Exhaust manifold leak diagnosis?

Hi everyone my tacomas got this awful ticking noise during acceleration and it's gotten louder .dealer said it could be exhaust manifold leak .id like to confirm this before changing the manifold.i checked the coil packs thinking it maybe arcing sound was hearing .but didn't see any burn marks .when I mentioned it to the dealer the sound wasn't that bad and it was in for something else so they didn't look into it to much .
this is not a "Tacoma tick" sound that they are know for .i can hear it in the cab with windows up

 

Any tricks for checking if there is a leak at the manifold ?

 

They'll probably do a smoke test.

 

Manifold to y pipe is where mine leaked right before the O2 sensor
Then once apart the big graphite one from y to tail pipe was shot too

 

You should see evidence of black soot at the leak site. I would climb all around the engine and look for evidence.
The noise may be easier to hear when the engine is cold.

 

Exactly. When the engine is cold and running you can also feel the leak with your hand and not burn your hand in the process.

Find a different Toyota dealer OP, the dealer should be jumping at the chance to make more money and not giving you "could be" answers.

 

I would start here more so than exhaust leak, although there is no info on your truck. If your exhaust is old/rusted or been off and on recently then sure, but there is an inherent valve clicking with Tacoma under load

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/valves-ticking.238129/