Developed slight valve tick

Could be the onset of coolant contamination from leaking intake manifold gaskets.

Has there been an unexplained loss of engine coolant? (radiator low, reserve bottle needs topping off?)

It's possible there is some crap stuck in a lifter, even with good maintenance like you indicate. It doesn't take much. I'm not an advocate of additives but sometimes they do work. There used to be a product from Wynns called "Engine Tuneup" that used to work miracles on some hard cases. That or something similar might be worth a try.

Havnt noticed but already had intake gasket replace at 80 or 90k miles.

I ran a 2.8 litre V6, which is of the same family, nearly 200,000 miles and then sold it. The leaking gasket issue is to be taken into account, but I think they are pretty good little engines in general.

Lifters, whether roller or hydraulic type, can get dirty or just have mechanical wear which can make them tick. Also, sometimes a bearing will wear and the oil pressure to a particular hydraulic lifter will be too low, causing a click. And last, a worn camshaft lobe can cause problems. The lifter bottom, in case of hydraulics, can be hammered out.

Since you have maintained yours so well, I would suggest that, before your next change, you add a really good detergented cleaner to the oil and run it a couple hundred miles.

(I have used Mystery Marvel Oil a few times and it seems to help clean the varnish pretty well, but there may be better answers. )

If the cleanup and oil change doesn't help, you may have to go deeper into the engine.

OK thanks fo the info

You have the same problem?

Yes I do constantly top off the coolant avery few months. But when I change the oil see no contamination in the oil.

I've replaced more of those gaskets than I care to remember. Never saw any contamination in the oil either.

The coolant is going somewhere, if you don't see any drips, it's probably going into the engine.

A little cooolant loss is normal but if you have to top off the system frequently, you probably do have a problem. Before you do anything expensive, have the system pressure tested (a quick and very inexpensive procedure). At least that way you'll know whether or not the system really is leaking.

You could have a corroded freeze plug or seepage around the water pump shaft (this could be a static leak that would not show up when the engine is running). My daughter's S10 had a hairline crack in the radiator tube sheet and it took us forever to locate it.

A ticking lifter could just be varnish build-up in the lifter or a piece of dirt in the lifter's oil hole.

Hey wazzup? I have a 97 GA 3.1 with just about 128k miles. I recently noticed a slight tick, I assume its a valve tick. It otherwise runs fine, pickup and performance is about as was new except for gas miliage.. How many miles can be expected out of this engine, and should I expect problems with the tick getting worse. This engine has had oil changes at about every 3k miles since new.

Could be the onset of coolant contamination from leaking intake manifold gaskets. Has there been an unexplained loss of engine coolant? (radiator low, reserve bottle needs topping off?)

Yes I do constantly top off the coolant avery few months. But when I change the oil see no contamination in the oil. I've replaced more of those gaskets than I care to remember. Never saw any contamination in the oil either. The coolant is going somewhere, if you don't see any drips, it's probably going into the engine.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% "So why do I drive a big SUV? It's because I have to haul numerous people and things to places." ~ R. Lee Baxton ~

I ran a 3.1 about 200,000 miles also. Ran like new. I sold it to a 16 year-old, and later I saw it in the junkard and found he ran it off the road and screwed up the frame. So it never did die a natural death.