Tick Tick

[BirdOnFire]

Im hearing a ticking sound around the area of my drivers side valve cover and coil packs. I only hear the ticking when the car is parked, but i really can't pin point it. I can't really tell if it's makes a ticking noise while im driving because my exhaust is loud. What in that area could make that ticking sound that i said above. Is it a normal tick that the 3.8's make or is something else? Also how would i know if my alternator is going bad? It seems like my alternator is making alot more noise then it used to? Is it cuz of the cold weather?

[HeadyFirebird'00]

definalty cuz of cold weather bro. the tick i believe its ur coils and sparks. cuz i hear that same noise you are describing. i think its no problem.

[Die Ford V8]

not coils and sparks. dont think that


it is your injectors, if your oil is bad its your lifters. or maybe an exhaust leak, if you can hear your coils and spark plugs arcing then thats bad.

what i though was an exhaust leak for over a year got worse after driving in the snow(foreward, reverse, D,R,D,R, etc. then i foundo out its my torque converter that has been making all the noise.

[HeadyFirebird'00]

no way. What did that sound like? ticking?

[navyblue2000]

sounds like injector pulse...pretty much normal.

[96firebird311]

Starting to have similar issues. Ticks first thing in the morning and gets quieter and quieter as I drive. 10 minutes and it's gone. Doesn't happen every single morning. Probably every other. Ticks in park, drive, reverse or cartwheeling. I think the exhaust sounds a little strange during this time also. I thought exhaust leak, but it goes away after a few minutes.... Just did an oil change too so I'm leaning away from that whole string of topics..... any thoughts?

[xX315Xx]

96firebird's problem could be a small crack in the exhaust manifold or a leaky gasket, and when the engine heats up, the manifolds expand thus filling in where the leak is.

[98 3.8]

I have the same exact thing going on around my driver's side valve cover. I'm pretty sure it's not the injectors becuase I can hear them as a distinctly different sound when I have my head in the engine compartment. It's not a regular tick at all. Sometimes it will tick all day, go away for 20 seconds, and then return. No patterns whatsoever.

[Jtownrook99firebird]

could be a bad place in the wires... or maybe the tensioner or one of the belt pullies... mine did that till I replaced them.

[shenanigans]

Just a tip for ruling out simple crap for ticks...


Pull your belt and start the car up and see if the tick is still there.(remember your car will be running with no waterpump so it will overheat, make sure its cooled down before you do it)

This will tell you if its an accesorie pulley or not. Just a thing to try out before you start getting into the more difficult stuff.

fixed one of my ticks, just my waterpump pulley, I pulled it and cleaned it, put it back on, tick disapeared.

[pivot]

what oil do you use? id you use anything other than the 5w-30 it can cause the lifeters to tick. I have heard of several people having this problem including myself. I used to use 10w-30 after a year started ticking on start up then getting quiter. so I went with 5w-30 and all is quiet. good luck.