Engine gurus..Please help!
 

Ok...I'll try to make this as short as possible...
Last night while cruising home on the highway my car suddenly started acting like one of my plug wires was arcing to a header or something. No backfiring, but a definate loss in power, and that "putt-putt" type of noise you'd get if you weren't running on all 8 cylinders.
Well, checked my plug wires this morning and they all look fine, and none of them were anywhere near something they could possibly be arcing to.. When I got to work this morning, in addition to the car running badly I noticed a loud tick coming from the passenger side valve cover. I had always had some valve train noise, but nothing as loud as this..
Could this be a valve, lifter or rocker arm problem?
My oil pressure "seems", (stock guage), ok.
Anyone have any similar experiences/advice?
Sorry for the long post. Many thanks in advance!
Nick

A suggestion on the loud clicking. You could have blown out a primary seal on the header gasket. Listen and feel real close (not too close ;)) around the header and check all you header bolts. They make a loud clicking noise when blown, and if you've lost significant seal on one of the tubes, you will see a pretty good drop in power. It's happened to me more than once. I really oughta spend the $$ to get some locking bolts.

Also, check the wires again at night. Open the hood and mask or unplug the engine bay light and look for arching or sparks around the wires and at the coil.

--nathan

Thanks for the reply, Nathan.. I was chasing, (before this), a suspected header leak that sounded almost like chirping or a belt squeak. Maybe it just let go while cruising on the highway? (I was on the BQE, a really poorly surfaced road by NYC)
Also, I have copper gaskets...Are these known to blow out?
Better this than a valve/lifter/rocker problem!
thanks again..
Nick

No problem. Anything can blow out under the right conditions. If you already suspected a leak, then the gasket sounds suspect. I'd start there and work to the more complex. Occam's razor: the simplest answer is usually correct answer (and usually the cheapest one).

Good luck.

--nathan

Ok...just went and gave a good listen to the motor.. Still hearing my chirping-squeaking exhaust leak sound, and the click coming from the valve cover has a definate metallic sound..Still haven't checked the header bolts as my tools are home.
Any other thoughts?
Thanks!
Nick

pushrod/valves?
 

It sounds like a problem I recently identified and fixed. I was getting some clatter from one rocker arm. It used to get louder as the car got warmer...but it really wasn't affecting my power. But I could definitely hear it. So I pulled the upper manifold and valve covers off and adjusted my valves (stud mount). I found two valves slightly out of a adjustment...but the thing that was making the noise was I had a pushrod that was clogged! You know where the oil travels up the middle? Some gasket material or some RTV silicone crap must have gotten clogged in there and wasn't allowing the oil to come up to the roller rocker. So I replaced two pushrods, used some lapping compound to smooth out where the pushrod meets the rocker arm...and all is fine now. :D I hope that's not it...but I thought I'd share my story.

Sounds like you may have possibly had a rocker arm back off. Check and make sure they are all tight and adjusted correctly.

Thanks for all the replies:D
Unfortunately, I have to drive it home as is, and won't be able to check anything out until I get there..
The car has also started bogging at low rpm's and backfiring thru the intake. It must be related, since it ran fine yesterday!