Hey there,

I have a 2000 F150 4.6 L crew cab. The question I have is Why does my Gas engine sound like a diesel engine? It has been like this since I bought it a couple years ago. I have blowen out 3 plugs already, and every time I take it in to get repaired, the tech asks me about the noise. Could it be the lifters or something else? I only put on about 800Km per year as it is my "beater" to haul firewood and garbage to the dump...

Ideas or suggestions?

 

uh i doubt it sounds like a diesel to start with but if it did something definately aint right. you got any videos to show us yer "problem"?

 

alot of clatter at idle are you talking about? mine has some clatter, with 151k miles on it though, and it runs great, I've always wondered also.

 

sounds like it might be the cam phaser issue.

Don't know that much about it but - I'm pretty sure I have it as well. There are a few threads on this site talking about it.

Sounds like a a clunking coming from either side of the engine.

The guy I bought mine from said it's always been like that. 190000 km later, it's still the same. He had it repaired once and it came right back.

 

One possibility is the cam chain tensioners are worn allowing the chains to slap the front cover.
A motor that has had heavier oils run in the belief that better protection would result is often the under laying cause of the tensioner wear.
Heavier oils build to much oil pressure when these motors are first cold started resulting in to much tension against the cam chains until the oil thins from heat..
Thus one reason why the spec oil is 5W20 all year around.
The 5W part helps keep cold start wear down.
Once tensioners are worn, they need to be replaced.
The tensioners are forced outward to take up chain tension by hydraulic pistons operated from oil pressure delivery galleries within the block.
This is even done in the old Bronco and Ranger V6 motors from the mid to late 80s.

 

Cam phasers are only on 04+ 5.4 3v engines, folks. A nonissue in this 97-03 section.

To stop your plugs from blowing out, retorque them to 28 ft/lb and do NOT use antiseize.

 

x2
Youll get sounds like this..
There are 3 sounds here, an exhaust leak, cam chain (more of a diesel sound) and a bad main bearing
[IMG]

And the chain looking/sounding like this
[IMG]

There was other bearing damage so I decided to pull and swap mine.

Or possible valve damage from 1 of the 3 previous blow outs? Just throwing it out there since youve had 3 blow outs.

I would spend the time like glc said and make sure they are torqued properly with no anti seize and that problem will go away.

 

how difficult is it to replace the cam chain. i do have that diesel sound.

 

I would recommend purchasing a mechanics stethoscope, they're only around $10. SAFELY while the motor is running, try and pin point where it is coming from, check the valve covers, Timing cover, oil pan, exhaust manifolds and any other area you can. If the noise is coming from the cover, I would suspect the tensioner. But there are other similar noises so I say hunt it down to confirm before you think about pulling it all apart. Pick yourself up a haynes or chilton manual to become more familiar with how the tensioners work. Once your dead set on you think you have narrowed it down to the tensioners and it cant be anything else. Start the disassembly. I haven't had first hand experience replacing them so hopefully someone can give you a brief walk though or a general Idea what it would take.

 

Hey this is the same sound that my truck is making.... I am glad that I am not the only one experinacing this. I am going to call around to a few Ford dealers to see how much it could cost to repair this.

Thanks all.

 

That sounded nasty Toyz lol. Yep, it did sound like a diesel, -exactly at certain RPM's. Only sound I hear so far with mine is the injectors, -that's if I listen close, with the hood open.

Yea, don't stethoscope the injectors, - they keep ticking in your head for days, -hard to get any sleep.

 

It was beyond nasty. But I had to look past all that when I bought it. The price was right considering I knew it needed rebuilt. It wasnt near that bad the day I bought it, I suspect some sort of magical oil was used to sell it to me because about 2 weeks later is when it got really bad.
Poor maintenance was to blame, previous owner knew nothing about maintaining a vehicle. It had mis matched tires on it, The spare was missing. Drivers arm rest was hanging out of the socket. Oil looked of the wrong viscosity and was burnt beyond anything I have seen. All fluids were burnt and old, tranny fluid was above the full mark or "do not add" by a half an inch. PCV valve was broken and missing its internal parts, how? Dont know... Where did they go? Dont know either.
Alignment was off so bad the steering wheel was at about 15 degrees out of straight.

But again, for the price, I saw past all of that. And have since (3.5 months of owning it) replaced the motor, new tires and wheels, exhaust, grill, new windshield, took the tint off the front windows, new head unit, custom sub and amp, fixed all the other issues, touch up paint, some buffing, lots of cleaning, headlights and turn signals (havent been installed) and its almost where I want it. Next is the tranny maybe. Just since I have a better lower mileage one. And Im still, after the new motor and all other parts only into it for under 5k. So I'm doing alright.

All for the love of the 1 fitty

 

It's a 99 as well. I likes that model. It also has the BEST PI intake of it's generation. Did you know that ? Now you do.

 

Well, just during the swap I was told to keep it vs the plastic intake. But nobody told me it was the best of its generation...

I see you have yours port and polished along with your TB. You do that yourself or shop? Did all the runners get flow matched.. or tested cfm before and after the work to see what kind of flow gains it produced. I wouldn't mind doing something like that if its worth the difference and the cost is fair.

 

Did it myself, Ported polished and knifed. Also Port matched the lower and upper. No runners. 5fours don't have runners. 4sixs - 3eights do tho.

I still need a tune, never took the final step with any of the mods, so I don't know how much I could get out of her. I ported and polished the valve body in the trans as well, then installed the shift kit. Had to, the trans went out, truck wouldn't move, just slip like crazy. I talked with Troyer and a few local trans guys for a how to fix and brought it back to life lol. You would think I'm running lean, - I am, - only when wide open for a short period of time.