Unnerving ticking noise under load, may be getting worse
Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 9:43 pm
My car seems to have developed a ticking noise that's got me worried. The engine is a pushrod 3.4L V6 with some custom parts on it (Truleo and such). Within the last few weeks, it's developed this noise. I only hear it under load, and usually only if I've giving it a decent amount of throttle. It started out as a ticking noise, but it sounds worse today.
My highly calibrated ear doesn't think its pinging, as it sounds more like ticking, not popcorn. I don't think its the beginning of a spun bearing, but I'm not sure there either. My best guess at the moment is an exhaust leak, though I haven't found it yet. I ported my stock exhaust manifolds years ago, though I thought I was carefully to only remove the lip and not grind into the welds. I also installed a weatherstrip to keep water off the front manifold, but it could still have cracked anyway.
I'm concerned now because it started to sound worse today. It's gotten a bit louder and more pronounced, to the point where the car is starting to sound like an old truck almost. Under decel in first gear (I was in LA city traffic) it did some popping as well that it hasn't done before. Not full on backfires, but definitely a new noise.
Any thoughts? I was going to drive home for Thanksgiving in two days (~350 miles each way) and I'd rather not end up stranded somewhere. There's no indication of trouble on the gauges and only an intermittent Code 32 that's been off and on forever. Only work done recently was an oil and filter change, as well as a fuel filter change. It was making the noise before that. The engine has about 80,000 miles on it.
My highly calibrated ear doesn't think its pinging, as it sounds more like ticking, not popcorn. I don't think its the beginning of a spun bearing, but I'm not sure there either. My best guess at the moment is an exhaust leak, though I haven't found it yet. I ported my stock exhaust manifolds years ago, though I thought I was carefully to only remove the lip and not grind into the welds. I also installed a weatherstrip to keep water off the front manifold, but it could still have cracked anyway.
I'm concerned now because it started to sound worse today. It's gotten a bit louder and more pronounced, to the point where the car is starting to sound like an old truck almost. Under decel in first gear (I was in LA city traffic) it did some popping as well that it hasn't done before. Not full on backfires, but definitely a new noise.
Any thoughts? I was going to drive home for Thanksgiving in two days (~350 miles each way) and I'd rather not end up stranded somewhere. There's no indication of trouble on the gauges and only an intermittent Code 32 that's been off and on forever. Only work done recently was an oil and filter change, as well as a fuel filter change. It was making the noise before that. The engine has about 80,000 miles on it.