[V8] Seat Heaters + Noise

[Scott Simmons]

Well, it got the back working.  It was too dad-gum cold to do much else 
besides wire in the splice.  It went much easier once I unbolted the 
seat, lifted it up, and pulled out the vehicle's wiring harness.  No 
permanent damage was done to the wires. 

Can anyone confirm that seat removal is needed to remove the leather 
from inboard side? 

Also, started up the car to prevent heater from running on battery 
juice, and finally got the engine to make the noise.  There has been 
this odd clicking noise that develops on the first start in the 
morning.  It would manifest itself at RPM's greater than 1000, and was 
RPM dependent.  I thought I had it nailed when I found the carbon 
canister solenoid clacking, but they are -- apparently -- two different 
things.  This noise goes away by the time I get to work (2 miles).

I ran around and opened the hood, but I am baffled.  It's not a lifter.  
It's too high pitched and it's a tick, not a clack.  A lifter raised 
hell for a few seconds during this time so I had a comparison.  I can't 
locate where it's coming from.  The closer I got to the engine, the 
harder it was to identify it's origin as it easily blended into the 
clicking of the fuel injectors.  If I took a few steps away from the 
car, I could pick it out.  It sounds sort of like it's coming from the 
back of the engine.

Throw out some ideas.  Dizzy caps?  I didn't have a screwdriver handy so 
I couldn't do the "mechanic's stethoscope" but I'll be picking up one 
sometime this week to keep in the car.  Exhaust leak?  If I put my head 
next to the front wheel, I could hear it rather well. 

There are a couple other odd noises the engine makes when it's cold, but 
they go away sooner or later -- the driveline whines at speeds over 35 
but I can just sort of hear it without the radio on.  I've decided to 
not worry about it until something physically breaks because I could go 
nuts replacing everything it *could* be.

At what point does a car become a beater?  When you stop caring about 
every little thing?

~Scott S.