[cpcooper]

My '06 Cayman S makes a fairly loud tappet or lifter kind of noise coming from the left rear of the motor, more pronounced toward the top of the cam cover. From a cold start, it is quiet but begins to tick within a couple of minutes of starting. It goes away at about 3000 RPM, but returns as the motor comes back to idle. I dropped the motor and found one exhaust lifter on cylinder 6 I could push down with my finger, as opposed to the others which were firm and presumably filled with oil. There was another one that showed some slight marking, so I replaced that one too, put everything back together and the noise is still there. My new thought is that since the intake operates on the larger lobes during warm-up, then switches to the smaller lobe once warmed, the culprit must be the center part of an intake lifter. The motor is out again and I can't see or feel anything different about the four intake lifters on cylinders 5 and 6. I was hoping for a smoking gun, but no such luck. Any ideas or suggestions?

Thanks,

Craig