ticking/tapping noise while in gear

[mjtr21]

I have been hearing a ticking/tapping noise for a while now in my 02 SSEi. It has almost 140,000 miles on it. At first I kinda brushed it off as lifter tick or piston slap but now I think I narrowed it down to possibly the transmission. The car makes the ticking noise no matter if the engine is cold or hot. The wierd thing is it only makes the ticking noise when I'm accelerating in a forward gear. I tried starting off in 1, 2, 3 and Drive and it makes the noise everytime. But if I'm moving and shift to neutral and rev the engine there is no noise whatsoever. It doesn't make the ticking noise in Park or Reverse either. It sounds just like a collapsed lifter would tick but I think it's something in the transmission. Anyone have anything similar or any suggestions? When I get time next week I'm going to drop the pan and change the filter and fluid in the transmission cause I haven't done that yet and no idea if previous owner did or not, that way I can check for any metal shanvings and whatnot. Thanks for your time!

[mjtr21]

Well after bringing it to the shop they diagnosed it as an exhaust leak. I checked the tranny fluid and all was good not burnt and didnt smell bad so I ruled that out. I knew it couldnt be drivetrain because it didnt make the noise all the time. The shop found my leak at the flex pipe in between the manifold and cat converter. replaced it and all is well! Just thought I'd post my fix to the ticking noise!

[02ssei]

good deal. got to love those simple fixes