hi guys.
question for ya...
seems lately after i drive my car for awhile i hear a ticking coming from the passenger side of the motor. seeing as though i've never really heard a what a valve tap sounds like or what an exhaust leak sounds like, is there an easy way to distinguish between the two?
the sound usually appears AFTER i've been driving it for a bit.
any ideas?
thanks!
jeff

Usually an exhaust tick will be worse when  the engine is cold,as it heats up the metal expands and closes the leak, if its a valve tap you should be able to hear it pretty well over the valve cover, if so maybe just needs adjusting, you may try a can of valvetop oil or another otc product to see if its just sticking, good luck, rd

I agree with Rick...an exhaust leak/tick will normally be worse when cold, and get better once the system gets hot.
A rocker arm tick will usually get worse with heat, as the oil thins out. The only way to know for sure is to pull the valve covers, and adjust all of the rocker arms. If you find one that appears to be loose, it just wouldn't make sense to adjust just that one...do them all while you're there.
There have been a few threads here about adjusting the rocker arms, and the procedure...I'll look and see can I find a couple for reference...

Hey Jeff, KDADDY792009-04-19 10:17:42

Yep, really hard to tell one sound from another. I like to use a  cardboard tube (paper towel or etc.) to my ear, as a stethoscope to at least isolate the origin of the noise. aceinthehole2009-04-19 10:38:05

thanks for the help guys. 
KDADDY - i dont have a heat riser on mine anymore.  good thought though.

i'll try to listen to it more closely and keep you posted.

thanks again!
jeff

With the engine cold, not running, rub your finger tip on the side of the head above & below the exhaust manifold  at each port and check for black soot. If it's there then you have a leak at that point. If your engine is greasey and dirty then this may not work. You would have to clean the area and then run it for a while and then check it after it colls down. DO NOT do it when it's hot! Sometimes you can feel it blowing out the joint at the head & manifold, just don't touch it.

Just do it the easy way.   Kill a cylinder while it's ticking.  If it's valves, it will still be there.  If it's exhaust it will go away. (do all of them one at a time)

[QUOTE=kstyer]Just do it the easy way.   Kill a cylinder while it's ticking.  If it's valves, it will still be there.  If it's exhaust it will go away. (do all of them one at a time)[/QUOTE]

interesting.
can i pull the individual wires from the distributor cap to "kill the cylinder" to avoid getting burned by the exhaust manifolds?

It seems like a good idea to isolate the sound before you do a lot of other things.  Use a stethoscope, or use a solid rod such as a long screwdriver, and listen all over the engine.  It could be coming from the water pump or alternator, or who knows where, so narrow it down first.

Larry