CMUpike

okay, so i was at the christmas/holiday get together at dave and buster's on saturday, which i may add was a great time. it was great to see everyone's rigs, and got to ride in a supercharged 4-runner for the first time... greatly motivating my urge to save up for one ASAP! and the game room was a great way to top the evening off.

but right before i got there, i noticed that my engine was making a ticking noise. it's ticking pretty quickly like probably around 3 or 4 ticks a second. however i noticed that it only ticks when i'm idle after i've driven for a few miles. if i turn the truck off and back on, the ticking goes away. and if i try to drive around the block a few times, and go idle, it won't tick. i have to drive for a few miles in order for it to tick.

at dinner gadget noted that it may be my valve springs or a leak in the exhaust. and since it's the holidays, i haven't been able to get my truck to a service station yet.

is it safe for me to drive around? i'm only wondering because the ticking goes away when i turn my truck off. if it were ticking all the time, i'd drive it as little as possible, but i have no idea what's wrong with it. i guess what i'm wondering is if it's bad to drive around with a faulty valve spring (if that's the problem)

any help would be greatly appreciated. and sorry for the long post