loud ticking sound 96 rs 3.8
 

So i was halfway homefrom work today and as i stop at a light all of a sudden i hear a loud ticking sound. And as i push the gas the ticking gets louder and faster when it shifts into each gear right after it shifts the ticking stops till i get to around 2500-3000rpm and it comes back i got it the last couple miles home and anywhere between 0-30 mph it has a real hard time accelerating anything over that it seems to pick up and accelerate fine (only got it to 50mph for like a minute) when its in park or neutral it still ticks it sounds like its comming from the passenger side of the engine............any ideas? I swear i heard the same tick when i forst got the car but once i changed the oil and plugs and wires it went away until today.

Re: loud ticking sound 96 rs 3.8
 

Im thinking its one of a few things.....lifters, rod, or in my luck, spun bearing...

Re: loud ticking sound 96 rs 3.8
 

Heres a vid of the sound [autostream]http://autostream.com/camaroz28/?page_type=firebirdplayerthumbnail&framepage=2804& transactionid=1378686966-64250250100&posted_by=chevyfanboy_www.camaroz28.co m&youtube_video_id=Vl9223mlFTA[/autostream]

Re: loud ticking sound 96 rs 3.8
 

am I talking to myself here? lol changed my oil, no difference in the sound but good news is theres no metal flakes in it so hopefully I can rule out spun bearings.

Re: loud ticking sound 96 rs 3.8
 

Thats rods or main bearings, sorry to bare the bad news. My 3800 has ticking lifter which sounds way different

Re: loud ticking sound 96 rs 3.8
 

would also check your harmonic balancer

Re: loud ticking sound 96 rs 3.8
 

ok so I got a stethiscope today (finally got a day off work)

1. absolutely no noise coming from the oil pan (other than the sound of oil moving around)
2. no ticking from the valve covers
3. apparent ticking (which gets louder with higher rpm) from passenger side header...
4. pulled spark plug wires one at a time and it makes no difference in the sound does not get better and does not get worse.

exhaust leak?
bad header gasket?
from what ive read if its rods or bearings i should be able to hear it from the oil pan which i cannot at all. if it was lifters I should be able to hear it from the valve covers right?
any input?

***Update***
I sea foamed it today hoping I would see something coming from the engine bay or from the exhaust somewhere but all i got was smoke from the rear end like normal. Sea foam did help the sound a lil bit. i no longer hear the ticking at idle only when I rev it. (by the way the ticking stops almost immediately after i let off the throttle. it gets louder as i press the throttle but when i let off of it the ticking stops.....so annoying!!.....theres gotta be someone on here with some type of advice. ive learned all kinds of things from forum but I need it more now than ever....

BTW: does anyone know of an HONEST mechanic in Las Vegas? Im not looking to have them do the work if I dont need to id rather do it myself. but a professional diagnosis would be nice without them trying to rip me off hoping I ill have them do the work for me.

Re: loud ticking sound 96 rs 3.8
 

I would not rule out exhaust leak. I have a ticking sound coming from my headers in my Z. Took a mirror and seen that i blew my second set of header gaskets. I'd run a smoke test before you start taking anything apart. If you see smoke then good chance that ticking is coming from exhaust pressure leaking from that particular point.