That ticking noise that turned into a $1200 repair bill

I ignored a faint ticking from my 2012 F-150 for about three weeks, just figured it was a loose heat shield or something dumb. Turns out it was a cracked exhaust manifold that leaked hot gas right onto the oxygen sensor harness and melted half the wiring under the hood. Has anyone else had a small noise snowball into something way worse like this?

3 comments

3 Comments

sam_murphy391mo ago

Three weeks is basically asking for it with a ticking noise on a 2012 truck. You got exactly what you deserved for kicking that can down the road. A cracked manifold isn't some mystery ailment, it's a known weak spot on those years and you could have caught it for a few hundred bucks instead of letting it cook everything. Plus now your wiring harness is a mess, good luck selling that truck without taking a bath. My buddy had the same tick on his 2011 and brought it in the same week, cost him under 600 dollars flat.

johnson.jason18d ago

On my 2014 Silverado I had a similar tick and I just started throwing bandaids at it. Eventually caught it when the check engine light started flashing and the wire harness near the manifold was already starting to smoke. What saved my ass was I found a decent Indy shop that specialized in those older GM trucks and they caught the manifold crack early enough that the harness was salvageable. Took them about a day and a half to swap the manifold and reroute the harness away from the heat. Cost me around 750 total but I dodged the full electrical nightmare you went through. Now I treat any weird noise like it's a ticking bomb, pun intended.

the_parker1mo ago

Wait until you find out that the ticking is also masking a bad exhaust valve seal on the other side, it'll be spitting oil onto a hot manifold next and then you'll be chasing a fire instead of a smell.