How does an engine start to sound when it's time for a valve job ?

Question

On a 1996 v8 Thunderbird, I was wondering how the throttle would start to sound when it's time for a valve job. Sometimes I hear some ticking/clanging..not really pinging though; through the exhaust's echo on a quiet road, when the wind blows in the right direction. Do I just need more octane or could it be the valves starting to tick?

Answer 1

this could be a couple things:

It may be an exhaust leak. these usually sound like fluffy tick noises, like "ft ft ft ft"

It may be like you say and you need to adjust valve lash. this will sound like a harder tick, and will increase under a load, like acceleration.

Answer 2

A compression test on each cylinder might give you a better indication of which of  two problems it might be. How many miles?