Grr.. on the way home from work, wen starting up my car took about 2 minutes to stop the lifter tapping (longest its ever been) and was fine for about 5kms until I got round the block from my house.. now it sounds like a truck. Similar thing to this guy:

http://www.fordmods.com/forums/viewtopi ... nt%20valve

except my car idles just about normally (R4 cam) and drives fine... just rattles VERY loud (alot louder than normal lifter tapping) and theres a lag between the exhaust notes (BOM BOM BOM BOM BOM).. sounds sorta like a tractor. Lookin at the engine bay, the engine does shake about a little more than it would normally..

Last time this happened, the car was running very s**t... wouldnt idle, etc and it cost me almost $2k to fix.. but this time the engine sounds similar but drives normal and can idle.

Any ideas? Reckon it'd be alright to drive bout 5-10km to a mechanic to get it checked out? Should I have a look under the rocker cover for any tell-tale signs?

collapsed lifter maybe?

Had a quick peek under the rocker cover, on first look everything seemed normal.. springs all looked right, lifters werent broken..

Wen not running on all cylinders.. does it rattle loudly?

possible head gasket for the bad running issues a car will drive and idle with a blown head gasket for a little while at least (my old EA was testament to that!) as for the tapping might be a sticky lifter, try putting quarter-ltr of diesel in with your engine oil to try and fix it (then change your oil of course)diesel in oil wont hurt the car.

Head gaskets new... was done bout 3 months ago wen everything fkd up.

If it is a sticky lifter, do u think it would ruin somethin if i drive it for a while to get some petrol den go mechanic?

nah it wont worrie it, of and check for leaks around the intake gasket aswell