I have a 2015 2.7L with about 3700 miles on it. I noticed the past few days when the truck is running, there's a ticking sound, which is more noticeable on the passenger side. When standing on the driver's side, you can't really hear it.

I'm new to turbos, so I was wondering if this is a normal sound?

 

Most likely the noise you're hearing is from the direct injection. The injectors fire under a lot of pressure, much like a diesel injector does.

 

Ok thanks. I guess what made me question it is that I haven't heard it until a couple of days ago.

 

Yep, you can try running a fuel system additive like Lucas through it and it might quiet it down for a while, but GDI injectors are noisy by nature.

 

The tick doesn't bother me as long as it's not something I need to be concerned about.

 

Mine 2.7L ticks really loud too. 6700 miles. Good to hear it the nature of GDI. Had me worried.

Found this:

"Direct inject gas motors operate very similarly to diesels. They must force the gas through over 1,000psi of pressure into the cylinder. This requires a lot of force, which can turn into that ticking/clicking sound if not properly damped. Some oems do a good job as hiding the noise, others don't care enough to do it. Really just personal preference."

 

Ford has A LOT of noise dampening materials around the engine on the 2.7 Eco. I got to hear one running without all of the noise dampening & it sounded like an old Mercedes diesel car....lol I believe the fuel pressure on the 2.7 is closer to 2300 psi when firing the injector.