Hi guys,

First post here after reading several several threads on the ticking issue in the 5.4. I bought a 2007 flareside super cab with the 5.4 (about 130000 on it) earlier this year that had been extremely well taken care of before I got it. It only has a very slight ticking noise right now that could honestly be injectors or something else I am confusing. It does idle a little rough at times and seems to have a weird misfire on light throttle at highway speeds but I think that is spark related as the coils have never been replaced, which I will be taking care of soon. However, I intend on keeping this truck a long time and in the future if not for anything else I want to do the timing for peace of mind. My question is if I buy the M360 pump (high pressure) and cast iron tensioners, should I use 5w30 oil or go back to 5w20? I know there is a big debate about this in general, until I do the timing I will be staying with 5w30 as it is what the original owner has used since day 1. My question is, if I change to the high pressure pump and the iron tensioners, could the higher weight 5w30 oil cause them to ratchet too tight?

 

motor was designed to use 5W-20.. not sure why the Original Owner choose 5W-30 from the start. The tick you are hearing may be a exhaust manifold leak. have the plugs been changed ? and no need to replace COP's if they all work.

 

He said his brother was a mechanic and told him to use 5w30 since it was what was recommended for the engine in Australia as he thought 5w20 was for emissions and being in the Florida heat 5w30 would be better anyways. Yes plugs were changed at about 95,000 miles according to service receipts. It is a very very slight miss and it seems to get worse when it rains which leads me to believe coil boots and springs are faulty causing a short.

 

So.. just replace the boots and springs.. and apply some dielectric grease to the boot ends for a good seal. what brand plugs were installed ?

 

Oil weight is really your call, this engine's tolerance/requirement for oil has been discussed all over the net and comes down to two major camps:

"Use what the factory tells you to"
and
"these engines use almost any grade of oil, depending on what country they're in, so don't sweat it"

My decision for 5w-30 was made for me by slightly loose clearances on a couple of cam caps. That, and I can get it for like $14/jug.

 

The 5.4 was actually designed to use 5w30 originally, in south america it still does use 5w30. AFAIK no parts changed it was just a bulletin pushed by Ford.

 

Maybe the 2V was...

 

http://www.fordraptorforum.com/f23/f...-1200rpm-6773/

 

The 3 valve came out in Australia in the Falcon in 2002 (two years before it ever hit NA shores) and was spec'd with 5w30 or 5w40 (both options allowed) weight oils. EPA regs made for the use of 5w20. mine ran great on castrol 0w40 year round in Calgary.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_M...engine#3-valve

 

Another fun thing: About that same time, FoMoCo back-spec'd almost the entire fleet of Ford cars & trucks that were 5w-30 to 5w-20. Granted, they did one hell of a lot of engine testing around this, but...


Tell me what that did for their CAFE scores.