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Hey, I live on a gravel driveway and apparently I have some rocks in my heat shield which is giving me a really annoying rattle when the car's idling, could someone tell me how I remove the heat shield to get them out? Also does anyone know much about tappets? Someone suggested that could be what my ticking is but said it's $2000 to fix. Can that be right?

1) Heat Shield - around what components? More info may yield an more informed response.
2) "Tappets" are not really in Boxer engines and will more often be referred to as Lifters in a Subaru (boxer engine) - My first option without knowing what oil you run now would be to try a thicker oil or possibly adding 1 of those thickening agents. Again more info would be beneficial, like does it clack when hot or cold starts? Either way my understanding is that (basically) once they start clacking there is not to much you can do about (even though the noise will come and go) do not be to concerned as she should continue to run for ages.
My 2c.

I have no idea about the heat shield, that's just what they told me at the mechanics, I have no idea why they didn't just do it when they knew it was the problem. It's ok, I'll work it out.
As for the ticking, it's the same ticking sound you hear in most older model subaru's and I was hoping there might be a way to fix it, I know it doesn't really affect the way it runs but it doesn't sound too good. It ticks as soon as I start the car whether hot or cold and doesn't stop till I turn it off. the oil i run is just basic castrol oil for older engines, I tried putting in the lifter additive that's meant to stop noisy lifters but had no luck.

If you mean an EA82 they have neither tappets or "lifters" . Lifter is Americanese for cam follower as in like what a pushrod engine has .
Just in case you didn't know an engine with the camshaft in the block needs a cylinder that's blind in one end to transmit cam lift to push rod lift .
The top of the push rod pushes the rockers up on the head which transmit downward motion to the valve stems .

All EA82's have a single cam in each head and the cam lobes push on the rockers wipe pads and the rockers push the valves open .
The pivot end of the rocker has a hydraulic piston underneath it to remove any excess clearance between the rocker and its pivot point .

I'd reset the cam belt tensioners and see if that shuts the noise up first -assumes EA82 .

A .

Disco, is a lifter a pushrod, or just like a pushrod? And what's a tappet? And are the little things that sit between the rocker arms and the valves on SOHC Falcons correctly called hydraulic lash adjusters? Been wondering about this for a while, and you seem to know what you're talking about.

Dane.

put some diseel oil in it as it fix my Lifter it my car i have now done 2500km with the oil and the engine runs a lot cooler as well and very very well more hp as well as will say not to do it but i just run cat oil and it fixed it

If by lifter you mean cam follower is a steel parallel walled cylinder and blind in the end that runs on the cam lobe . The other end is hollow and the push rod locates in a concave recess at the inner blind end of the cam follower .

In a push rod engine the came lobe pushes the cam follower and therefore the push rod towards the rocker arm . BTW in a push rod engine the rocker arm pivots in the middle where with a SOHC engine like an EA82 it pivots on one end .
Your push rod type rocker works basically like a see saw - the rod pushing up on one end and the rocker pushing the valves stem downwards on the other end . When the cam goes over the nose (past full lift point) the valve spring pushes the valve closed and so the rocker in the opposite direction taking the rod and cam follower with it .

The SOHC EA82 has the camshaft over the approximate middle of the rocker arm and the lobes push against the "wipe pad" section on the top face of the rocker arm . This style of valve train usually has "mouse trap" springs to keep the rocker in its correct location .
So these rockers have a pivot point on one end , the wipe pad above roughly the middle , and the business end which pushes down on the valve stems .

The hydraulic rocker pivot is there to make sure that the rocker follows the cams lobes even when the valves are closed ie on the "back" of the lobe or at the base circle diameter . If there is excessive clearance when the rocker is unloaded they literally rattle as they load and unload .
I reckon the cams get a bit of backlash if their belts are slack at low idle type revs .

You'll know if your lifters don't prime because you get a very loud clacking noise as the rockers get hammered back and forth .

My best guess is that the high mileage hydraulic pivots play up because people with cheap cars don't want to spend too much money on maintenance . They think cheap car only needs cheap oil and change it every two years .
Now diesel engine oil is normally high detergent additive oil and you don't have to buy an OEM's recommended oil to get this .
If your car doesn't have a cat converter there is little to stop you running any reasonable brand of diesel intended oil but you'd be smart to run the correct viscosity which is 15W40 or 15W50 in our ambient temperature ranges .
In my experience lighter grade oils leak profusely from a high mileage EA82 because of worn front and rear main seals and cam cover seals .
Mine has ALL new seals and its 15W50 Mobil synthetic stays exactly where it's supposed to .

A .

Guys,
Its not EA engine, its EJ22, She has 1996 Liberty.
Heat Shield - Only place I could think of is on exhaust pipe, there is a metal cover that is bolted/wrapped on the pipe, pain in the arse to take it off as you need a drill to remove the rivets, I had to remove them on my 1994 Liberty about 4 years ago I cannot remember why i did it..
Cheers
AP

Chances are its a loose baffle in the muffler or somewhere rather than rocks. solution you can locate the loose baffles drill in from the outside and weld/bang in some screws or replace the offending item.
jack it up put some proper blocks under it wood NOT bricks or stone and get idling and have a listen.

hi everyone, thanks for your help regarding the heat shield.... my friend and I managed to get a few rocks out from the heat shield last night which seems to have fixed that problem... all that's left is the ticking and I'll try some new oil to see how that goes. Thanks again everyone