98 Camry, lots of valve noise

[Kooterskkar]

My mothers 98 Camry is making all sorts of valve train noise. Sounds like the lifters, last oil change was about two months ago. Checked it today, it was half a quart low. Engine has approx. 50k miles on it.
Im hoping this isnt normal. But im not sure as i dont have much experience working on Toyotas. Oh yeah engine is a 4 cyl not sure on the size, didnt bother to check. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

[Brian R.]

Pull the head cover and see if there is alot of sludge deposited in that area. That car may have a problem with sludge build-up, plugging up the oil pick-up and causing serious problems. Also, it may just need a valve adjustment. Be conservative and check for sludge first. Needing a valve adjustment is not normal for this engine.

http://yotarepair.com/Sludge_Zone.html

[Kooterskkar]

This just might do the trick. Thanks alot. Only thing is... how do I fix it so this problem doesnt reappear 6 months down the road?

[Brian R.]

Follow the instructions in the link - particularly those about the oil pump pick-up and the valve cover, and change the oil regularly with synthetic, or more frequently with dino oil.

The problem is... your engine may be seriously damaged. Clean it out and see what it sounds like. Actually, you may have a different problem altogether. Hard to tell from your description.

[Kooterskkar]

Well I cant really tell if the bottom end is making any noise over the valves. Its not a click or a tick sound. Its a tock tock tock tock. Which is why I was thinking lifters. When I first got MY car some of the lifters were a little low cuz the car hadnt been driven in over 4 months. It made the same sound the first few times I started it. After an oil change and some marvels mystery oil it was fine.
Il have to pull taht valve cover and see waht it loks like in there. As long as its not like that honda engine in those pics....