engine ticking noise but not always?

[rculjak]

Hey guys, I have a ticking noise at idle and throught the rpm band once in a while, it comes on for a while then goes away and I may not hear it for weeks, any ideas? Maybe a bad distributer causing me to loose a cylinder tempararily or something, what does a car sound like on 7 cylinders?

 

[jerry beach]

Does it sound like someone is tapping on the intake with a small hammer? I would guess a lifter since it is intermittent. If you motor was running on 7 cyl. it would shake real bad when you try to accelerate.

 

[rculjak]

so is it damading my motor in anyway if I drive it with the ticking?