I am the new owner of a 98 4.6 liter for about 2 months now,after some reading i now believe it has the common head gasket allowing coolant into cylinder ! once before when trying to start it acted like it was having a hard time turning over so i bumped the key a couple times and it started up ! Today it happened again but the engine was to a point where it couldn't turn anymore ! after it set a while with no change i turned the balancer manually the opposite direction a couple rotations and then tried it and it started right up but with a rather loud tapping noise ! i went to engine bay it it seemed to be coming from passenger side valve cover ! i read something about a roller follower finger could cause this so i removed cover hoping for a obvious MINOR problem but i see nothing that looks unusual to me ! but this is my first time seeing much of this engine ! any help or ideas ? anyone please ! I have no trouble codes and seems to run smooth but doesn't sound good so i have not driven it any !

 

really ??? nobody can tell me anything ???

 

I just went through my entire motor (5.4) and mine still has some valve train noise, and I had my heads refurb'd. Check your chains, if they're even a little bit loose replace them and the chains, guides, and tensioners. You can get a kit of all those items from napa pretty cheap.

 

You should do a compression check to determine if you have a blown head casket. You could also take out the plug and see if coolant comes out of the cylinder. Also, see if you have oil in the water or water in the oil. Also, are you loosing water from your cooling system. If you have a bad head gasket, all you can do is have it fixed or replace the engine.