Ok, when the car is somewhat cold i'll get a ticking sound when i start it. It almost sounds like a rotating ticking sound like a belt possibly. It can't be a bent pushrod because the car doesn't feel like it lost any power. Plus the sound goes away when it warms up. Some suggest its piston slap, others disagree. Anyone have any info on this? Thanks. BTW its an 02 transam.

 

Yes, piston slap probably. Or if it's actually a true ticking sound then it could be the injectors also. Try synthetic oil if you're not using it already, my slight piston slap noises virtually disappeared when I switched over to Mobil 1. <img src="gr_stretch.gif" border="0">

 

I had a slight ticking sound at startup and I was using Mobil 1. Now, I switched to Royal Purple, and all engine noise is gone. It sounds "perfect".

Mobil 1 sucks, no more of that for me <img src="gr_stretch.gif" border="0">

Try the oil switch.... it is the cheapest and easiest thing to try.

 

this is a good article about it. http://www.c5registry.com/2k2z06/page5.htm