I have a 2003 1500 qc 4x45.9 magnum. Just recently i installed shorty headers, but there is a exhaust leak somewhere but cant find it. Idle is fine no tick, but when the engine gets stressed i hear a tick. I took it to my mechanic and he thought the noise was a leaking evap line that he fixed but its still there and i or him cannot find the leak, All bolts are torqued tight no gasket leak i dont know where it is any ideas on how to find it?
Thanks

 

anybody?

 

two most common places are at the gasket (look for a fine tear) or at the collector. Also, if you have an EGR (I know '03 Hemi's don't), it could simply be the EGR opening and closing, it sounds just like an exhaust leak, I went nuts trying to find a non-existant leak after installing my CAI and LT Headers, that turned out to be the amplified sound of the EGR valve doing it's normal thing...

 

Hammer that would make alot of sense!!! i dont know if the old la engines have a egr valve i gotta look that up, but on the collector would i see carbon deposits on the collector?

 

the 5.9 magnum does not have egr...

 

I knew my '98 didn't but was not sure of the 02s. I've never touched a 3rd Gen with a 5.9 in it. Was worth mentioning though, since they sound just like an exhaust leak when you remove the "Hemi Hat" resonator...

With the headers being that new, I doubt you'll have the luxury of just being able to see where the leak would be coming from if it's around the collector, you'll have to get more creative than that...

 

the only thing i have noticed that has changed from the 90's model 5.9 magnum is the dividing wall in the intake manifold. along with the radiator and condensor setup..

it might not be an exhaust tick at all it could be your plenum gasket leaking oil into the intake manifold.

take your air intake tube off and look down into the throttle body with a flashlight, if you see any oil at all in the belly of the kegger then i would bet that is the culprit!

the proper way to test it is with a vacuum gauge but the flashlight trick works great.

i was just having the same problem with my truck, my girlfriend swore the exhaust was leaking and turned out to be the plenum gasket, and only made a noise when the engine was stressed. (about 3300+ rpms)
here is a diy link
https://dodgeforum.com/m_249261/tm.htm

and here is some more info..
https://dodgeforum.com/forum/3rd-gen...sket-5-9l.html

 

would a plenum leak sound like a tick? I was really hoping it was not the plenum!! the only signs of that i have is the pinging with hard acceleration. when i look down my tb i dont see a pool of oil and my mpg is a steady 11.7 hand calculated.

 

i would say it is a plenum,
i didnt see pooling with mine either when i looked, but i did see what looked to be oil, it wasnt even black. but when i took everything apart the leak i had was way worse than i had thought when looking through the t/b.
if you still dont think it could be the plenum, check or search the 2nd gen ram forum for instructions on how to pressure check the kegger. that would be a definitive "yes or no"
but.. im putting my money on the plenum, sorry i know its not what you were wanting to hear. but with what you described only make noise at acceleration or when the engine is stressed..... perfect symptoms.

and mpg-wise i was getting 11.2 avg before i fixed plenum,(computer calc's) and fixed it and did the 87 octane tune with superchips and am now getting almost 15 mpg (computer calc's)

now i cant say for sure its that high cause i fixed the plenum but from what ive heard from others the superchips alone wont raise your mpg's as much as mine has went up.