I found a lot of info on valve ticking for the 22re and the 3.4L, but not that much about the 3.0. Over the past 2 days I've noticed a loud ticking noise coming from the drivers side of the engine. It's louder than the normal injector noise, it's loud enough to concern me. To my untrained ear it sounds like its coming from the big aluminum "thing" (that's a technical word) where the "3.0 V6" is written (intake manifold?).

The thing that concerns me is that it happened suddenly. In an old post, Frank on 4x4wire said if the valve gets too out of spec I'll burn it up. FWIW, I did just have the dealer replace the PCV valve on Friday and they replaced the rubber hose too. The last time the valves were adjusted was a little less than 60k ago.

So does this sound like the valves or something else? How long can I live with this?

 

It might indeed be a valve tick.
I had a slight tick in both my '92 3.0L and my 3.4L. I added a can of BG MOA and that did the trick. You might see if you can track down a can for your next oil change. It's usually only $8 or so and I think most dealers carry it. If not, look at BG website and find a distributor: www.bgprod.com

 

Snake oil will never fix a true engine problem. My 3.0 is always ticking--between the injectors and the exhaust it is a noisy engine. Your problem may be different, but I would worry more if it is a knocking noise.

 

What he said.

 

I've posted questions before about mine ticking alot and the consenses seems to be that the 3.0 is just noisey like Marc P said. On a recent outing I was talking to another 3.0 owner that worked at a dealership and said the seal (lack of a better word) where the steering shaft runs threw the firewall wears out and you hear the exhaust noise threw there. He said it was a pretty cheap and easy fix. I have yet to try it but I don't go by the dealership often... on purpose.

 

So now I feel a little silly because I knew this was a newbie question to begin with. I used the tube and ear method and I'm pretty sure I isolated the ticking to the injectors. In fact, I didn't even need the tube because when I touched the fuel pressure regulator with my finger I can feel the ticking. It was a little disconcerting hearing that for the first time through the tube though, it sounds like something knocking which is kinda scary! I also put the tube on the valve cover and couldn't hear the ticking.

The part where I can feel the ticking is circled in green.

I'm still kinda curious why I never noticed this ticking before. I could of sworn it wasn't there before. Oh well, thanks guys.