Could be worse, you could drive a chevy.

Sounds like you have the 5.4 piston slap, if it only occurs on startup. I have a wav file on my homepage you can use to verify. If that is the case, dont fear you have alot going for you:

1) The fix is due out in Sept.

2) You still have 33,000 miles on your warranty.

These really are the best trucks on the road, but there will be problems from time to time. I had a 91 Explorer that had a good number of problems (and 7 recalls from the factory didnt help). But it always ran strong despite these. Now, 8 years later its still on the road and has outlasted many of my familys other cars. Dont worry, Ford will take care of you. Be sure to go by a good dealership, that really makes the difference. Ive moved thru 3 states in the last year and only now have I found a really good service dept. Hope this helps!!

 

Could be worse, you could drive a chevy.

Sounds like you have the 5.4 piston slap, if it only occurs on startup. I have a wav file on my homepage you can use to verify. If that is the case, dont fear you have alot going for you:

1) The fix is due out in Sept.

2) You still have 33,000 miles on your warranty.

These really are the best trucks on the road, but there will be problems from time to time. I had a 91 Explorer that had a good number of problems (and 7 recalls from the factory didnt help). But it always ran strong despite these. Now, 8 years later its still on the road and has outlasted many of my familys other cars. Dont worry, Ford will take care of you. Be sure to go by a good dealership, that really makes the difference. Ive moved thru 3 states in the last year and only now have I found a really good service dept. Hope this helps!!

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The Truck: 1997 Black F-150 Flareside. Regular Cab ORP and Towing Package
The Mods: K&N Filter, Eurolid Hard Tonneau and Ford Bug Deflector.
The Site:
Triton's 4.6 Liter Web Page
www.mindspring.com/~acbradley/index.html

 

Dondo7: something else...go read in the engine thread- "piston slap" and also read "legal stragady, bolt in engine". Good luck

 

Triton-
That was very well said, Thanks. I just had a bad couple of days with the beast and lost my cool. I'll hang in there with Ford.

I've been keeping up with the Piston Slap threads (and keeping my fingers crossed) but this isn't a slap. It's just a garden variety knock/ping which is most noticeable in OD with a slight load. I asked Ford if they pulled the plugs, they said no because the computer will find a bad plug but it does kinda sound like a spark knock.

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99 F150 5.4 4x4 ORP 3.73 styleside deep wedgewood blue ..no mods (yet)

 

You might be in more luck than you thought. If this isnt the piston slap it could be one of several things. The first thing I would try is running Chevron Techron cleaner thru your tank (you could take it to the dealer to have them clean it but its a little more expensive). I try to run it once a year just to make sure the pistons, fuel injectors, etc are clean of any gunk. The best way to run it is on about a 3rd to a 4th tank of really good 93 octane gas (Amoco). Add this to that 3rd or 4th tank of gas and get out on the highway and run it up to 60 for a good while. This will clean everything out, but be sure to do this about 1 day before you get an oil change, as it will blow gunk into your oil. I hope this helps your noise. My brother phoned me the other night. He runs 92 octane gas religiously, but from a no-name dealer whom I've questioned the grade of gas they sell for years. Anyway, on the way down to Atlanta for the weekend he lost all power from the engine while entering the city. He took it to a dealer who performed a check and found that all his injectors were clogged and he wound up cracking something in the engine. The moral is that you can run high octane gas, but if you dont notice gains that should be noticable, the gas may not be a good grade. Hope this helps!

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The Truck: 1997 Black F-150 Flareside. Regular Cab ORP and Towing Package
The Mods: K&N Filter, Eurolid Hard Tonneau and Ford Bug Deflector.
The Site:
Triton's 4.6 Liter Web Page
www.mindspring.com/~acbradley/index.html

 

One more idea to try. While I can't tell you specifically where it is there is an octane shorting bar located under the hood (near the battery?). By removing the bar it changes the timing enough to prevent pinging while running 87 Octane.

I wish I could be more specific. Can't search the email archieve to get the real info to ya. Maybe if someone has a wiring manual, or maybe someone at your dealer's service department......



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1998 F150 XLT S/C 4.6L Auto, 3.55LS, 4X2, all the bells & whistles except for leather seats. Added Lund Deflector, Pentaliner S/R, Window tint, factory side-steps, Infiniti component speakers.

 

Quality is Job 1? I wish I knew what what job they were doing when they made the driver's side door on my F-250. The sheet metal looks like it's about as thick as a piece of paper! And like most of the rest of the 98's I have a crack in mine as well. I love the way the truck rides and handles. But, someone should have paid more attention to the body design.

 

#1....There is no octane bar on a 4.6.

#2....The pinging is a problem with our vehicles also, and to date, Ford has not fixed the problem. One of our vehicles burned a piston because of the lean condition, which causes the ping. Ford installed a new motor and sent the old one back for study. Nothing back yet! I'll let you know if we get anything back from Ford.

 

I always say Quality is Job None. That's a lie though. I just get amazed at the stupid problems I find when Prepping a car for sale. Find a dealership that has won the Ford Presidents Award. It is awarded to dealerships that have good customer feedback and low come-back rates. My dealership won it in 98. I know at my dealership we try to fix whatever we can under warranty. Sometimes the diagnostic equipment doesn't pick up a problem, and there's so much crap on engines today it could be anything. That's why sometimes you have to wait for Ford engineering to figure out what's going on. Although there are some yo-yo's out there. Just keep trying until you find a dealership that works with you and not against you. Just think it could be worse, you could be driving a Dodge. They're customer service is almost non existent.