I am getting a hollow tick under acceleration - sounds to be coming more from the drivers side of the engine. it is a 200 4.6 romeo and I have a 5 speed.

I is definately not pinging / detonation/ spark knock or piston slap.

At idle, I can NOT re-create the sound. For example, if I drive down the street w/ the drivers side window down, accelerating between 1k and 2k (sound can't be heard when it is drowned out by the engine) I hear a hollow "tick'. If i slep the truck into neutral and rev the engine - no tick at all. Slip it back into gear and accelerate - hollow tick comes back.

The engine has 56k on it and has always been tuned - burns no oil, etc.

I did the check around the plugs to listen for air at idle w/ a tube and my ear - found nothing. I do however have some pretty noisy injectors...Would the injectors only get louder like that under acceration / load? Ideas?

I am changing the plugs next weekend, but since I didn't hear any air / popping when I checked them I don't think one has backed out - plus the truck will not make the sound at idle.

Might be the egr cross over tube? Or is this just the inherent triton engine sound?

 

Cracked/warped exhaust manifold???

Exhaust manifold to exhaust pipe leak at the joint.

 

Wire boot/COP boot not seated on spark plug? (may be accompanied by occasional "miss" or stumbling on acceleration)

 

I have this same problem and I just had my plugs replaced two weeks ago. I never heard this noise until then (maybe I just wasn't paying as much attention to the engine because it had never given me any problems). I also have a lot of interior noise when my AC is on. Not sure what to describe the noise as, but as soon as I turn the AC off the noise goes away. Don't know if these two are somehow related. 20004x4F150 let me know what you do to fix your problem. Don't know if this helps any but mine is also a 2000 4x4.

 

jre86,

regarding the AC. my noise is there regardless of the AC being on or off.

your noise sounds like the AC compressor cycling - the tick coming when the compressor is cycling "on"

 

2004x4F150,
Sorry if my first post was confusing. I have two noises.

One sounds like the same tick that you have from the drivers side of the engine.

The other occurs only when the AC is on. This has only been happening since I had some freon added so I am wondering if the AC is finally working right for the first time since I have had the truck.

 

I have the same "hollow ticking" noise that you describe and it is under the same conditions. It made me nervous at firt so I checked the torque on all of the spark plugs just to be sure one wasn't backing out and they were all tight. My only other guess would be a bad exhaust madifold gasket. I have had these go bad before and it sure sounds similar if my memory serves me correct. If you find anything else out post it and let us know!

Brian

 

........I have heard the same hollow ticking sound. I have a '00 xlt 4x4 4.6 with 41k, and this noise bothers me abit. My dad has a '99 F250 and had a plug go on him around 140k. What a pain it was to change. It was located in the back of the engine on the driver side. If some one figures out what this little noise means, could you let us know so the rest of us will know and know how to fix it.

Thank you

 

The hollow tick sound is nothing to be concerned about. With the engineering of the exhaust manifold, headers, valves and pistons in a wide range of fords, typically the years of late 80s pickups until mid to late 90s, the ticking noise is most often the sound of gas explosions from the driver side cylinder closest to firewall. It eventually goes away from thermal expansion of the metals as well as other common traits that occur from characteristics of heat, fuel, and metal.