[Anker]

White smoke is coolant smoke. Check the water pump and the coolant hoses. You may not see moisture but you will probably see deposits like the ones shown on a recent photo in this forum (within that last couple of days). Since you see smoke I suspect the problem is a bad head gasket or (hopefully not) a cracked head.

I would ignore the ticking for now and concentrate on the white smoke, and for God's sake, keep the coolant level topped up.

Check the oil dipstick and the oil filler cap for mayonnaise. If there is any, stop driving the car! This means that coolant is getting mixed into the engine oil and you will eventually destroy your engine.

Once you have identified the coolant leak and fixed that you may also have found the source of the ticking noise.

Good luck!