Tick, Tick, Tick....
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Race Director
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 12,221
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From: Overland Park Kansas
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (appearance mods)
C4 of Year Winner (appearance mods) 2019
Tick, Tick, Tick....
Two part question:
1) Lately, I get a low-speed braking "Tick, Tick, Tick" from the left-rear wheel. First thought was half-shaft U-Joint. Odd thing is, it's intermittent and only makes a sound during low-speed braking. Even then...not consistently.
18 months ago, I had the rear suspension "rebuilt" after a hwy side-swipe. The rear toe-bars got bent which is when I started conversion to heim jointed parts. I also had the rear wheel bearings replaced, along with the half-shaft u-joints. Now, the dog bones have been converted.
My first symptom was a clunk after a WOT burst (during slow down). Later I heard the tick, tick, tick. I put it up on jacks and looked for slack in the u-joints. Didn't see/hear any. If anything, only the rear-end had modest sound when rotated. Everything seems tight.
Next day, I checked the lugs and could tighten them just a hair. Nah...can't be that.
Still hear the tick, tick, tick under my butt during final stages of a stop. Releasing the brake seems to make it stop. Didn't see anything on the brake either (when I reshot the calipers and rotor hats).
One/two posts suggest the need to regrease the axle splines....and redo the retaining nut? That's interesting.
A few months after my shop redid the half-shaft u-joints, I had the same tick, tick tick ONLY WAY LOUDER. That time, one of the retaining clips was missing from a u-joint. So, I checked for those too.
Mystery persists.
2) I've been hearing a bit of flutter from my side pipes. It's most apparent on start-up. First thought something might be loose inside the exhaust system. But, I've also had tick, tick, tick from the PS valve cover. #5 and/or #7 roller rockers sound a bit louder than the rest. Guess I should check that.
1600 rpms in 6th can set up a shudder in the whole body. Only in 6th and only on the hwy. Chased front-end vibration for years until THAT was also redone 18 months ago. New tires, bearings, ball-joints, and tie-rod ends made it smooth as silk. But, it DID sit a LOT last summer at the body shop. It was probably moved often, but it was there all summer. Could the tires have gotten a flat-spot? They WERE low on air which helped SOME of the vibration when corrected.
I also feel mild imbalance/miss at the same RPM where the problem exists. Maybe they combine on the hwy in 6th ... causing vibration/shudder to "multiply"?
Checked the injectors...all show 14 ohms. New in 2010. 20k on motor build.
Hasn't been quite as smooth 6 months out from the build. Maybe injectors pulled some gas tank "goo" that accumulated during 3-yr hiatus for rebuild? That's one guess from Jon at FIC.
Or maybe a rocker is slightly too tight? Or...a spring getting tired? Could be a connection between exhaust flutter, mild miss, and vibration? Heck, I even tried "blaming" the RA balance job a few times.
Outside the hwy vibration that seemed GONE, then came back, I'll say I've always pictured the engine as shuddering JUST A HAIR during the low-rpm 6th gear hwy operation. That's because shudder/vibration stops virtually instantly when letting off gas. But more pressure in tires HELPED A LOT!
Pulled hair out a couple of time. Luckily I'm getting toward 60 and can pass it off as receeding hair line! LOL j/k
When you change SO many things about a car (from stock), it get NUTS trying to filter all the possibilities running through your head!
And, yeah...I'm sorta picky. Both "tick, tick, tick" problems are minor. I just want to avoid either becoming major.
Guess I should break down and buy a compression gauge one of these days. And....OH YEAH...try my back-up SCREENED MAF (over the descreened one I'm running). Maybe wait for the rear-end tick, tick, tick to get louder, more consistent and take another look?
After 17 years of ownership, I keep waiting for that day where I can just DRIVE! LOL Doesn't seem like all my tweaking will ever be done. If I DO finally catch up, maybe that's when it's time to sell! LOL
Still glad there's the ol "Corvette Forum" to bounce ideas and troll for answers.
