2005 aveo tapping engine

Our aveo has about 200000 miles on it been running a synthetic blend and changing the oil every 3-4000 miles. It has had a tap for quite a while now but extremely minor and would go away after a few seconds upon cranking and then would stay tapping a little until we change the oil later in the mileage as the oil gets broke down. Well now we let the car sit for the last few weeks while we painted it and now the tap is pretty loud can hear it really well even with the hood shut, and does not go away or quiet down, we have not drove it yet because of this. The oil isnt due for a change for quite a while(cant remember how long) I removed the valve cover and the tarnish is a more redder brownish on the back drivers side of the head than the rest of the head, like it isnt getting as much oil as the rest i would say. I will try to get pics up of it, but basically where is the passages for the oil to come up so i can see if it is blocked by buildup? Thanks in advanced.

I would check your valve clearances.

whats the best way to do that, i am not too familiar with these engines as we mainly drive old school fords with rockers

Find the valve clearance specs and use a feeler gauge just like you would on any engine. You do have to make sure that the cams aren't pushing down on the shims/buckets, so you need to rotate it as you go, but that is routine too.

So, can anyone post the e-tec II valve clearance specs? I thought I had them but I don't.

I agree with daox.

with the hydraulic lifters and overhead cam, i cant see how the valve clearance would be adjustable? unless you pull the cam and shim it?

you probably have a clogged lifter. Checking the clearance is a good way to determine which is clogged. Once the lifter "pumps up" then the tick goes away, but after it sat, it is not going away.

thanks for the replies, i dug out some carbon and put the valve cover back on and its pretty quiet now so its probably going to work its way out, i put some stp oil treatment in it and will run it a while then change the oil and filter.

Sounds good. Let us know if that totally fixes it.

Also, did you get those pics? That would be very helpful to others with a similar problem.

no sorry i didnt get no pics, the head actually looked really good. it just had the typical oil colored tarnish on everything except in the corner closest to the firewall on the drivers side there was some carbon build up just small pieces i got out and it seemed to be a little baked in that area redder in color than the rest but not the cams they looked good too no discoloring to them at all just the head surface itself was discolored. the noise has almost completely gone now and i drove it only a few miles this morning so it has to be just some trash in the oil i am going to change it soon after letting stp do a little work.

How did you go about removing the carbon?

the head was really clean with basically no carbon except in that corner it was kind crunchy black chunks that would crumble easily, i just picked the pieces out with tweezers it was a few flakey pieces smaller than an eraser i figure they were circulating around in the oil and getting into places they shouldnt because after getting them out and putting the stp the engine sounds smoother than it has in the last year or so.