paczowski123

So, another update (a year later). I started to get more annoyed with my truck, it seemed to be ticking more often and knocking even harder and more frequently. It used to only do it when it was cold outside, but now it is doing it even when warm. Since the last dealer was completely useless, I figured it was time to try another dealer. After finding another local dealer I took it in to have them look at it. I had collected many videos of it doing it over the course of the last year or so, and it seems we're heading in the right direction now. I dropped it off yesterday morning and got the usual, "I cannot put you in a loaner until we actually reproduce the issue", yada, yada. I felt as though I was getting the same run around as the last dealer and they took me for another crazy customer making crap up. It came to about 4:00pm yesterday and I had not heard anything back, however, I know the last dealer called me back in about 2 hours and said we cannot reproduce the issue, come get the truck and they would spend no more time diagnosing it unless I wanted to pay. So, I was not sure if maybe they had found the issue and were digging further, and after calling it seemed they were. He acknowledged the noise, claimed his tech heard it and was reaching out to ford to find their next steps and they would put me in a loaner. SUCCESS, FINALLY! Someone at Ford willing to help, or at least admit there was a problem!!!

I asked what they had done and he claimed they took an oil sample and did a compression test which all checked out (seems others had the same tests done with the same results) and that they would do another cold start today and see if they could get the knock as bad as the videos I shared with them. He also said they may remove the oil filter, cut it open, and look for metal particles inside the filter. I have not heard anything today, so hopefully that means they're continuing to dig further or waiting direction from Ford. While they have not said they're fixing anything, or replacing the engine, I was relieved to finally find a dealer willing to try and help and admit there IS a problem.

BMLS

I've owned a 2011 and 2014, both trucks identical XLT 4wd w/ 5.0. Both knocked. Each truck was trouble free, no issues. My 2011 was traded in @ 147k, solid truck. The 2014 was sold @ 80k and was solid. Both lived on the road, received scheduled maintenance and ran full synthetic with Motorcraft filters. Additionally, each truck was tuned by 5Star, running 87 performance/tow tunes--this made no difference in engine noise.
I jumped in a new 2017 5.0 in January 2018 for work, truck was new--it knocked.
I was @ Ford dealership today looking @ 2018 3.5EB and sales folks accidentally brought the truck I was after over with a 5.0 in her. She knocked, loud. So loud, several employees came over, popped the hood, and started scratching their heads.

gopherman

I've posted about this in the 2015+ forum and haven't received any responses about whether or not anyone else is experiencing the issue. Lately...all that forum has been is 3.5 vs. 5.0 talk...but that's a separate issue.

Anyway, I recorded a clip of this last night...is this the same knock people are hearing with the oblong cylinder issues on the 5.0? This is happening on bank one (or at least is much louder when listening from the passenger wheel well). This was taken about 5-10 minutes after start-up...at start-up there's another noise and the engine runs rough for a minute or two and then smooths out. This is a 2016 with 22500 on the odometer. If this is the same issue what's the best way to approach the dealer with it...everything and I mean everything comes back as normal from the dealer. Thanks in advance for any input!

Bank #1 Sound

milksteak636

I just noticed this knock on my 2013 F-150 5.0 yesterday after having the truck for less than a week, it only has 80,300 miles on it. I'm wondering if the previous owner traded it in after noticing this noise. Luckily I purchased a bumper to bumper warranty from the dealership so hopefully I will be taken care of. I can't schedule an appointment until Tuesday when they're open again. I'll update when I know more. Any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

gopherman

I've been posting about this to try to get answers myself. I've done a lot of data logging and at least from what I've read and observed, it's either from cylinders being out of tolerance or VCT issues. I still think the true root cause to both problems is the lower spec base oil pressure. There are many that believe this is normal...and it may well be but nobody has been able to provide an explanation as to why. One thing to be sure of is that it's not the injectors. The video I posted makes the injectors (the higher pitch ticking) clearly audible...the issue I'm more concerned about is the lower/slower knock type sound. My dealership said they don't know what it is but that it's normal. It may be...but the culprit behind the sound remains elusive. Have you been able to find where the noise seems loudest?

milksteak636

I know that it's definitely not normal, but whether or not it's harmful or detrimental to the life of the engine is still up in the air for me. I hear best from the passenger side wheel well, though if I roll my windows down and sit in the cab it's pretty audible.

gopherman

Same here, that's where mine is loudest as well. As far as whether the root cause of the noise is detrimental to the engine, I've seen differing viewpoints. Some have said they have had it for tens of thousands of miles with no problem, others have it fixed...I don't think there's a definitive answer for VCT or cylinders out of spec. With VCT, eventually it'll start running rough and if left long enough will cause the chains to stretch. The out of round cylinder I would imagine would cause more damage over time with residual metal floating around in the oil. Some people have said that they've been able to rule out cylinder issues by using a scan tool and disabling each one to see if the noise goes away. I did that today and while the engine ran rough, the noise didn't go away. My best bet is on VCT phasers not locking as they should due to an oil pressure anomaly. If there's any debris or carbon build-up in the VCT oil passages, this can happen (so the problem could be phasers or solenoids). The phasers between 2011-2014 models are different than the 2015-2017 5.0's but both use CTA which takes advantage of torque from the cam lobes to advance/retard timing. If oil pressure is low and isn't making it into the oil compartments in the cam actuator, the vanes flop around (since there's not enough oil to resist movement). If you're willing/comfortable to try something out, you can disconnect the VCT solenoids on each bank to see if the problem goes away. I would do this myself, but I don't want any codes thrown, or DTC clears showing up that aren't from the dealership.

milksteak636

Well I'm taking mine to the Dealership service dept on Wednesday so if they are befuddled I'll definitely suggest disconnecting each VCTsolenoid to try and eliminate the noise, I'm not skilled enough to go around messing with stuff and I luckily did purchase an extended bumper to bumper so I don't want to compromise that. What you're saying does make sense though, the oil explanation could explain why it's only knocking on warm idle for me. If I rev the engine you can briefly hear the knock speed up then it goes away but as the revs settle you can hear it come back. I'm really hoping I just take it in there and they go "oh yeah, there's the knock, here's a new engine" but I know it won't be that easy. Maybe having a third party (Allstate) extended warranty will make them more likely to replace it since Ford won't be the one eating the bill.

milksteak636

Here's a video of my knock, is this the same sound you're having Gopherman?

gopherman

Yep, that is it.