1) Lately, I get a low-speed braking "Tick, Tick, Tick" from the left-rear wheel. First thought was half-shaft U-Joint. Odd thing is, it's intermittent and only makes a sound during low-speed braking. Even then...not consistently.
18 months ago, I had the rear suspension "rebuilt" after a hwy side-swipe. The rear toe-bars got bent which is when I started conversion to heim jointed parts. I also had the rear wheel bearings replaced, along with the half-shaft u-joints. Now, the dog bones have been converted.
My first symptom was a clunk after a WOT burst (during slow down). Later I heard the tick, tick, tick. I put it up on jacks and looked for slack in the u-joints. Didn't see/hear any. If anything, only the rear-end had modest sound when rotated. Everything seems tight.
Next day, I checked the lugs and could tighten them just a hair. Nah...can't be that.
Still hear the tick, tick, tick under my butt during final stages of a stop. Releasing the brake seems to make it stop. Didn't see anything on the brake either (when I reshot the calipers and rotor hats).
One/two posts suggest the need to regrease the axle splines....and redo the retaining nut? That's interesting.
A few months after my shop redid the half-shaft u-joints, I had the same tick, tick tick ONLY WAY LOUDER. That time, one of the retaining clips was missing from a u-joint. So, I checked for those too.
Mystery persists.
2) I've been hearing a bit of flutter from my side pipes. It's most apparent on start-up. First thought something might be loose inside the exhaust system. But, I've also had tick, tick, tick from the PS valve cover. #5 and/or #7 roller rockers sound a bit louder than the rest. Guess I should check that.
1600 rpms in 6th can set up a shudder in the whole body. Only in 6th and only on the hwy. Chased front-end vibration for years until THAT was also redone 18 months ago. New tires, bearings, ball-joints, and tie-rod ends made it smooth as silk. But, it DID sit a LOT last summer at the body shop. It was probably moved often, but it was there all summer. Could the tires have gotten a flat-spot? They WERE low on air which helped SOME of the vibration when corrected.
I also feel mild imbalance/miss at the same RPM where the problem exists. Maybe they combine on the hwy in 6th ... causing vibration/shudder to "multiply"?
Checked the injectors...all show 14 ohms. New in 2010. 20k on motor build.
Hasn't been quite as smooth 6 months out from the build. Maybe injectors pulled some gas tank "goo" that accumulated during 3-yr hiatus for rebuild? That's one guess from Jon at FIC.
Or maybe a rocker is slightly too tight? Or...a spring getting tired? Could be a connection between exhaust flutter, mild miss, and vibration? Heck, I even tried "blaming" the RA balance job a few times.
Outside the hwy vibration that seemed GONE, then came back, I'll say I've always pictured the engine as shuddering JUST A HAIR during the low-rpm 6th gear hwy operation. That's because shudder/vibration stops virtually instantly when letting off gas. But more pressure in tires HELPED A LOT!
Pulled hair out a couple of time. Luckily I'm getting toward 60 and can pass it off as receeding hair line! LOL j/k
When you change SO many things about a car (from stock), it get NUTS trying to filter all the possibilities running through your head!
And, yeah...I'm sorta picky. Both "tick, tick, tick" problems are minor. I just want to avoid either becoming major.
Guess I should break down and buy a compression gauge one of these days. And....OH YEAH...try my back-up SCREENED MAF (over the descreened one I'm running). Maybe wait for the rear-end tick, tick, tick to get louder, more consistent and take another look?
After 17 years of ownership, I keep waiting for that day where I can just DRIVE! LOL Doesn't seem like all my tweaking will ever be done. If I DO finally catch up, maybe that's when it's time to sell! LOL
Still glad there's the ol "Corvette Forum" to bounce ideas and troll for answers.
Last edited by GREGGPENN; Jul 13, 2019 at 12:03 AM.
