GS300 MK 1998 ticking noise
 

Hello, i brought my first Lexus after owning only diesel cars. I do not know if its normal to have this ticking/clicking noise. Noise stays at idle and goes faster after acceleration, i can mildly hear it in the cabin when giving gas. As previous owner mentioned the oil in the engine is Mobil1 5w30.
I searched and found about injector noise, but that was for the newer models with direct injection. Another 2 searches were exhaust leak or valves/lifters.
How bad is it, can i drive the car? Thank you in advance.

Adding the recorded video.

Sounds like lifter/shim tap, which is odd, for a 2JZ.

Does it go away, after the engine is fully warmed up? We have that problem with a Miata, think it's the last valve... once the engine is warmed up and oil is flowing everywhere, it goes away. That, and some high-revs, shoots oil everywhere up top.

Step one would be to pull the valve cover, and see if anything is obviously broken or loose.

Thats odd, because its the opposite when i start the car in the morning, the sound is much less noticeable first few minutes, after it warms up it gets louder and stays constant and gets loudier under acceleration. Can a thicker oil help to calm the noise?

If we're using logic, I'd say you need a thinner oil... you want oil to be more viscous, and get everywhere more quickly.

If you haven't, change the oil... previous owners lie. See how it comes out... wouldn't be surprising if you need a few oil changes, to get all the old crud out. When we buy used cars, we usually change the oil at purchase, then every week, until ugly oil stops coming out.

No, i haven't changed the oil. I read in the owners manual that the recommended oil is 5w-30, should i change to the same viscosity oil or something thinner? Atleast now i know where to start. Previous owner mentioned that the oil was changed in september, no records of course.

New update. Changed the oil and filter. The sound is still there, nothing changed.

Feel for exhaust leaks at the manifold gasket area. Hard to tell, but the video sounds like it could be a large exhaust leak. You should be able to feel it at that size of leak if that is the case. It could also be a crack in the manifold. So use a flashlight and mirror to check carefully.

All our cars are Toyota/Lexus, so we buy 5W30 by the gallon. I'd stick with that.

Bravo... forgot that you might be listening to an exhaust valve opening and closing, not just a ticking valve. This is more likely. Seem to remember that the 2J is two manifolds of 3 cylinders each... more likely one of those is cracked, or has a leak.

Would a smoke test reveal the leaks?

What i've seen people do to catch exhaust leaks is to spray some soapy water on wherever you suspect and more (obviously while cold) and watch for any bubbles forming around the gasket or manifold, indicating a leak. Did it to find a small leak in my exhaust.

Mine turned out to be a loose screw on top of the fuel pressure dampener located at the rear of the fuel rail. Pop the plastic cap off and make sure that screw didn't vibrate loose.