philcomm

99 F150 4X4 5.4 w/ 97k mi. I get knocking when first starting up in morning--goes away about 1 min. Louder
when it's colder. Ideas?

User-139927

Good ? and glad I can shine some light on it.

I happen to have this prob. myself and mention your question to the dealer, I also mention it seems to do it more when its cold. The awnser.. Cold engine knock...I know right i was like well what the hell is that. He advised me its not a big deal and its common in the F150 or F series for that matter basically the pistons have a little moving room until they heat up thats whats causing it. Once the pistons expand from the heat it stops.

philcomm

Thanks for that info--I now have 97k on the engine--no real problems but the knock has been coming on. It also seems much less when I change oil. Had a 1K trip last 5 days and no knock until a little this AM--but it was real cold.
Thanks again

wde3477

Cold engine knock? WTF?

If that were normal, it should be part of the owner's manual. What kind of extreme alloys are being used which expand/contract that much?

I agree that tolerances must be accomodated because metal does expand as it's heated up - but to the point of knocking? I think the dealer wasn't telling the whole story.

My 19-year old F150 with 209K on an engine design from the late 60s doesn't have this cold-knock thing - so I don't think it's all that common with F-series. And I'm guessing that tolerances weren't as tight then as they are now.

transmaster

Wow that sure sound like a line of bovine scatology to me. What car company would build an engine with kind this of problem. To be sure there were some really bad engines out of Detroit but the 302 was not one of them.

P.S. Talk about being behind the times I just realized the 5.4L is the so called modular V8, and engine I know nothing about.

User-139927

Hey now, you dont have to kill the messenger, i just happen to have the same problem and was passing what was given to me.

wde3477

ah, yah, well, hang on there Truckin. Remember, as an F150 owner, you're among friends here.

When Transmaster mentioned bovine scatology and the 302 in the same post - not sure if he was referring to your post, or mine. :-) And I'm pretty sure the comment wasn't directed at either me or you, but towards the manufacturers of said bad, outside of the 302 and numerous other fine, engines.

Your 5.4L should be about a 330CID engine (using 61.4 cu.in. per liter as a conversion ratio).

And, keep in mind that most of us are focused on directing attacks towards the issue, not the person. Well, except for the very few people that have a few 'head' bolts not quite torqued to spec. :-)~

I'm hoping the mutual agreement is that audible knocking in an engine is not acceptable nor normal for any vintage motor of any make operating in any North American climate.

transmaster

My comment was not directed at you but at the dealer who was trying to feed you such a line. sorry if it seemed to be pointed at you

I realized belatedly I got the wrong engine. I was drooling over the LMC parts catalog I got in the mail yesterday and I was a little distracted, I can hardly believe that every screw, body panel, duct, and decal is available from this outfit for my f150. I am not used to this. I got rid of a rather rare 1964 Dodge Town wagon because it was all but imposable to get any of the body parts for it.

transmaster

I researched the 5.4L V8 and it turns out piston slap (PS) this is a know issue with this engine. On the buyer's guides for used vehicles this is flagged as something to check out before a purchase.

What is interesting is PS is a common issue not just with Ford. It is a issue found in many modern
piston engines with the light weight pistons used in todays engines. If the PS goes away in a minute or so it is considered normal, if it lasts longer it isn't. One suggestion if you have PS is to go to a heavier viscosity oil such as 20/50 weight.

Here is an interesting bit of information I found about it.
http://www.canadiandriver.com/articles/jk/020320.htm

The bottom line is the dealer was not feeding you a line of bovine scatology.

philcomm

transmaster--thanks for the great info. I makes a lot of sense and why it happens when it is cold. The dealer just said that nothing was wrong, although the noise was not happening then--I had driven it 1.5 hours to get there and it was hot/warm. Thanks again
philcomm