I have owned the car for about a month and in that time have noticed a ticking sound develop. The only thing I have done to the car so far is change the oil. I drained the standard oil and replaced it with mobile 1 synthetic. I don't remember hearing the sound before I changed the oil.

The ticking sound isn't real loud, I can barely hear it when I am under the hood. Its much more noticeable when I am sitting in the driver seat. The ticking speeds up with the RPM. When I start the car and warm it up with a little gas (the choke is not connected) I hear the sound. When I have the car in drive at a stoplight I hear the sound. When I am driving and I accelerate I hear the sound. If I am at cruising speed but am not accelerating the sound seems to go away. If I am coasting downhill the sound disappears too.

This weekend I put a screwdriver to my ear and against various parts of the engine - the valve covers, the intake manifold, the headers - but couldn't locate the sound.

I ran my hand down next to the headers and felt general air rushing around but not specifically from the headers. No intermitant popping air for sure.

From searching the internet it seems like it could be a sticky lifter so I went to Pep Boys to see if they could recommend an additive that might free it. They recommended Lucas Heavy Duty Oil Stabilizer. I drained 1 qt of the Mobile 1 and replaced it with 1 qt of the Lucas Heavy Duty Oil Stabilizer. I drove the car around town for about 40 mins but the ticking is still there.

I also occassionally get a burning smell after I have accelerated moderatly hard. Not all the time but occassionally. The smell lasts for about 30 secs to a min and clears up. I honestly couldnt say if its an burning oil smell or a transmission fluid smell - seems like oil to me. I noticed a little bit of oil on one of the center sparkplug wires on the driver side. I tightened the valve cover bolts a bit but the leak still seems to be there so I will be replacing the valve cover gaskets. I am thinking the burning smell I am getting is from the leak running down on the headers. I don't know if the smell and the tick might have anything to do with each other.

Looking for your experience and suggestions on where to look next to get rid of the ticking. Could it be the octane in the gasoline? I use supreme unleaded, do I need to add an octane booster? If it is a sticky lifter is it doing damage to my car or just annoying me? Any help would be great.

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mike r
racing is real
everything else is just a game.
81 capri-7.47 @90mph 1/8
1.54 60 ft.

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SCOOP

"If you don't know where you're going, you'll end up somewhere else."

2.26 60'S
14.9 @ 90.86MPH

65 coupe,351w,C4,Big Boss 429 hood scoop,8" 3.40 TracLoc.

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SCOOP

"If you don't know where you're going, you'll end up somewhere else."

2.26 60'S
14.9 @ 90.86MPH

65 coupe,351w,C4,Big Boss 429 hood scoop,8" 3.40 TracLoc.

Micah

Now I need to find a bolt to replace the missing one. I checked in the summit catalog and found a bolt set with locking washers and hex (with allen bolt centers) heads for around $50 (which seems unbelievably high for 16 bolts and washers but oh well...).

Off hand does anyone know if the Edelbrock Performer RPM heads for a 302 takes 3/4" or 1" bolts? Has anyone tried a set of these header bolts? Thanks for all the suggestions Molly purrrs like a kitten again.

One last thing I'd drain that Lucus additive from PepBoys I've never heard any good things about that stuff and start again with fresh oil.
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SCOOP

oddly obsessed with big scoops on little Mustangs

2.26 60'S
14.9 @ 90.86MPH

65 coupe,351w,C4,Big Boss 429 hood scoop,8" 3.40 TracLoc.

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