Ok looking for a few opinions here. I have a tapping sound when the engine is cold, sounds like a badly adjusted tappet but as the revs increase it sounds more like a leak from the exhaust quite close to the engine. The thing that is confusing my thoughts on the issue are that it sounds louder inside the car than with my head under the bonnet. I'm sure it sounds worse under load as well, but goes away when the engine has warmed up a little. Further to all of this after the car has stood for ten to twenty minutes after a long run the sound returns on restarting and takes a couple of minutes to go away again.
I've checked under the car and can't see any obvious holes around the front end of the exhaust system, but the down pipes have a sort of double skin to them which is loose so i can't see if there are any holes here.
anybody any ideas? btw its a 3 litre v6