[Young_Buck]

I just noticed this today and was rather displeased to hear it.

I can't describe it other than this. Simply put, whenever the engine is on, whether it's idling or revving, no matter what RPM, on the right most side of the engine when you are looking at it (driver-most side), there is this odd clicking noise. Whenever I was traveling at a higher speeds, it would click more and more, in succession with the rest of the engine. I couldn't inspect much of it, but looked around the headers and couldn't see anything. A further inspection will come this weekend, but it still troubles me.

I'm going to have a friend listen to it and maybe have him diagnose this. But, would anyone here have any idea what this may be?

I pray it's nothing major.

 

[meangreen92]

Yo Buck, does it correspond to engine speed, or vehicle speed? Engine speed would indicate a valvetrain issue, or a header leak - at the head. Did you feel it affecting the way the car drove? Could be an arcing plug wire, too.

 

[Young_Buck]

Yo Buck, does it correspond to engine speed, or vehicle speed? Engine speed would indicate a valvetrain issue, or a header leak - at the head. Did you feel it affecting the way the car drove? Could be an arcing plug wire, too.

No. It does not correspond with the speed of the Engine. It corresponds to just the Revv of the engine. The higher the RPM, the more it Clicks.

Could be something related to the spark.

 

[meangreen92]

Check the oil...
Could be valvetrain, but hopefully it's just a plugwire arcing. Take the car to the darkest spot you can find, open the hood, and watch the engine as it idles,(lights off, of course) look especially around the plug boots. You'll see any arcs.

 

[GhostDog 5.0]

If that doesnt work out, you might want to take off the valve cover and check the tightness of the rocker arms.

It could be a busted lifter.

How's the oil pressure?

 

[Young_Buck]

Pressure is perfectly fine. Usually runs at about 40, sometimes 50, but never more than 55. It fluctuates a bit, but is normal.

Talked to a friend of mine who is a Mustang buff. He's been working on them for the past three years and hangs with a crew that just loves the Fox Body.

I referred him to my problem and he told me three things.

It could be the Valve Springs, a Rocker Arm, or a Header Leak (Bad Gasket).

He told me that I should start the car, let it warm up, then shut it down and let it cool. In about thirty minutes, I should start it again.

Last night, I went outside to check for sparks arcing. It was dark enough so that I could see the plugs and plug wires, if in the event that that happened. As I sat there and let her warm, I watched and waited. Nothing.

I turned the car off, went back to my room, and let her sit. About an hour later, I went back and cranked her over. I reached my finger around the back of the headers. The gasket on the header farthest from the front of the engine on the left side (driver's side) had exhaust coming out of it and I could feel it flapping a bit under the exhaust from the engine.

*sigh of relief*

That should be it. I need new headers anyways, maybe I'll take this time to buy new ones and change the gaskets.

 

[Bogart]

Glad to hear you figured it out.

I just thought I'd mention a handy way to isolate valvetrain noise from engine noise. Since the camshaft turns at half the speed of the crankshaft, a valvetrain noise shouldn't be too hard to pick out.

Take a timing light and hook it up to any plug wire, and fire it while listening to the noise....

If you hear the noise once for each flash of the light, then it's probably not valvetrain-related. Think exhaust leak, injector noise, piston slap, etc.

If instead you hear the noise only once for every 2 light flashes, then it likely is something in the valvetrain. Think collapsed lifter, loose rocker, bent pushrod, etc.

 

[meangreen92]

You might be able to fix for the time being, by tightening the bolts.

 

[88 5ohh]

I would tend to agree with something that Bogart stated about injector pulses...

I had this same problem on my old 88lx, exactly as you described, and it turned out to be a simple loud injector on the passenger side. You can put your finger on the injectors themselves with the car running and simply feel the ticking noise, if that makes any sense...

But of course if you've already tracked it down to a header gasket leak, this post is simply overkill. haha..

 

[Young_Buck]

Glad to hear you figured it out.

I just thought I'd mention a handy way to isolate valvetrain noise from engine noise. Since the camshaft turns at half the speed of the crankshaft, a valvetrain noise shouldn't be too hard to pick out.

Take a timing light and hook it up to any plug wire, and fire it while listening to the noise....

If you hear the noise once for each flash of the light, then it's probably not valvetrain-related. Think exhaust leak, injector noise, piston slap, etc.

If instead you hear the noise only once for every 2 light flashes, then it likely is something in the valvetrain. Think collapsed lifter, loose rocker, bent pushrod, etc.

That is actually a very useful bit of information. Thanks for that, I'll be sure to remember it.