I know I've seen tons of threads on the 5.4L, about how they tick and sound like a diesel. But I can't seem to find the exact problem. The tick happens as soon as I start the truck from either a cold or warm start, and doesn't go away as I drive it. So I took it to the dealer and was told it was the cam phasers. I don't think they really know for sure. Could it be my VCT Sensors? I've heard a lot of people having luck with replacing them. Or if anyone has any idea what it could be. It's driving me nuts!

 

Update.. The noise seems to be coming from the fuel rail. I did the old screw driver to the ear trick and no other spot on the engine is as loud as it. I can hear it from the cabin though. Could it be bad injectors?

 

Update.. The noise seems to be coming from the fuel rail. I did the old screw driver to the ear trick and no other spot on the engine is as loud as it. I can hear it from the cabin though. Could it be bad injectors?

 

Check to see if the VCT solenoids are the problem by just unplugging them. This should remove them from the equation. If it's still ticking, it's probably something else. Loose spark plugs can cause the noise, too. Is it louder on one side than the other?

 

Yes the passenger side seems to be the louder of the two sides. I ended up taking the VCT Solenoid out of that side and it was ok, even unplugged it and started the truck. Its loud underneath the truck too, so im thinking maybe exhaust manifolds are leaking ,the spark plugs are bad or a mixture of both. I just put a loud exhaust on it today to try and balance out the noise, but it still sounds bad going down the road.

 

The ticking noise is at all RPMs. From idle to 5k.