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2008 softail ticking

Pipeman15

Pipeman15

Member
Hey fellas, new guy here. I got a 2008 softail deluxe that just started ticking like a (EDIT) It seems mostly rpm related(no tach). I don't here any noise in primary. getting alotta popping on decal (thunderheader 2 to 1). you can hear it faintly at idle but a lot more in 2nd then when you shift it takes a second or two before you hear it again and it goes up through the whole range of the gear. I noticed a very small amount of soot on top of the pipe in between the exhaust flange and the head. Could that small of a leak cause the ticking?
 
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It's been my experience any exhaust leak is going to give you some noise. Try torquing the nuts but you may end up replacing flange gasket.
 
Believe it or not I was kinda hoping for that. I was really hoping it would be something not too serious like an engne problem. I got the stock gaskets over at the stealer lastnight. I got a 24 today then I'll have 3 days to get it figured out. Thanks a lot. Been reading the posts for quite awhile so I figured it would be a good place to ask.
Mark

is it ok to ride with the leak? I mean very short term. I h
 
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The decal popping is most likely a loose flange. Loosen then and torque lower nut 9-18inlb, top nut 100-120inlb, and lower 100-120inlb. See if that helps.
 
So just for haha's I tried tightening up the flange nuts. Brought them to 115 in lbs each. Took for a spin and ticking is now very minimal, barely audible and decel pop decreased by 90%! Do you think I should tighten a bit more or just pull it off and put the new gaskets in? I really don't want to take that heat shield off the front pipe again. I'm almost out of bandaids

Also why would they come loose after 15000 miles of being fine?
 
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I usually loosen the entire header pipe when tightening. I will tighten,wiggle, tighten,etc. You may have something loose that caused the leak. Wouldn't hurt to replace them anyways. You can usually loosen the heat shields and slide them down enough for the socket clearance on the head exhaust nut.
tourbox
 
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