Ticking on acceleration, nothing at idle..

[CheapThrills]

Title says it.. When you accelerate on it, theres a constant ticking , almost sounding like an smallllll exhaust leak, but at idle there is nothing. A buddy of mine with an exploder has the same problem, it doesn't really bother me, I want to fix it though, keep the truck in tip-top shape.. Any ideas?

 

[morse johnson]

would have been alittle helpful if you would have put type of vehicle and how many miles on it...if there many miles on it could be timing chain slapping da timing cover or it could be worn wrist pin on the piston rod. also a small leak in the exhaust is definately possible. check all your bolts on the exhaust manifold maybe one has backed out alittle.

 

[CheapThrills]

95 4.0 4x4, just about 87k miles.. figured its on the side, didn't need to mention it.

- and thank you, i'll check out the manifolds in a few

 

[morse johnson]

if the bolts on a exhaust manifold leaks for awhile it can cause the gasket to crack and fallout creating that ticking sound that you mention during high rpm's.

 

[Scarecrow]

you might want to check the bolts that attach the exhaust to the header, and the donut right in between the cat and muffler, i had the same problem and it was the donut flange on the header, i dont know about your year, but on my 2000 there was a gasket that blew out right there.

 

[CheapThrills]

alright guys, thanks!

 

[tickfood]

i was going through the same thing replaced a bunch of crap. Found out today it ended up being my universal joint. Sounded just like an electrical motor under going out. Just food for thought anyway.

 

[50kbronco]

hey all,

I'm having the same issue. My 1991 4.0 was rebuilt back in 2006 and only had 200 miles on it before the explorer wrecked. Was stationed in California so wasn't able to do the swap till 2010. Did the swap and am very pleased with the power and the acceleration that it has even on hills in Denver. Now it is just having a very faint ticking noise only under acceleration. There are a number of frustrating things about this as well:

1. it doesn't do it when idling.
2. won't tick if I rev it up when in neutral.
3. only does it on 1/4 throttle to 1/2 throttle when in gear.

It is a recent change that happened just before I went wheeling. Did not flog it at all, and babied it till I got back. I will check the bolts on the headers and the doughnut between the header and exhaust pipe also. Any suggestions on what this might be besides said comments?