mfj

did u check make sure there are no crickets living under ur hood? because maybe whenever the engine starts, u wake them up. that can verywell be the reason ur hearing the ticking. a simple solution would be to release a couple of chameleons under hood and overnight, they should be wiped out. hope this helps.

Dan04COBRA

It's not unusual for modular motors to have an odd tick while the engine is cold. These motors suffer from Piston slap on a regular basis. It almost never results in an engine failure or loss of performance. However, I wouldn't just assume this is your issue.

I would highly recommend you purchase a mechanics stethoscope. This will enable you to try pinpointing where the noise is coming from.