I have a 2002 Ford lightning. Just rebuilt the motor. It's a brand new motor had 3000km on it before rebuild. They didn't torque the heads properly at the previous shop and it wore out the head gaskets. It now has 8 new pistons rebuilt heads all new bearings and a new timing chain tensioner. We have a weird ticking noise that sounds exactly like a lifter noise (valve train) but the head is basically brand new. Totally rebuilt.

It is kind of intermittent. It's there at an idle and it accelerates as you rev the truck up. All the parts are put together properly and we have no clue where to start. The plugs are tight. The COPs are fine the injectors are good. We had a stethoscope in there and can't pinpoint the noise. It's the same volume from front to back of the motor. More noticeable on the passenger side. It's driving me insane but have no clue what it could be