Tick tick tick...not insanely loud, but not normal. It's definitely coming from the top of the motor. I dont really know how to diagnose whether or not the ticking is coming from the injectors. I used a stick as a stethoscope and put it around the injector and they do tick - but a ticking noise heard by doing this is normal as I understand it. A few times over the last few weeks I've also had on occassion a strong smell of gas when starting the car - and one time a decent puff of smoke out the exhaust from unburnt gas I'm assuming - again, not normal. So the ticking, the puff of smoke, and the smell of gas at times during start up - what do you make of these things? Car seems to run as it always has, but the ticking is annoying.

 

Noises are quite difficult to diagnose verbally, can you get a recording of it?