In the morning, or whenever my vehicle has been sitting for a long period of time, I hear some exhaust ticking from my front drivers wheel well area. The noise gets alot quieter after the vehicle warms up. Do these things expand creating a little better seal when they get heated up? Judging the way the previous owner put the engine together after he worked on it, I wouldn't be suprised if it was the wrong size, old and cracked, or not even there.:shakehead:lol: I plan on just replacing the thing but I would rather wait till it's not so cold here. Thanks!

It could be the joint between the manifold and the down pipe, or it could be a cracked manifold. The early vortec engines are known for manifolds cracking.

My '98 K1500 Sub was doing the same thing. I replaced the exhaust gasket (donut) and man, what a difference! Sounds like new. The 3 nuts that hold the manifold and exhaust pipe flanges together are somewhat difficult to reach, but if you're able to get enough leverage to break them loose, it's not a bad job.

Good luck.
Steve