[Wayne 962]

Right, you can try changing the chain tensioners, but I think he's describing a sticky lifter. When I had this problem, I changed oil to a thinner viscosity, ran the car a few hundred miles, and then changed back to a thicker oil, and it went away. Apparently flushing the oil out with different thin oils can help clear passages and bring lifters back to life. There's some more info on this too in the head gasket Project of the 101 book...

-Wayne