I took out my car last week and it seemed to be running fine.
However, a few nights ago I parked it outside at my friend's house (I usually park indoors) after a night of driving around and it was pretty cold out. When I went to start my car a few hours later, it was making a strange ticking noise that I had never heard before. I popped the hood and it seemed to be coming from the driver's side head or valve cover (somewhere around there). I decided to just drive home, and noticed that the ticking was becoming less and less apparent as the car was warming up. Finally when I got home I could not hear the noise at all. I thought maybe it could be an exhaust leak? But since that night, I've noticed the noise only slightly one other time so I thought maybe it was normal and not a problem.

However today as I was driving around in the heat and traffic, I noticed that at certain points my car would smell like gas (strong smell) but not all the time. And also, I noticed a bit of a loss of power. Like for example, usually when I'm cruising around in 4th gear at 2000 RPM, I just need to give a little bit more gas, and my car pins me right in the seat, however today, the low-end torque just didn't seem to be there. Could this be a serious problem?

BTW there are no codes.
Thanks.

 

definitely an exhaust leak, likely headers. When the car is cold, more gas goes to the motor so you hear the leak more. WHen it warms up you dont hear it as much. Every time you hit the gas, even if the rpms stay the same, you should hear it.

Drver side gasket is nto too bad to replace.

 

I guess it can't be anything else besides the exhaust leak? Is this something that must be replaced ASAP or can it wait?

Also is it sucking power from the engine or is it just me?

 

Most likely exhaust leak, if you are smelling exhaust fumes. If you are smelling gasoline.... ????

If you have headers with paper gaskets then its really just a matter of time before they leak. If you look carefully, you will see the ends of the gasket protruding out between the headers and heads, and they will look brown or black.

If the ticking increases with more throttle, that is also in favor of exhaust leak.

When i had my exhaust leak (twice), it didnt take a whole lot of power away, and i could hear it whenever i stepped on the gas a bit.

 

yea i'm thinkin i have that problem too now. it sounds like its somewhere around the driver's side more near the left. I can only really notice it when i'm next to a car or wall or sumthing. A friend told me it could be the heat shield rattling too? i have no idea about any of that so thats an easy fix right?

 

its tough to say without hearing the sound. Ticking in synch with rpm and volume dependent on load is prob header leak. heat shield would vibrate at its own frequency.

Gasket's can be a pain in the *** to fix if they are burned onto the header/cylinder head. then you have to scrape bits of it off without scratching anything, and the view really SUCKS.

To do the passenger side, you need to remove the alternator which involves loosening the tensioner pulley (easy if you know where the tensioner bolt is).

 

I had this same problem a couple of weeks ago. Turns out, it was an exhaust leak. Mine was coming from the pipe that come right up vertical from the headers. It seems after so many cycles, it actually loosened up and completely backed itself off, so it looks like its attached, but once you give it a little gas, the exhaust gases are making it pop up and down on the headers.
Not sure if you're having the same problem, but worth checking out.

 

What type of manifold gasket would i need to fix this (is there a part number?) and where can I buy it?