I changed out my spark plugs a couple of weeks ago, and the second I stated the car up i could hear an exhaust leak at the front of the car under the hood. If my plugs arent tightened down all the way could it cause this? The car is running just fine other than the ticking. I am just stumped at what could have caused this.

 

yes make sure the plugs are all the way in and tight. a slightly loose plug will make a similsr tick

 

most ticks are exhaust leaks, check everything thoroughly.

 

Are you sure that the ticking isn't spark snapping....and that your wires are all snug and not allowing the spark to jump? Check your wires, one by one and see which plugs are snapping (if this happens to be the case).

This is probably not your problem, however whenever I do something to the car, and something else happens when I'm through, I automatically assume that what I did caused the problem. At least it's a good place to start. JMHO

 

It sounds like you didn't get one of the plugs completely tight. Check the plugs that are in the area where the sound is coming from.

 

I was thinking it may be an exhaust leak, but it never did it until right after I changed the plugs. I am going to pull all wires tomorrow, put a socket on all the plugs, make sure they are tight, and make sire I get every plug wire on there nice and snug. Hopefully this fixes my problem. I dont wanna have to change a header gasket. BTW, if I give the motor a little rev, the ticking increases with the engine rpm.

 

x2.

 

Did you use anti-sieze compound? If not then you can get a false sense of the plug being tight when it isn't. Just a tiny dab on the threads will do fine.
I agree w/ everyone else that it's a loose plug and sounds very much like an exhaust leak or valvetrain noise.

 

Look at the plugs in the dark and look for arcing between the plugs and the headers.

Also, if you have a metal boot on any of the plug wires, the spark could jump to the metal boot and then to the headers or motor.

The arcing will sound exactly like ticking.

It's worth a shot before pulling all the wires.

 

At least if you know the side the noise is coming from you only have to check half. Problem is, if one is loose will others follow. I rechecked and found 2 and i will sure they were snug. Now i use anti sieze and they seem to go in and out easier.

 

I used antisieze on em, and the sound seems to be coming from both sides. I'm gonna get out there in the morning and start messin with it and will hopefully find the problem. Thanks for all the info.