Coolant disappearing and a clicking....

[that7dude]

Hello everyone. I have a 01 alero with the LA1 3400 engine in it. I have had it for it 8 or so months now, bought used, has approx. 117k miles. Lately I have had problems of coolant disappearing but luckily none of it has gotten into the oil but this brings up another problem. I have ask several mechanics about a click in my engine on the bank closest to the front, they have all said it sounds like my lifters are starting to go. The click is a constant click that is especially noticeable while coming down from 3k rpms to idle when you are outside looking under the hood. After reading a bit on the forums here, I have been thinking that my coolant is leaking around the intake area where it would only effect the one bank. I got to this thought because if it was leaking anywhere else where it could mix with the oil my car would have been dead by now. Could it be possible that these two incidents are connected together or if they are separate. Any help on how to solve these problems will be much appreciated.
Thank you

[StoopidAlero]

Me stupid, Me dont understand N-Jens. Me take to shop to have wacky noises fixed.

[Gr1m]

the last person who owned the car could have done engine work and over tightened your rockers, might want to check that out in regards to the ticking, but it sounds like your gaskets are shot and your leaking coolant