[bigthaiboy]

Thank you. On further research, I'm sure the ticking noise is from the hydraulic tappets. I called a local garage, and they said if it's a fault inside the engine, it has to go back to Cadillac.

I know the Cadillac 4.9L V8 has 70 less bhp than the much more complicated 4.6L Northstar engine, but what I'm interested to find out is, whether the 4.9L was a realiable engine, and can it be repaired at local garages, or does this engine have to go back to a Cadillac service center whenever their is a problem.