[Velasco1LE]

Good Morning,

I had longtube headers installed in my car not too long ago and ever since I got them, I’ve noticed a ticking sound coming from the engine bay inside the car at low RPM’s when driving. It’s really annoying and just doesn’t sound right. Anyone know what this might be from?

[01cbr929]

I had the same noise with long tubes on my C6 years back. Never changed, just a little more noise.

[NinoSS]

I think the thinner walls of the LT's vs the OEM manifolds allows you to hear the valve train more. I did LT's in my 2007 Jeep SRT8 and it drove me crazy. My 2010 SS had a noisy valve train after LT's as well... My .02...

[Ebbsnflows]

Does the tick come from one side or both? If only from one side, have you checked for exhaust leaks? If it's an exhaust leak, at idle, have someone take 2 wet rags and briefly cover your exhaust tips. Covering the tips will cause back pressure and will make the exhaust leak much more noticeable/audible in the engine bay. Only cover the tips for 3-4 seconds at a time (will stall engine otherwise).

A lose spark plug can cause ticking as well (but you would likely get CEL).

If you hear it from both sides, then I think NinoSS is probably correct - it's just the nature of longtubes and their thin sidewalls, exaggerating/amplifying exhaust pulse/pings.

[NinoSS]

Originally Posted by Ebbsnflows

Does the tick come from one side or both? If only from one side, have you checked for exhaust leaks? If it's an exhaust leak, at idle, have someone take 2 wet rags and briefly cover your exhaust tips. Covering the tips will cause back pressure and will make the exhaust leak much more noticeable/audible in the engine bay. Only cover the tips for 3-4 seconds at a time (will stall engine otherwise).

A lose spark plug can cause ticking as well (but you would likely get CEL).

If you hear it from both sides, then I think NinoSS is probably correct - it's just the nature of longtubes and their thin sidewalls, exaggerating/amplifying exhaust pulse/pings.

In my SRT8, the ticking was maddening. So much so that I had tune time performance (blow smoke up my butt) They put smoke in my tail pipe to see if there was a leak by the heads. We saw nothing.

[Whocares05050]

Normal

[NinoSS]

After my 2010 SS cam install, my car sounded like a sewing machine...