I've read about the tick and was worried about buying mine - then I dug deeper into some of the stories and obvious abuse and I don't believe the tick is the cause. I hear a very similar tick in a lot of multi valve and multi cam engines from four cylinder to the coyote's - I think some people don't realize these engines and power is not like the old days and really need to pay attention to proper oil changes oil levels and maintenance, almost like supercar level, overheating could be an issue if not carefully kept in check... a lot of electronics going on under there which could attribute to some ticking noise as well (I don't know fore shore) - after the engine reach's running temp the tick seems a bit quieter. It makes tons of power and I've felt no issues in power and feel no reason to be concerned...