Interesting... when I first got this conversion on the road, I immediately had the loud ticking you describe -- I had thought it was my transmission getting ready to blow because I still had a small panel missing and the noise was echoing up right from the center floor -- but it turned out to be my vacuum pump. I picked up a used one from a local shop just to see. Sure enough, it went from so loud I could hardly stand it, to just a slight tick.
One of the side effects of changing the vacuum pump, and tweaking the valves (last summer) seemed to be that I lost some of that cold engine white smoke! I still have some, but it isn't a cloud, and it goes away by the time I get into 3rd or 4th gear.
An update for my truck: After adjusting the valves, I think it is running smoother, and quieter. However, I'm not sure if I'm still hearing a knock. The one in the video isn't there, or isn't there for the time being, but there might be a slight knocking when pulling up a hill that isn't the normal diesel rumble. This is where my inexperience with these engines keeps me limited. I don't know if the noises are normal or if I'm hearing something out of tune.
I'm going to let Ship's have it for a few days next week to at least drive and listen cold and warm.
I suspect there may be one valve that is coming lose prematurely, so I may check it again after I put a few hundred miles on it this weekend. I'll see about pulling the caps at that point too.
On another note, I just slapped the cover back on after the adjustment, and so far -- no leaking!
