahh my bad :P,,what ever u name it im not that good with all that smog stuff, i deleted mine long time back. but i would still start checking with any leaks from the AIR/EGR connections first

 

Good ideas truthfully i dont think it could be the alternator though. I know when my went out it had a light humming sound to it. Id say valvetrain with that kind of sound thats an easy check though. Its hard to say unless i could actually be there and listen to it. Id just run the car and chase the noise and sometimes those gskets get old and brittle and fall apart therefore the metal surfaces that the gasket was between could be making that contacting noise. **** when my starter fell apart then end busted off and stayed underneath the engine just banging around i didnt know what it was until i changed the trans mounts. Good luck bud.