Tonyrodz's Tahoe Build Thread

[Tonyrodz]

Did you put headers on? Couple things you can try. Take a piece of vacuume hose or pick up a stethoscope. Move the open end around your suspect area of leak. You’ll hear puffs of air of there is a leak. Secondly I see you put wires on too. Check to see if any of the plugs loosened up and need retorqing. Third maybe your manifold gasket got tweaked. I’d recommend oem but they are expensive. I picked up a set of fel-pro gAskets and also picked up some copper gasket spray. Coat the gaskets with it and it helps seal better. If all else fails, it may just be noisy injectors or if you do have headers it may be normal exhaust scavenging your hearing. Aftermarket Headers are nowhere as thick oem so it’s gonna sound a little funky. Here’s a video of mine after doing everything I mentioned above.

I've had the headers on for over a year and this noise has popped up in the last 2-3 days. It almost reminds me of when a wire is arcing, kind of like that in a way. So you don't think it might be something mechanical? Like under the valve cover? Also I don't know if it's coincidental or not but my gf first noticed it the first time she put the ac on. Compressor was changed last year. Doesn't sound like it's coming from that area, but I thought I'd mention it.

 

[Rocket Man]

Almost sounds like a loose rocker arm due to how slow the sound is. I think if it was an exhaust leak it would be twice that fast but an individual rocker is that fast I believe. Maybe pull the valve cover and check to see if any are loose. Just a thought.

 

[Tonyrodz]

Almost sounds like a loose rocker arm due to how slow the sound is. I think if it was an exhaust leak it would be twice that fast but an individual rocker is that fast I believe. Maybe pull the valve cover and check to see if any are loose. Just a thought.

I thought that too.

 

[sumo]

Pull the oil cap and take a listen you’d definitely be able to tell you if it’s under the cover

 

[Rocket Man]

Now that's using your head! ^^^^^^

 

[Tonyrodz]

Pull the oil cap and take a listen you’d definitely be able to tell you if it’s under the cover

Ok, I didn't hear anything. Pulled the cap, and nothing. That's good. Plugs are all tight. I'm pretty sure it's an exhaust leak from somewhere.

This was after it sat about 45 mins. There was more smoke before I was able to start recording.
I also noticed this gap on the tube to the right.

But I don't feel any exhaust leak ftom it. This is the passenger side. Driver side is tight against the head. I went back and rechecked all the header bolts and they were all tight. I'm lost.

 

[95escahoe]

Ok, I didn't hear anything. Pulled the cap, and nothing. That's good. Plugs are all tight. I'm pretty sure it's an exhaust leak from somewhere.

This was after it sat about 45 mins. There was more smoke before I was able to start recording.
I also noticed this gap on the tube to the right.View attachment 198975 View attachment 198976
But I don't feel any exhaust leak ftom it. This is the passenger side. Driver side is tight against the head. I went back and rechecked all the header bolts and they were all tight. I'm lost.

Was that gap always there?


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[sumo]

I say pull that side header. Gasket may have failed. Since you said you had to tightened them, it may produced a leak that made the gasket weak or warped

 

[Tonyrodz]

Was that gap always there?


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Honestly I never noticed it before. This noise started about 2-3 days ago. This is the first time I noticed it, while I was looking. Driver side is completely flush.

 

[Tonyrodz]

I say pull that side header. Gasket may have failed. Since you said you had to tightened them, it may produced a leak that made the gasket weak or warped

I've seen 1 piece and 2-3 piece gaskets. Have a suggestion which is better? Or should I get them from the header manufacturer? That's where this set came from.

 

[95escahoe]

Honestly I never noticed it before. This noise started about 2-3 days ago. This is the first time I noticed it, while I was looking. Driver side is completely flush.

Hm could just be how they are then, I’d second what has been said before could be a bad rocker or something in the head


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[Tonyrodz]

Hm could just be how they are then, I’d second what has been said before could be a bad rocker or something in the head


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Sumo suggested to pull the oil fill cap and listen for any noise from under the vc, I didn't hear anything strange.

 

[95escahoe]

Sumo suggested to pull the oil fill cap and listen for any noise from under the vc, I didn't hear anything strange.

That’s definitely good then, maybe pull the fender liner so u can get a look at the bottom of the headers could be a gap in the center on the bottom if that’s where your hearing the sound or use an inspection camera


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[Tonyrodz]

That’s definitely good then, maybe pull the fender liner so u can get a look at the bottom of the headers could be a gap in the center on the bottom if that’s where your hearing the sound or use an inspection camera


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That's a good idea about pulling the liner. I wish I had one of those cameras tho.

 

[95escahoe]

That's a good idea about pulling the liner. I wish I had one of those cameras tho.

If you end up having to do the gasket you’ll need to anyways to possibly get at some of the bolts and plugs, might be able to grab a cheap one somewhere, Home Depot has a nice one but it’s around $200 I think


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[dubyagee01]

How long has the dipstick been blowing out?

 

[Rocket Man]

If you pull the fender liner you should be able to get close enough to hear if it's coming from the header. If you decide to pull the headers, I recommend Remflex 2008 header gaskets. They're twice as thick as any others and they compress as you torque the header bolts and seal any gaps.
https://www.amazon.com/Remflex-2008...4&sr=8-1&keywords=remflex+2008+header+gaskets

 

[Tonyrodz]

How long has the dipstick been blowing out?

It doesn't. I was checking all the plugs and wires on that side, and I hit it while moving around. I just popped it back in.

 

[kbuskill]

Get a BBQ lighter and light it and move the flame around the gasket area... if it blows out, you have an exhaust leak.

I would do this with A/C off and engine cold to hopefully keep the cooling fans off Or use something to block the air from blowing out the flame.

 

[sumo]

Oem gaskets or what I used felpro gaskets with some copper gasket spray. Felpro is nice because the ends have hooks so it’s a sure alignment when installing.