When I took it to the shop the guy said well that ticking noise is either because you need a new gasket or the manifold is cracked, so I am assuming you won;t know till you take it apart... at least that is what the dude told me... Snoop do you know?
the ticking noise could be anything from a exhaust leak to neglect to do oil changes. if its the 2nd one, then the ticking is coming from either the pushrods or lifters cuz the oil broke down. no more viscosity. but i will look at it if you would like. the only problem is that i am in bellwood(near the city), and i think you are pretty far out west right. that might be a problem ya know
They checked my exhaust and the guy came back and said it was my manifold, I did go over about 6,000miles for my oil change, they changed it there though..that ticking noise u hear louder as I excellerate on the gas