My EF ghia has all of a sudden developed a ticking noise at around no 6 cylinder. Is there any tests i can do to determine if its the lifters or any other problem? oil level and pressure is fine. havent done anything to the engine, its just suddenly started last night.

The SOHC lifters do tend to do that, so it is a likely suspect. It would be a fairly high-pitched ticking sound coming from inside the rocker cover. You can use a length of hose or some metal tube as a stethoscope to isolate the source of the sound. If it is a deeper knocking sound coming from lower inside the block, it could be worn rod bearings - but that wouldn't tend to start all of a sudden.

Stuck lifters can often unstick themselves in a couple of days or a week. If you are brave, you can get the engine nice and warm and give it a good thrash to "encourage" it.

You can try Lifter-Free or similar product. If that doesn't work, and it's been a while since the oil was changed, fresh oil and filter might do the trick. A new top quality oil will have lots of detergents which can help to unstick a lifter (and have lots of other benefits). I'm a big fan of synthetics and have had good experience with Royal Purple and Amsoil; Penrite and Nulon get good reviews; Castrol and Mobil 1 get mixed reviews. If you are on budget, Valvoline Durablend semi-synthetic tests well.

If none of that works, you probably need to replace the lifter. It's not a big job and there is lots of how-to advice on it on Fordmods.

cheers for the help, turned out to be just a stuck lifter and came free after a good bootfull .. gave the engine a interior clean and service just to be safe.

thanks for the reply