What would the cause be?
 

What would cause a light ticking sound to come from the engine? Sometimes its more noticable, other times its not even there! I pulled up to chat with a friend and he said "What's that? Sounds like an exhaust leake." ...but then after a few minutes it went away completely. Sounds like its from under the valve cover or somewhere near there. Its hard to tell with the injectors firing unless they could be the cause. Your .02 is welcome!

It's possible that it's a small exhaust leak around the manifold. If it's more noticeable when it's cold, and then goes away a few minutes later, that's what I'd bet on. The manifold will seal the leak as it expands when it gets hotter.

Also wouldn't rule out the possibility of a lifter ticking.

It does it pretty much any time it wants to. The time my friend said something was after a 20 minute drive at 75 mph. Maybe lifters I guess. I guess maybe running my oil a couple thousand miles past due would have done that. I always change it at 3k but this time I had to go around 5k before I was able to change it. Any other ideas?

Make sure you have good oil pressure...low oil pressure can cause a ticking....my buddy's 1994 impala ticked and ticked and then blew up. the only other things it could be are the rockers or an exhaust leak...good luck

Hmmmm...the ticking is gone and the car runs audibly smoother than before. I don't have any idea what the heck it might have been/be...

You could also have a bad wire and the ticking is the spark jumping to the exhaust manifold or block. Pop your hood in the dark and look for a "light show". This would also explain why your engine "smooths out" when it's not ticking.

:thumb:

Hmmmm, something I hadn't thought of....probably time for new wires as it is! Thanks, I'll check tonight!