This is my second '88 Fiero 2.8L with 80k original miles and they both have the same ticking noise (under load). Inside the car (A/C off and windows up), it sounds like a leaf is being stuck into a box fan, but it's muffled. Outside the car, it sounds like an older, chugging engine. Is this normal?
Thanks, Mike
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05:55 PM
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Gall757 Member
Posts: 10938 From: Holland, MI Registered: Jun 2010
exhaust leak at the manifold can sometimes tick...it's really close to your ear....easier to hear than a front engine car. Maybe a crack or a bad stud...etc.
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06:22 PM
Rolling Thunder Member
Posts: 1244 From: College Station, TX Registered: Aug 2008
exhaust leak at the manifold can sometimes tick...it's really close to your ear....easier to hear than a front engine car. Maybe a crack or a bad stud...etc.
I can't say I know what it sounds like outside under load to confirm this. What are the odds that I've had 2 Fieros (out of 2) that have 80k original miles on 2.8L with exhaust leaks?
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06:26 PM
Gall757 Member
Posts: 10938 From: Holland, MI Registered: Jun 2010
Do you have a Mechanic's stethoscope? You could isolate the noise to a valve cover.....then you would know and I would not have to figure the odds.....
My '85 GT developed an exhaust leak at 80k, by the time I replaced the manifolds it sounded horrible. If I remember correctly it went away a bit once it warmed up and the metal expanded. Now I have some valvetrain noise that is ticking like crazy once the engine is warmed up and at idle only. It now has 88k miles. I'll check the valve lash once I get my 4.9 car back together. They were definitley very different tick sounds though, the exhaust leak was only under load.
------------------ 1985 GT 2.8 MT 1988 GT 4.9 AT
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07:22 PM
KurtAKX Member
Posts: 4008 From: West Bloomfield, MI Registered: Feb 2002
I'd bet it's manifolds leaking; two common problems are bolt heads breaking off and the manifolds themselves cracking where the flange of each port meets the "tube".
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07:36 PM
Rolling Thunder Member
Posts: 1244 From: College Station, TX Registered: Aug 2008
My '85 GT developed an exhaust leak at 80k, by the time I replaced the manifolds it sounded horrible. If I remember correctly it went away a bit once it warmed up and the metal expanded. Now I have some valvetrain noise that is ticking like crazy once the engine is warmed up and at idle only. It now has 88k miles. I'll check the valve lash once I get my 4.9 car back together. They were definitley very different tick sounds though, the exhaust leak was only under load.
Does your valvetrain ticking sound like I described?
No, I can barley hear it in the car with windows up, and only when at idle and stopped. What you have sounds to me exactly like an exhaust leak. The front manifold likes to crack, you could barely see the hairline crack on mine, but it sounded like a car from the 1920's under load. Put - Put - Put...
------------------ 1985 GT 2.8 MT 1988 GT 4.9 AT
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07:59 PM
jetman Member
Posts: 7802 From: Sterling Heights Mich Registered: Dec 2002
I can't say I know what it sounds like outside under load to confirm this. What are the odds that I've had 2 Fieros (out of 2) that have 80k original miles on 2.8L with exhaust leaks?
The odds are actually pretty good that it's an exhaust leak, every 2.8 Fiero that I've owned has needed attention in that area. The noise you describe is synominous with a crack or gasket going south although I've had some really noisy fuel injectors that fooled me once.
quote
Originally posted by Rolling Thunder:
What are the odds that it's valve lash needing to be retorqued?
Hydraulic lifters, probably not making that noise on both cars, I doubt it but it wouldn't hurt to run some Rislone through an oil change cycle if you're in doubt. Rislone has been around for years and years, good product.
BTW for our younger members, as soon as Mike said "lash" I knew that he meant "setting the valve lash" on a V-6 versus "re-torquing" the rockers on an Iron Duke.
------------------ jetman Silver 86 SE 2M6 4-speed, with "check wallet light" Now fortified with 8 essential slices of bacon goodness
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08:26 PM
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Old Lar Member
Posts: 13798 From: Palm Bay, Florida Registered: Nov 1999
Fuel injectors make a clicking noise as the pintle or disc opens and closes.
I have a fuel injector cleaner I rigged up with a timer that Dodgerunner sold me. When the fuel injector is the only thing being powered you can easily hear it. When it's on a running engine it's usually very difficult to hear.
[This message has been edited by Hudini (edited 06-04-2011).]
