Hi everyone, my 2001 Lightning has 56k on it, and it's knocking when you first start it up, usually goes away withn 5 minutes or so. It's done this since I bought it, about 8k miles ago. I took it in for this the first week or so after I bought it, and FOrd said it was a normal condition, aka piston slap when the engine is cold. I'm an ASE certified technician, and have 10 years experience, and quite Frankly it still bothers me to hear this every morning. Any suggestions or anything I need to know or be concerned about here? I really hate it when manufacturers say that something is normal that I don't like. I've also been told that Ford says that up to 1 quart of oil usage in 800 miles is allowable and considered normal, that's BS. Mine uses about 1 quart every 3k miles and I think that is excessive. Any info is appreciated, thanks! BK

 

BK,
I have about 58K on my 2001....and I have the same (almost). When I first start it in the morning I will hear piston slap for about 3-5 seconds. Very minimal in my opinion...but was also told by Ford that this is normal. I use Royal Purple 5W-20 and usually about 1/2 down by my next oil change.

On a side note...I don't get alot of oil in my seperator. Makes you wonder where it goes