New to this forum
I bought my daughter a 97 GT w/ 2.4. overall the car is in great shape. It starts right up and runs but a minute or so after first starting it ticks like real bad valve chatter. If I rev it to 1500 it goes away.
I've cleaned and checked the whole exterior, no vac leaks. It's not throwing any trouble codes. The original owner (first and only) had most of the work done from new by a dealer but the last work "she said" was a new timing chain done by a local shop (she had just moved down here and the local dealer was 35 miles away)
I haven't put a manual oil guage on it yet but there is no idiot light on.

Any one have any ideas?

 

I've worked a little more on it. It doesn't seem to be rod slap or lifters. I notice at idle if I turn the wheel it stops ticking. Since the PS pump is run off the intake cam the best I can figure is that the chain is slapping but when placed under more load (PS pumping) it moves the slack to a different area.
Next step is pulling the front (side) cover and eyeballing it. My guess is a bad timing chain tensioner. We'll see.

 

OK now I've been reintroduced to the theory "you get what you pay for"
The woman I bought the car from did have a new timing chain installed, but the cut rate shop she went to never reset the chain tensioner[:@]
For those who want to but don't know. Late model 97s had a two part tensioner. A slide shoe and a hydraulic cylinder. The cylinder is two parts also with the inner cylinder spring loaded . It is shipped with the spring collapsed (otherwise it wouldn't fit in place).
Once it is in place and bolted down you need to release the spring.
I know this because...they never did itbecause of that the cylinder isn't long enough to tension the chain and it will slap. a long wooden dowel to the top of it, tap it with a hammer and viola the chain is tight.
No more tap and it runs like a top.

 

Very nice. Now put a nice Flowmaster on there and let her go. haha.