desert_rat

I'm at a loss here and not sure what I should do. 2013 FX2 with the infamous 5.0 tick, currently at 41k miles, warranty expired last August. I picked up this truck with 23k miles two years ago and it had a very slight tick at the time. Took it in under warranty and the dealer said "its normal". Okay fine, I'll keep driving. I started using redline oil and it pretty much eliminated the noise. However now my warranty is expired and tick has returned with a vengeance in the last two weeks, has somewhat of a knock sound as well. On top of that, it gets worse every time I drive it.

I decided to inspect the cylinders with a bore-scope camera to see if there is any scoring on the walls but my camera was too big to see to the sides, all I could see was the piston. In this process, I did note that the spark plugs on the back cylinders (both driver and passenger side) were significantly dirtier than the rest. I don't know if that is from poor compression, etc.

So I don't know if I have the oblong cylinder issue or the loose tolerances in the main bearings that seem to be a problem on the mustangs. As I am out of warranty I cannot afford to get a new block or even a used one as that is currently out of my budget. The noise is much louder at the bottom of the engine, something is moving around that shouldn't be and I'm afraid to drive it any further. Should I just bite the bullet and trade it in?

Here is a video I took today, keep in mind that the cooling fans drown out a lot of the noise, it sounds horrible in person. Can be heard from 150 ft away.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41NzC9JuyWs&feature=youtu.be

desert_rat

Update: I am officially out of luck.....Turned on the truck this morning, made all sorts of noise from the bottom end and threw a rod through the block. Had the truck towed to the dealer but the service department isn't open until tomorrow. For now she sits, have no idea what I will do with this giant paperweight. Has this happened to anyone else? It doesn't appear to be a common issue.

desert_rat

Can we delete this thread? Truck is long gone, problem solved.

tuuber89

I'm sorry you had to deal with throwing a rod, but I was compelled to reply and bump this old thread because I went through nearly the same thing with my 2011. Your symptoms, timeline and noise are all too familiar. This was probably late 2015/2016; mine started knocking around 48k and got real bad around 53k (I bought it at 41k off lease thinking it had a reliable maintenance history). The noise started as a tick and turned into a loud knock, with a progressively worse sound. I took it into Ford twice right before my powertrain warranty was up and they said they couldn't hear anything, as soon as my warranty ran out the sound was so bad I was scared to drive it. I took it into Ford again and they said, "yeah, you probably shouldn't drive that, we'll tear into the engine for 2k and try to find the problem." I struggled with my dealer for months and they gave me the run around and appearance that things were elevated to regional representative for Ford. Nothing ever happened and I ended up purchasing a new short block out of pocket. I pulled the engine and and swapped over the heads myself, built the engine back up and dropped it in. It sounds great, quieter than it ever was no thanks to Ford. I documented everything well and have my receipts ready if a suit ever comes up.

Its a damn shame they never really acknowledged the early adopters of the 5.0 Coyote that had the bearing and oblong cylinder problems. What's even more sad is I've seen a new round of truck owners reporting issues with the next gen 5.0 in 2018s (this is a different issue; cam phasers and chain tensioners). I hope you didn't break the bank too bad with that truck, my whole process was probably 4.5k out of pocket for the engine and components, purchasing a 4k beater to drive around for while and many many hours.