Please Help!

Ok,so how many miles does it have? Have you noticed any smoke or unusual smells coming from the engine? And how is the oil level? If you havn't checked it lately then now may be a good time.Check for any fresh fluid leaks from under your usual parking area.And one final question/s...Does it feel like you've lost any power,seeming slower than usual? And has your Check Engine light came on at all?

I would also try taking your ride to another mechanic and get a second opinion.Also,I forgot to ask,Does the noise get louder if you step harder on the gas?

If it's anything like my 2000, it is kind of missing, but not bad enough to set off a code. Hesitation and kind of a ticking/tapping/dieseling sound that gets worse as the engine gets warmer, but I have new plugs, new wires, new battery, new fuel filter, new fuel pump, have ran seafoam twice, changed the oil, ran oil cleaner, and even tried 89 octane. I do know on the 99-00 and some 01's, the valve covers lacked a sufficient baffle that allowed quantities of oil vapour to pass through the PCV and into the intake. Going to be intalling an inline fuel filter into my PCV line to stop the oil and test all my injectors to make sure they are openning and closing correctly.

Does it by any chance sound like it's coming from just below the center of the intake manifold? Let me know.

I can record some audio from my 96 v6 from within said location to see if that is what you are hearing.You may also be hearing excessive rocker arm noise which would be coming from just under the valve covers....but then again I can't say unless I actually heard it for myself.

Exactly. Its hard to diagnose a noise without hearing it. Have you tried taking a mechanic from the shop you go to for a ride to hear the nosie for themselves? Because itd be pretty hard for them to say nothings wrong if youre pinpointing the noise for them.