could this be a blown head gasket??
 

i have a 2010 5.4 with an eforce blower on it, 55k miles. Im
hearing a slight ticking air noise only at certain rpms. Its mainly under loads in higher gear that you can hear it best. Even at its beat though its a fairly faint noise(i have stock exhaust), but its yet enough to bug me. At first it was my headers warped, so i changed those out and im almost 99% sure its not the case anymore as the noise is much less now and only coming from the drivers side from what i can tell.
I put a stethoscope on serveral parts of the engine at idle and everything sounds smooth besides the injectors ticking which i believe to be normal to some degree. These injectors only have 5k on them too( new with the eforce )
So now that you have some background. The only thing i see suspicous is a dreaded head gasket. I have a pic below from when i installed the blower, but didnt think much of it since no noise was present before or right after the blower install. I use no oil, antifreeze, and the truck runs normal. But there is some oil reside right and the gasket point on the drivers side. I cant figure oil leaking here though?
Ive done loads of research on this and im still uncertain! I would like some advice plz!
My next step is a compression test, so well see what that says.
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.f15...cdec3eb0e5.jpg



drivers side head


https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.f15...82f9d5b3eb.jpg


pass side looks clean if u zoom in

Looks like a gasket leak to me. Almost looks like it has the tint on antifreeze on that build up. That's a good amount of oil build up on the block.

Hard to believe you would have an audible leak without using coolant or oil.

I agree with dyeguy1212. My son's Mustang GT did same thing.

Pop your radiator cap off and see if your fluid looks like chocolate milk, then you got a blown head gasket for sure.

Ya that's what's so strange, I've lost zero antifreeze and under the cap looks normal and my oil smells and looks as it should also.

No "radiator cap" to remove; only the cap on the degauss (coolant overflow) container. That's clear enough to tell of the antifreeze is discolored or not.

I'd check the heater bypass pipe laying on the block, the water pump, and the water crossover and T stat where the upper radiator hose connects.. You'd likely notice a blown head gasket and see smoke/steam from the tailpipe if it was the case..
Did you smell any coolant sweetness from the engine compartment or tailpipe at all before and after you tore it down? It's really hard to say what's going on exactly with the pics.
Did you test the residual in the stain on the block to make sure it's oil or coolant?
You could maybe try spinning the water pump by hand to see any possible leaks..

i dont notice any antifreeze smell after running it, however i did not test the residue to see if it was oil or antifreeze.

Ticking 97 ford f150
 

I just bought this little pickup 8 months ago. When it is cold, the motor purrs just fine. When warmed up, it still runs good, except for an annoying ticking noice coming from the drivers side of the vehicle. My cousin is a ford mechanic and he believed i needed to change my fuel injectors. The motor is not missing. And runs well with no hiccups. Since the ticking noice is non existant when cold and only starts after the emgine is warmed up. It is not a header gasket issue. Taking a solid rod or bar. I placed it in several areas of the engine compartment and listened. I traced the noise to its loudest point originating from the catalytic converter. This explains why the noise only.starts up after warming. As we are aware, this unit heats up to burn exaust emissions. There must be an somethimg like pre ignition burn which causes this consistant tickimg noise which speeds up as the engine speeds up. best guess. As several mechanics also believe the same.

@Stillrose13 The ticking noise after warm up is typically the cam phaser.