I think I have piston slap on my truck.Question is is there a way to get rid of it.I used Castrol 5w-20 1st oil change.Also it took 6 1/2 qts. to get it to the full line Thanks

 

I think the people who developed the noise after the first oil change like to refer to it as "the marble in a can noise".

 

6 1/2 quarts? I only used 5 1/2. Also try Mobil1 5w-30.

 

Exactly 6 quarts is what your trucks take...no more no less.Ford screwed up in the dipstick oil level department.

 

There is no justification to use 5W 20 oil. The only reason is that Ford is trying to improve average fuel economy. IMO that oil will harm your engine especially if driven hard. I got rid of my piston slap by switching to Mobil 5W 30. When I heard that noise coming from my new truck, I wanted to set it on fire. Lucky for it, it went away.

 

Rick,call me.We'll talk about it.

 

Just to let some of you know, there have been many '01-02 4.6 2v Mustangs motors replaced because of a knock in the engine that most people are referring to as piston slap. Apparently the motors they are replacing them with have the same issue too. Ford has since put all replacing on hold untill they can figure out where the engineering went wrong, because they can't find the answer. From the sounds of it, the owners of the cars may have a good leg for a class action lawsuite.
I have been curious if the '01-02 L's have had the same problem. It seems to be more serious then just changing your oil.

 

if you think piston slap is a problem then go take a look at blue oval news

 

97Tbird4pt6L,
The engine in my '01 Lightning has been with the marbles in a can noise since new. The truck has 25000 miles now and the knock is no worse than when new. I reckon the engine will hold up for a while longer...I'm glad to have the extended warrantee!!

The 2000 Lightning I owned before...never knocked at all. We just could not keep spark plugs skrewed into the head!!!!!!

 

I love the Lightning concept but Ford has some serious quality problems and they don't seem to be getting better but may be getting worse. My 2000L has only 10,000 easy driven miles and no engine mods and my dealer has given up on me. He has squarely told me that there is nothing he can do and has indicated many times that "Ford has no fix".

A few of my problems are:
Piston slap
Mis-fited dash
Electrical problems
Squeaks and rattles
Fore and aft movement in the steering column
Assembly dents around the rear window
Improperly callibrated gauges (boost)
And so on...

In addition, the vehicle was delivered to me with the block heater dragging on the ground, panels mis-aligned and the rear suspension was so loose that it posed a serious accident risk.

I'm going to give Ford one more chance to address this and if this fails, I will be contacting a lawyer.

I'm sorry to share this but I'm really pissed. There is no excuse for this. Even Corean manufacturers are able to produce good quality vehicles.

Dion

 

Sorry to say guys, but after you hear piston slap, the damage is done. If you add a thicker oil to quiet it down you're doing just that. Temporarily making it quiet down. THe same can be done with a rod knock, but it's only temporary. I'd change back to the lighter oil and take the truck back to Ford. Have them fix it before the warranty goes away and they say too bad.