Clicking noise when starting up

Hey all, 99 2.7L got a clicking noise that varies in speed when I first start up in the morning, goes away after engine warms up. I'm assuming the valves need to be adjusted, but before I go through all the work I just want to check to see if this is something other than valve stems clicking or if you guys have had a similar issue. I'm pretty sure its not a rod, because it is not rhythmic and sometimes it clicks a lot (lots of valves off) and sometime it just clicks a little. Either way once its warmed up it stops...Oil pump issues? I dunno 180k on the odo so about that time for valves any and all suggestions please

 

I'm not too familiar with the 4 cylinder motors, but I know that the v6 valves do exactly what you are describing. Some take 180k to do it and some seem to do it with less than 100k. From what I read, the ticking isn't a big deal and it seems to come back after the valve are shimmed/adjusted. (some take a long time, some take shorter)

Like I said, I'm not familiar with the 4 cyl model so I'll let the more knowledgeable folks chime in.

 

I'll chime in with my experience here, but don't assume its the valves.

With the shim/bucket design of the valve train, the gap gets smaller over time, not bigger. I measured mine and the some gaps were getting really short, so I just had mine adjusted ( over $500 ) to correct it and avoid burnt valves. I was warned that the valves might be noisier after the adjustment, but luckily they weren't.

Have you done an oil/filter change? Are you using the correct weight of oil ? Mine takes 5/30.