I was wondering if anyone else has an anoying tick with there cars? I have a 96SE,and about 2 months ago i noticed a tick coming from the engine. Its not a valve tick, because it only happens when i apply gas,even the slightest. Any other time,(in idle,or cruising) its fine, I think i might have narrowed it down to #1 fuel injector but Im not sure. When I use any sort of a fuel injector cleaner it goes away for about two tanks of gas,but then comes back. I dont want to take it to ford as they charge up the ying yang for any work,and i feel i know enough to tackle it myself, but this one has me stumped. can anyone help,or has anyone had this problem??

What type of oil do you use...have you tried switching to a different brand?     I used to get slight ticking when I was using (the highly revered) Mobile 1 synthetic.  I went thru 4 oil changes with Mobile 1 just to make sure it wasn't the oil but the ticking ended when I tried a different oil.  Currently I use Quaker State 4 x 4 synthetic10w-30.  The engine has been running strong and quite since.            -Lino Sacman, SCPOC
      Hybrid '93/'95 Rio-Red PSE, 5-spd

Yeah i am having this same problem with my 93SE and i brought it to ford and they told me to look at the ford web site and type in my vin number and i guess there is a satalite to tell ford whats going on inside the motor. They did it and it said my oil pump was weak and that i had a bad cell in my alternator. I think its a lifter myself but i'll change the oil pump and see what happens. Thanks Scott

im not sure if this will help or not but i have had problems with my 94 se and it unfortunally was the oil pump the pluger sticks causeing air to get in and yes this will make a front engine ticking noise i also thought it might be a valve or full injectors but it was not the oil pump runs 200-250 if you do it yourself figure 600-700 for the shop to do it it is labor intesive takes bout 5-6 hours i would take it to a shop and have them test it befor you decide to do it Bryan

Could be your HLA's. The Probes are notorious for ticking HLA's. And there is no cure for it, but Mobil 1 full synthetic seems to be the best "band-aid" for it. For all you would care to know about ticking HLA's go to www.probetalk.com, click the link to go to the old probetalk (archive) and do a search on HLA's. It's been discussed there ad nauseam. But with any funny engine noise, its a good idea to take it to a TRUSTED mechanic just to be on the safe side. Bernard 96 SE.... must go faster