geetee03

...but the noise seems to be coming from the top rear/right of the motor, sorta in the driver side valve cover; not the headers or mid-pipe. It started making the ticking sound the day after installing long tubes and o/r h.

i hope its not a bad valve or anything else in the head.
03 gt 33K miles 5 speed.

symptoms:
ticking on start-up, idles fine with no noise. ticking starts right at 1500rpm up to when it is drowned out by exhaust sound, also the sound gets faster as the rpm's rise. you can hear the sound better when the windows are up, or when driving next to a wall. not noticable when driving at constant speed on level road. more pronounced ticking when i upshift before i normally would and i hit the gas, also seems louder/faster when letting the rpm's drop in gear when slowing down. it seems to get softer when the engine is warmed up. the car runs fine and no drop in performance although i have not gunned it since the sound started.

what are the chances the header nuts have come lose? or something more serious?

MustangChris04

sounds like a header leak. The gasket is likely to be shot. You may need to buy a new gasket and tighten those bolts down better. Maybe locktite?

geetee03

i did not use the bbk supplied header gasket, i got a seal-4-good metal one. do long tubes require frequent tightening?

Albizo66

have you re-tightened since they were installed? if not, you should.