So it was the gaskets...

[Fred]

As some you may know, my car blew something at the dyno day. After doing a variety of tests (compression, oil pressure, coolant, vacuum, fuel pressure), everything checks out. There is also no visible damage whatsoever in the upper cylinder head, so I put everything back together and took it out for a spin around the block. The ticking noise was still there, but other than that the car drove fine. I finally called Bill Arnold and told him what happened and the results of all the tests. He confirmed that the exhaust manifold gaskets probably blew out and said not to worry.

Since I have some old E34 M20 RD headers lying around, I decided that now would be a time to kill two birds with one stone and change the gaskets and install the headers. As I drove it down to the muffler shop, the ticking noise suddenly disappeared on the highway. After several more minutes of cautious driving, I slowly opened up the throttle and felt the same old pull as before with no unusual noises from the engine.

I told this to the muffler guy and he said that what probably happened was that the exhaust gasket may have resealed itself from the heat, but I dunno. I'll get the car back on Friday (with the headers, new exhaust manifold gaskets, E36 M3 muffler, and a dual-in/dual-out catalytic converter). Hopefully that'll do it .

Thanks again to everyone who helped me out! If everything goes as planned, I'll post a lot of pics of everything at the end of the week. :D

Fred

[Chris E30 Cab]

Good to hear you got it worked out Fred....good luck at the dyno!

[AdamF 88iS]

Excellent news, Fred!

BTW, the E34 headers are too big for our engine bays...if you find a way to make them fit I know of a couple other people who will be very interested since they have these headers laying aroudn too...try to get some pics?

[Z3Jonathan]

My Neon does the same thing... its has a crack in the exhuast manifold. When the motor is cold, it'll give a nice little chirp/tick that is proportional to engine speed. Once the motor warms up, the noise goes away.

[Fred]

Thanks guys! Yeah, I know the E34 RD headers will not clear the firewall and I made sure the muffler guy was aware of that. I told him that it would bolt onto the head, but the pipes needed to be chopped/bent to fit. He saw the car and the headers and said that it could be done, so I'm gonna take his word for it.

Jonathan, that was pretty much what my car was doing, but I've never heard that kind of tick before so I automatically assumed it was a broken rocker or a bent valve. Good thing it wasn't!

Chris, you've got mail.

Fred

[Digitalwave]

Cool stuff. Just curious why you chose to use the heavy E36 M3 exhaust... or is it aftermarket?

[Jonathan M3]

Glad to hear it was just an exhaust leak, they can be hard to diagnose at times.

[Fred]

TJ, I want a muffler that is relatively quiet (doesn't drone) and has straight tips. That's my criteria, but not a single muffler for the E30 fits it. Everything is either slant-tipped and burns a hole/discolors my RD apron, or is straight-tipped but loud (Stromung, Scorpion, B&B, etc). This car is a daily driver and is nowhere near a dedicated race car, so I don't care for lightweight materials on it. Hell, just look at the kind of rims on my car, LOL.

Jonathan, yeah, I've heard exhaust leaks before but never a noise like this. Learn something new everyday ;).

Fred