Ticking noise
 

Have a fairly loud ticking noise in the 28, so I did a compression test and all four cylinders are pretty consistent at around 70. So I changed the exhaust manifold gasket thinking it might be an exhaust leak on the # 4 exhaust port making the tick. Put it all back together and the ticking was still there, so I decided to take of the valve cover plate to see if a spring was broken. I do not know enough about this area of the motor to know what to look for, it appears that the distributor shaft has some rusty crud on it. Not sure if this could be where the tick is coming from. I have some pictures that I’m going to try to download. Just don’t know where to go from here….

Re: Ticking noise
 

Have you checked the tappet/valve clearance?

Re: Ticking noise
 

you can lift that distributor straight out and clean that crud up and as long as you don't turn the engine over or rotate the distributor shaft you should be able to drop it back in and not have to set the timing.

check the lifter clearance

remove the plugs, and with the distributor in the engine, with the hand crank have someone turn the engine over while you watch the valves closely and listen, see if any of them are sticky.

Re: Ticking noise
 

Measure the lash on each valve, write it down and let us know. Yours are adjustable.

Re: Ticking noise
 

Sure sounds like you need a new exhaust manifold gasket.

Re: Ticking noise
 

While you have it opened up you can clean the crud around the distributor drive shaft / spring. Pull the distributor off, reach in the hole with a needle nose pliers and pull the short shaft out. You can then pull the spring out of the valve chamber to clean things up. Keep the crumbles from doing the clean up from getting away from you and into the engine oil passages.

Is this ticking sound something new or has it been going on for a while?

Maybe it is your distributor making the noise. Use a mechanics stethoscope or place the tip of a long screw driver against different parts of the engine while pressing the end of the handle against your ear to try to localize where the sound is coming from.

No worries about turning the engine over while you have the distributor out. As long as you don't change the cam setting in the distributor itself you can put it back on the car and it will still be in time. However if as part of the clean up you lift the gear out that drives the distributor and the oil pump you will need to reset the timing. No big deal to do so if you do.

Re: Ticking noise
 

Stop taking things apart.

Did the ticking just start or has it been there all along and has gotten worse?

I would remove distributor and clean shaft. Than I would put everything back together, change oil and add MMO to your gas.

Could be as simple as a sticking valve. But a the rate your going, you will end up with a rebuilt engine.

Re: Ticking noise
 

I am going to go a different direction. The ticking noise may be rod knock. The rod knock will be heard when the engine is not under load, neither accelerating or decelerating. It can sometime be heard when at a fast idle. It will sound like a ticking noise. It can be one rod or multiple rods.

Another possible source of a ticking noise can be a loose cam gear. That ticking noise will be coming from the front of the engine.

All the suggestions by others are good. The stethoscope recommended by Crosscut is a good one. Try to pinpoint where the noise is coming from.

To locate an exhaust leak you can use a piece of tubing placed next to your ear. Then move the other end of the tubing around to try and locate the leak.

You may want to solicit the advice of an experienced mechanic. Try to find a mechanic who is at least 70 years old and who knows what a Model A is.

Re: Ticking noise
 

Had the same issue, could not hear it at idle, just cruising. Turned out the exhaust manifold just needed equal torqueing on each bolt. Problem solved.

Re: Ticking noise
 

The distributor drive is subject to corrosion problems from condensation. I've had the same problems since the heat likes to rise to the highest point of the valve chamber during cool down. I've had the distributor drive shaft seize to the drive sleeve and I had to heat is up pretty well to get it to come apart. I learned to spray the parts with LPS 3 or coat them in par-al-ketone to keep the corrosion at bay.

You may have a sticky valve but you have it open where you can check valve clearance and function so now it's an easy check. Decent compression levels rule out a burned valve. Other cam checks have already been mentioned.

Loose or worn bottom end bearings can start as a light knock but generally get louder as the wear progresses. Check the easy things first. Any loose part that rotates or oscillates can cause a audible sound. The engine design doesn't lend itself to loose pieces getting into the combustion chamber and causing piston to head issues so that is pretty rare to have a thing like that happen unless there is no air filter and the engine pans are missing. Drawing something uphill isn't a likely scenario on the early 4-cylinder Fords but I've had it happen on the later downdraft plenum designs.

Re: Ticking noise
 

Here is a video of one of our tours down into the Amish country in Ohio. One of our members had a manifold leak and this will show you how one sounds. The video is long, but the noise is shown fairly early and the repair in near the middle.
https://youtu.be/ZRq_Rb2Ojp0

Re: Ticking noise
 

Thanks for the replies. I was down with COVID and the car sat for a little over a month. The ticking began on that first start up/drive. I haven’t driven it since-about 3 weeks. I’ve had two different exhaust leaks in the past and this one doesn’t sound the same. I have used a stethoscope and it sounded like it may be coming from the area of the distributor shaft but was hard to pinpoint exactly. Will try taking the distributor off and clean the crud off and put back together with new exhaust manifold gaskets. Probably won’t get to it until later in the week or next weekend-sorry boys, still doing the daily work grind-but will keep everyone posted.
Thanks. Doug

Re: Ticking noise
 

Okay, this afternoon I took the plugs out and turned the motor over with the starter, and there wasn’t a tick, so I’m thinking it must have been a exhaust leak. This weekend I’ll pull the distributor and clean the crud out and put everything back together, using a new copper exhaust gasket and find out if that was the problem. I’ll keep you posted….