Hey ladies and gents

I have a turbo a15 and I have a very loud ticking noise that won't go away motor is freshly rebuilt. I have checked all the valve lashings at TDC on compression for both cylinders 1 (check 1235) and 4 (check 4678) and are all set to exactly .35mm when hot after running motor in. But still the ticking exists I have put the liqui molly lifter/ rocker noise reducer and loosened in and taken it for a good 1.5 hours drive and yet the noise still exists. I have no loss of power. Any help is appreciated TIA

A common lifter-noise type of sound is caused by a leaking exhaust flange or crack

What I do is put a hose to my ear then move the other end over the engine to pinpoint where the sound is coming from

Champion thank you that was the next thing I was going to look at I'll post after and let you know how I go

Put a nail in the other in of the hose. Touch the nail to the engine. You will hear the noise.

What do you mean put a nail in the hose? What size hose is best to use?

* datsa's method is to use a small hose (1/8" or 1/4" hose) with a nail in it as a stethoscope. The vibrations will be transmitted to your ear
* My method is to use a large hose (1/2" or 1") to channel the sound to your ear

Either method will work

Thanks Dave.
Vacuum intake hose. It will fit in your ear. Nail on the other end. Vibrations.

I'm betting on a big-end bearing, I know you said 'top end' but in my experience it is the big end conrod bearing.

Does the tapping noise come and go when you blip the throttle?

the issue has been found the gasket for the exhaust port had blown out thus creating the ticking noise just needing to replace the gasket to resolve issue

Cheers boys as Mav has said it was a blown out gasket unsure as to why it would have blown out but only a minor issue.