spankey,
I don't mean to give you more to worry about, but I would watch this situation like a hawk. I had problems that began with a faint ticking like you describe.
To make a long story short, I ended up with a blown engine, in spite of regular maintenance, and also checking things daily when the ticking began.
For the details, see my topic and posts at
http://www.contour.org/cgi-ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=3&t=005597