It may just be a loose bolt....think glass half full.
Better than that, Short of low miles show cars every single v6 fiero I have seen has had exhaust manifold leaks. The gasket around the front one that has the heat shield on it leaks from the factory, the manifolds were designed to crack as well because they wanted to save money and made them thin.
1 in 3 fieros have cracked manifolds or an exhaust leak that will make the "tick tick tick" noise.
The 86+ V6 has a really dumb design for the heat shield on the front of the engine and it's held in place by the exhaust manifold by sandwiching it between the head and exhaust manifold. and ALL cars with that shield in place have an exhaust leak at that heat shield.
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01:54 PM
Jun 7th, 2011
Zack_White86gt Member
Posts: 79 From: Brooklyn Park, MN Registered: Jan 2010
Is there a way that you could upload a video of it doing this? I feel like my car has been doing the same thing. It putt-putt-putt's when it hasn't warmed up under load. I tried to see if it was the front manifold, but I couldn't really see anything. Is it hard to take of the manifold?
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07:14 PM
Zack_White86gt Member
Posts: 79 From: Brooklyn Park, MN Registered: Jan 2010
Better than that, Short of low miles show cars every single v6 fiero I have seen has had exhaust manifold leaks. The gasket around the front one that has the heat shield on it leaks from the factory, the manifolds were designed to crack as well because they wanted to save money and made them thin.
1 in 3 fieros have cracked manifolds or an exhaust leak that will make the "tick tick tick" noise.
The 86+ V6 has a really dumb design for the heat shield on the front of the engine and it's held in place by the exhaust manifold by sandwiching it between the head and exhaust manifold. and ALL cars with that shield in place have an exhaust leak at that heat shield.
What would you recommend is the easiest way to fix this? Maybe headers? Also is it easy to get at the manifolds without having to pull the engine?
It depends. if the bolts are really corroded they will snap and now you have a big problem trying to drill and tap broken bolts in your heads. My fiero they came off easy because I soaked them in PB blaster every morning and every evening and let the car sit in the garage that way for 2 weeks, they came right off. I replaced them with studs. I have a friend with a lift so it's not hard for me, you would have to at least put the car up on a set of good sturdy jack stands and get the exhaust off and out of the way first.
If it's your only car / daily driver and cant let it sit, good luck, broken exhaust manifold bolts are a ton of work to fix and typically end with pulling the heads off the engine and taking them to a shop at worst.
Sprint headers are a permanent fix, cheaper is finding another set of uncracked manifolds and using a good gasket and getting rid of that horribly designed heat shield.
If you do take them off DO NOT re-use bolts or get new bolts. get studs, you will have fewer problems in the future if you upgrade to studs.
exhaust leak at the manifold can sometimes tick...it's really close to your ear....easier to hear than a front engine car. Maybe a crack or a bad stud...etc.
Or worse, much much worse!!
Mine turned into a winter project.
Spoon
------------------ Two yeast spent their entire life "about 2 days" discussing what the purpose of life could be and not once did they even come close to the fact that they were making champagne. Quoted by: Unknown
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09:36 PM
Zack_White86gt Member
Posts: 79 From: Brooklyn Park, MN Registered: Jan 2010
It depends. if the bolts are really corroded they will snap and now you have a big problem trying to drill and tap broken bolts in your heads. My fiero they came off easy because I soaked them in PB blaster every morning and every evening and let the car sit in the garage that way for 2 weeks, they came right off. I replaced them with studs. I have a friend with a lift so it's not hard for me, you would have to at least put the car up on a set of good sturdy jack stands and get the exhaust off and out of the way first.
If it's your only car / daily driver and cant let it sit, good luck, broken exhaust manifold bolts are a ton of work to fix and typically end with pulling the heads off the engine and taking them to a shop at worst.
Sprint headers are a permanent fix, cheaper is finding another set of uncracked manifolds and using a good gasket and getting rid of that horribly designed heat shield.
If you do take them off DO NOT re-use bolts or get new bolts. get studs, you will have fewer problems in the future if you upgrade to studs.
If I were to find the leak on the car, is it possibly just to weld it still attached?
You can try, I've never seen a tig welding guy good enough to weld the front manifold in the car. They charge by the hour, see if he can figure it out in a few hours. if not then you are only out a few hundred bucks in labor.
and that is only if you have a crack, I'm betting you have a exhaust gasket leak at the rear heat shield, they cant weld that.
