Another ticking noise thread

[tornik550]

I have searched around and couldn't find an answer. My 996 has about 78k miles. I have had a ticking noise from left side of the engine. Checked the EGR valve- not the cause. The ticking is present at all times- hot or cold. Speeds up when engine is rev'd. I have tried different weights of oil 0w-40 to 15w-50 and the weight has not changed the ticking.

The strange thing about the ticking is that about one year ago I slightly overfilled the oil during an oil change and the ticking went away. I thought that maybe it was the weight that I used (15w-50) so I used 0w-40 the next time. I filled the oil so the level was between min and max and the ticking returned. I then overfilled it slightly again and the ticking went away. I drove the car for about 1/2 year this way without the ticking. I changed the oil a few weeks ago and filled the oil to mid level (I was having episodes of massive smoke when driving hard due to the oil overfill). Now I have the ticking again.

The ticking is quite loud and very annoying. I am very familiar with lifter ticking noises. This is what the noise sounds like however it is quite loud, I do get normal lifter noise on the drivers side.

I have thought about this quite a bit however I cannot figure out why the tapping resolves when the oil is slightly overfilled. I can live with the sound however I simply am trying to find out if there is something that I should be worrying about. The car drives great and I would like to keep it that way (without spending any money).