With a smidge under 140,000 miles on my 03' 5.4, it has began to solidly tick. Pretty sure the lash adjusters are the culpret. I went in and made an appointment at the ford dealer to diagnose it (just confirm my thoughts) and give their thoughts on doing a top end build if its solid. The engine feels really strong throughout the powerband, doesn't lose any oil or coolant so i am debating on adding some hp to it.
I am going to either
A. Just replace the lifters and everything that goes along with that (approx $500)
B. Do the above plus timing equipment, heads, 272 cams, and a larger throttle body. (Approx $1800)
Well I'll find out monday and see what my summer 'free time' has in store for me under the hood.