a majority of ppl suggest its a valvetrain issue, a few say cracked flexplate, and only one mentioned bearing. i pulled the valve covers on both and although i dont have a 28mm socket to manually crank the motor over, i did inspect and felt the springs and rockers and noticed none were cracked and i pushed down on each rocker arm on the pushrod side and none seemed to collapse. i also checked my flexplate and saw no signs of cracks.
when i start the car i do notice the lifters are ticking louder than normal especially when driving with the windows down, which i thought was a leaky exhaust. as i would drive more and the motor would eventually wamr up is when i start to hear the metallic tapping gradually get more steady in sound.
