New Member-Occasional loud tick on start up
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Occasional loud tick on start up
Hi there,
New member, here. I apologize if this thread isn't where it's supposed to be. I just picked up a used 2004 f150 xl and had some questions on an engine tick that I get only a portion of the time and it is only when the engine is cold. It is relatively loud. Loud enough that it's embarrassing when I start the truck up in a public parking lot. It only does it maybe 50% of the time and just when it is cold. It's either there on start up or it's not. If it's there it goes away after I drive for a min or two it dissipates. If it isn't there on start up then it won't show up the entire time I drive it. I can only hear it at idle and then a little as I begin to drive. It becomes drowned out by tire and road noise after I get above 20 mph or so. But initially I can hear the tick speed up as the rpm's climb. It happens when it has sat over night and even when it's sat for only an hour. I still have yet to find a pattern with when it happens and when it doesn't. It sounds like a tick vs a knock. And you can hear it at regular time intervals matching the engine.
The truck has 83,00 miles and is the 5.4 liter. I had done some research on these triton engines and think I understand the cam phaser issues and that there is some typical engine noise. The dealership did replace just the driver's side cam phaser as that appears to be the side where the sound is generating from. They replaced the vct solenoid on that side as well. The last couple times I drove it before I bought it the noise was gone so I figured we were in the clear, but turns out it just does it occasionally.
From my research it doesn't sound like it could be the cam phaser since from what understand that noise is when the engine is at temperature. I recently found some info that maybe suggests it could be the oil draining down from the top of the engine and takes some time to build back up to the top after running it. I'm assuming the dealership has pretty cheap oil and filter in the thing.
I wasn't finding too much that sounded like my exact situation out there so I thought I might post this and see what you experienced f150 owners thought.
Thanks in advance for any input you can provide.
New member, here. I apologize if this thread isn't where it's supposed to be. I just picked up a used 2004 f150 xl and had some questions on an engine tick that I get only a portion of the time and it is only when the engine is cold. It is relatively loud. Loud enough that it's embarrassing when I start the truck up in a public parking lot. It only does it maybe 50% of the time and just when it is cold. It's either there on start up or it's not. If it's there it goes away after I drive for a min or two it dissipates. If it isn't there on start up then it won't show up the entire time I drive it. I can only hear it at idle and then a little as I begin to drive. It becomes drowned out by tire and road noise after I get above 20 mph or so. But initially I can hear the tick speed up as the rpm's climb. It happens when it has sat over night and even when it's sat for only an hour. I still have yet to find a pattern with when it happens and when it doesn't. It sounds like a tick vs a knock. And you can hear it at regular time intervals matching the engine.
The truck has 83,00 miles and is the 5.4 liter. I had done some research on these triton engines and think I understand the cam phaser issues and that there is some typical engine noise. The dealership did replace just the driver's side cam phaser as that appears to be the side where the sound is generating from. They replaced the vct solenoid on that side as well. The last couple times I drove it before I bought it the noise was gone so I figured we were in the clear, but turns out it just does it occasionally.
From my research it doesn't sound like it could be the cam phaser since from what understand that noise is when the engine is at temperature. I recently found some info that maybe suggests it could be the oil draining down from the top of the engine and takes some time to build back up to the top after running it. I'm assuming the dealership has pretty cheap oil and filter in the thing.
I wasn't finding too much that sounded like my exact situation out there so I thought I might post this and see what you experienced f150 owners thought.
Thanks in advance for any input you can provide.
Last edited by lippoby; Sep 19, 2015 at 07:51 PM.
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From: Martinez, Georgia
X2, check the exhaust manifold for leaks. Look for black soot, that will hopefully show where a small crack, hole or a bad gasket is located. Also look for broken manifold studs.
Tom
Tom
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Update: So i've had the truck to my normal mechanic and also the ford dealership just down the road from my house. Never found any exhaust manifold leak. The dealership heard the tick/knock I was talking about and stated it could be a lifter issue. They weren't overly concerned about it. They just told me to bring it back in if it gets worse. They said they could take the valve cover off and look further in to it, but they couldn't guarantee they could fix the problem.
I'm not to keen on giving away my money so I wanted to post here again to see if anyone else had any thoughts or similar issues. If I need to I can send the truck back in to have it torn down, but I'd like a little more confidence from the dealership it would fix the issue.
Again, 04 5.4 3v with 83k on it. I just bought the truck probably 5 weeks ago so it's new to me. I've noticed it will do it occasionally on start up. I would say 50% of the time. It eventually goes away after the engine has run awhile. It won't go away if the truck just idles. I've let it idle for probably 10 min letting it get up to temperature and the noise is still there. It only goes away after I get on the road and drive for a couple min. It also can happen when it's completely cold or all the way up to temperature. I can run it for an hour, turn it off for 10min and then start it up and it's there. Once it's driven down the road though it goes away and never comes back. Sometimes it's quite loud and other times it's more reasonable. Either way it's embarrassing when I start it up in a parking lot somewhere.
I'm not to keen on giving away my money so I wanted to post here again to see if anyone else had any thoughts or similar issues. If I need to I can send the truck back in to have it torn down, but I'd like a little more confidence from the dealership it would fix the issue.
Again, 04 5.4 3v with 83k on it. I just bought the truck probably 5 weeks ago so it's new to me. I've noticed it will do it occasionally on start up. I would say 50% of the time. It eventually goes away after the engine has run awhile. It won't go away if the truck just idles. I've let it idle for probably 10 min letting it get up to temperature and the noise is still there. It only goes away after I get on the road and drive for a couple min. It also can happen when it's completely cold or all the way up to temperature. I can run it for an hour, turn it off for 10min and then start it up and it's there. Once it's driven down the road though it goes away and never comes back. Sometimes it's quite loud and other times it's more reasonable. Either way it's embarrassing when I start it up in a parking lot somewhere.
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