I'm on the road, about a thousand miles from home, replacing a starter with a defective solenoid. Fortunately the no-start happened near a cousin so I'm working on the vehicle in his yard.

For the last couple hundred miles there has been mechanical noise coming from the LH cylinder head.  My guess is that the rocker assembly has loosened and a pushrod is rattling.  But I really have no idea and have not yet pulled off the valve cover.

This is a 1987 vanagon with the original 2.1 engine with 240k kilometers. I don't believe the engine has ever been opened.

Before I start mucking around with my rudimentary mechanical skills I thought I'd seek advice. Is this a known problem? Something I can address in a few hours?

All help much appreciated.

Rick