[venik]

I've encountered lifter tick alot in my 3/s owning years. I usually change the oil when it shows up, but every oil change ive had to change it earlier and earlier. Now I can't get rid of it at all, except I'm not sure if it is the same lifter tick. Usually my lifters would tick only at idle and low rpm cruising. But the tick I currently have goes away at idle and low rpm cruising, and comes back with a vengeance with any acceleration at all. The more load the louder it is, until I reach boost then it seems to go away. 3rd and higher gears give me a constant lifter tick regardless of rpm. The car drives like a champ though, I have some cold start issues but I think it's just my tuning. So do spun bearings show any performance decrease? I have normal oil pressure btw. Could my car run this well if it is a valve slapping the piston?

Yesterday I tried the ATF fluid thing and seafoam to get rid of it, if anything it got worse. And it's hard to tell where its coming from because it only does it under load. So is there any way besides a stethoscope to find out for sure if it is lifter tick? edit: that is, before I actually change the lifters