Engine Tapping at Start up, Then Gone after driving for a Mile

Hello all, Out of the blue, at start up my car is experiencing a tapping noise, with elevated exhaust volume. All of this goes away after driving a mile or so. After driving the mile or so, it runs absolutely perfect and exhaust note/volume is normal. Oil level is within safe range, and was changed less than 1,000 miles ago. This car hardly uses oil between changes. No soot at exhaust. Could this possibly be an exhaust leak? Or am I simply hoping for the best possible outcome. Any ideas would be appreciated.

Run a bottle of Techron through it and see what happens.

Could be an exhaust leak. Can you record it and attach the recording?

I've got the same issue, tapping at start up that goes away within like 30 seconds. I blame myself. During my recent cracked head fiasco, I decided to proactively change all my lifters and used the INA's which were much cheaper at $22 apiece. Mind you the car did not tap before the cracked head, and while I had the engine out and sump plate off I observed no cylinder bore scoring. I attribute the current tapping to an inferior lifter whose tolerances allow it to leak down between longer stretches of inactivity (several days), and then pump up once the engine is started so that the tapping goes away. A self inflicted wound if you will. So it may be the case that your lifters are leaking down resulting in tapping upon startup, then pumping up and the tapping disappears.

I just had major work done to my engine as well as other work. while I was talking to the Indy who was doing the work on my engine I mentioned the ticking sound. There was no scoring in the engine and he suggested it might be the lifters. The ticking sound is gone now. I’ll document all the work done in a different post.

What year are the cars that tick? My �99, along with several others, have a cold start rattle that turns into a knock if idled for startup. It lasts 30-90 seconds. I always attributed it to leaky tensioners, possibly a bad cat, maybe some piston slap. Not sure, but been like this for 4.5 years now.

Quotes source post: 17590858

my cold start tick was significantly improved with changing out the tensioners. 2 out of 3 were shot and the 3 one was not so great after 22 years and 62k miles.

Mike Murphy, mine is a 1999 996 Cabrio manual with 80K miles. It does have a 5 chain replacement engine with the larger single row IMS bearing. I am familiar with chain rattle as my former 1999 Boxster suffered from this malady until I changed the 3 chain tensioners at about 72K miles. My 996 is making a light "tap...tap...tap" sound at startup for 30 second or less, then it goes away. This only happens if I haven't started the car in several days, thus my theory regarding the INA lifters leaking down between delayed starts. Otherwise, the engine runs beautifully, doesn't burn or leak oil, and pulls like a freight train, well, maybe not a freight train, I'm exaggerating obviously, but you get the idea. Should have just left the original lifters after the cracked head imbroglio of 2018, but since both heads had been resurfaced and had a fresh valve job and new seals, I thought replacing the lifters while I was in there was a good idea, now, not so much. Funny story, well, not funny, kind of sad actually, but when I disassembled both heads I placed all of the lifters, valves, springs and keepers for each head in precise order on my workbench in the garage to facilitate reassembly. One day, went into the garage only to find that all of this hardware was in disarray on the bench and even on the floor! WTF! Then I found the culprit, a dead opossum that had managed to get into my garage while I had the back door open like a week earlier. That poor creature had apparently bounced around the garage looking for a way out and expired on the floor. As the saying goes, you mess with the bull, you get the horns, know what I mean?

What a story!