ticking sound from head... seems to go away and come back.... started out minor, then the next morning the sound went away, then came back, got alot louder....
then let the car sit for about an hour, started it again, it mostly went away...

sounds just like this, (not my video)

YouTube - Sr20DET head noise

 

There is nothing to "tighten" the rocker arm, you've probably got a lifter going bad, this has happened to me before, it'd come and go as it pleases.

Replace lifters, or do the smart thing and go solids.

 

would it cause it to feel like theres a miss.
something isnt right, it will run smooth, with an occasional quick bog

 

Solids = BIG WIN

 

brainstorming at work and i came up with this......bad oil pump?

need to check oil pressure, but....
noisy valvetrain, whining noise at idle, like a bad oil pump lol
the whining sometimes goes away, so does the ticking...could the oil pump partially work?

but, the motor never gets hot...never past normal.

 

I had ticking about a year ago. The upper chain guide had marks like the chain was touching it. I removed the upper guide, Bleed lifters and bleed the chain tensioner in fresh oil. No more ticking.

 

ive never opened a motor, jus installs and removals...

 

popped valve cover, finally.....

all rocker arms seem to be in good shape. head is very clean. must be lifters, checked spark on coil packs...all 4 coil packs are puttin out spark.

i start the car, it starts like normal... idles high for a second, then dies after about 4-5 seconds... fuel? spark plugs are new, coil packs are puttin out spark, ecu is stock. stock boost...im stumped

gonna recirculate bov cuz i hear nothing but good.......i doubt that the problem, i touch the gas and it dies

 

Wow, it sounds like you bought 1 hell of a headache car.

 

If the oil is dirty on an SR they like to do that as well, but have you bled your lifters? I would advise against solid lifters if it's a daily driven car, they are loud, annoying, they put alot more wear on your cams, and well they just plain suck. Also if you haven't installed them before I wouldn't advise installing them because shimming them sucks, I just installed some on a customers car after I advised him against them and he is already talking about putting the stock lifters back in.