Calling the experts... I have a head tick

[2L8IWON]

All,
I have found a tick coming from my drivers side head. Could this be the dreaded 03 Head Tick 7 years older?
OK, here is the important info. The car has 38k on it, the sound appears to be coming from around the #7 cylinder area. Has anyone had this before?
I did a search and didn’t find any conclusive answers. I know that it’s not an exhaust leak and I know it’s not the TOB. The noise is prevalent around 4k rpm and higher and comes in and out.
Do you think that it’s a floated valve or something? Thanks in advance for the help.

- Jess

 

[2L8IWON]

Anybody?

 

[Jwilliams]

how loud is it? You could of busted a tensioner or worse spun a bearing, youll need to pull the valve cover and take a look to see if any metal is flyin around in there.

 

[2L8IWON]

how loud is it? You could of busted a tensioner or worse spun a bearing, youll need to pull the valve cover and take a look to see if any metal is flyin around in there.

Thanks man. It's kinda faint but noticable, if that makes any sense. I originally thought that it might be a faint exhaust leak or something.

 

[CobraSvt9746]

i dont know why but i have never heard of the 03' head tick problem what is it

 

[cobra mike]

my car has been ticking like that since i got it, and 71 k miles later and a built bottom end it still ticks,

 

[Quadcammer]

yup mine ticks a bit too. most cobras have a slight tick.

 

[FindemorGrindem]

another ticker here, still going strong. 98 cobra.

 

[Tabres]

Yet another and still kicking the pavement strong...

 

[Shake&Bake]

Yeah mine just started doing this as well. Drivers side head...which is a TON of work to get it off and find the problem. I thought because my car sits for weeks until its driven that maybe a gasket or two have dried out :shrug:

What I do know is, I hear a lot of people on here have this problem...SN95 and New Edger's. Annoying problem.

 

[Quadcammer]

there is no gasket that will dry out that will cause a tick.

hard to say what causes it.

 

[Steef21]

98 cobra with the tick and she still runs strong. A great 4v tuner once told me "Throw a supercharger on there if you dont like to hear the tick"

 

[Shake&Bake]

98 cobra with the tick and she still runs strong. A great 4v tuner once told me "Throw a supercharger on there if you dont like to hear the tick"

Or a louder exhaust:-D

 

[gmaine]

I hear a non-repetitive tick and thought maybe my LTs were loose but they are not. I say floor it and forget it.

 

[Shake&Bake]

You know, just to take one of those heads off is like a 6 hour job...or 24 hour job if I do it :uh oh:

One nice thing about the old 5.0...easier to get into.

 

[akbrazil]

Mine Ticks too. 131k and yet running strong. Has been ticking since I got it, sometimes it gets loud, sometime you can hardly hear it...theres always a tick. I've heard a couple stories...one being that theres not enough oil being reach to the top of the head....another story is that its the valve train and because of the miles, its wearing and loosing up.

I personally don't know what it is, but eventally I want to get the engine rebuilt and hope for the noise to go away.

 

[Quadcammer]

hey akbrazil, where in brooklyn do you live?

anywhere near diker heights?

 

[duane v]

prior to installing the Crower sticks I had a tick comiong from the #7 or 8 bank...When I pulled everything apart i foung that the exhaust #7 and #5 valve tappet was bad, the plunger wasnt at all pumping up...I changed them out and installed the cams, and the tick was gone...But one thing about a mod motor, a tick could mean a few other problems as well, like a valve seat issue, tensioner, losse valve guide and a rod bearing starting to die...DA snake boy!!!

 

[2L8IWON]

Thanks all for the inputs. It seems like this is a common problem some people are having and the fact that most of those cars are still running strong makes me feel much better.

As far as putting a blower on the car to cover the noise... that's already been done. I talked with a buddy today about possibly putting new cams and P&P the heads and he said that he really woudn't want to do that unless I had a forged motor because of the HP that would come out of the car.

I'm taking the car to Steen Racing tomorrow, Jason will get it right. I think that I will continue on with my orginal plan and upgrade my blower and put some LTs on and save the cams and head work for my N/A 2005 GT.

Thanks Again
- Jesse

 

[calgarycobra]

If the car sits for weeks inbetween running it, the lifters may bleed down and be extra noisy at the next startup.