My girlfriend just bought a 2012 Ford escape 4 cylinder. It has a normal ( you could call it normal 4cyl sounds) 'ticking' to the motor. Soon after cranking it, an additional louder ticking starts, but its not consistent the whole time . Almost comes and goes. It's from the top of the motor. Probably "pitter-patter" is more accurate. I'm not as mechanically inclined as I would like to be, so before I even attempt to solve the problem I'd appreciate some input from y'all fine folks. Someone told me it may be the lifter.