My 99 F150 5.4 has started to make a ticking noise .
Its comming from left side of engine. I thought it was a loose plug and had my dealer re torque all the plugs, that did not help. It seems to quiet down after the engine warms up. Does any one have any ideas on this problem?

 

Possibility it is exhaust related.
Cracked manifold, broken stud etc.
This closes up after the part has heated due to expansion.

 

It could be a rusted out exhaust manifold stud, or it could be just loose, but it could be getting ready to spit a plug. It will usually start ticking like an exhaust leak shortly before it blows the spark plug out of the head.

I HIGHLY suggest you find out which before driving it any more.

 

couldn't it be low oil pressure, or not enough oil in the motor, i know most cars do this because the lifters aren't getting any oil to lube them up, if you notice right after you do an oil change and start the car back up the driver side ticks for a second and goes away, and you say when it warms up, well it could be the oil finally getting to the lifts. just my .02

 

It "could" be a hundred different things. But some of those things it could be are terrifically bad.

It's just not worth the risk on a Windsor 5.4, at least not without knowing more about the issue. If it's just a cam follower, no big deal, it's just some top-end chatter, get used to it. It could be a crappy oil filter with a POS back-flow prevention valve. But if it's a plug fixing to let loose, that "can" be catastrophic. With that, the BEST case scenario is sert'ing it. The worst is the motor has to come out because part of the plug got smashed between the piston and head a couple thousand times and did some serious damage.

I wouldn't want the OP to have to install a new engine just because we talked him into believing it's nothing to worry about.

 

Yea but if he's already had his dealer retorque all the plugs doesn't that make the plugs a moot point??

 

Try and find the exact location of the noise. Take a stethescope, or piece of tubing and put it to your ear. Now move the other end of the tubing around to various locations on the engine and try to narrow it down. Does the noise resemble a marble rattling around? Sort of a rattle or just a tick? If the noise is coming from under the cam cover it could be a lash adjuster that is losing its pump/prime. This allows the follower to flop around and make a loose marble like sound. Changing the lash adjuster is not very difficult if this is the problem. If you suspect it is let me know and I can walk you thru diagnosis and removal and replacement of the lash adjuster. Could also be a spark arching to the block or an exhaust leak as others have suggested just not sure how severe this tick is. How many miles on the truck?

 

It's a 99, so no warranty. But what's more, there was obviously something wrong with it _before_ (magic word here) it was even looked at by the dealer.

Besides, those sneaky bastards will do ANYTHING to get out of EVERYTHING.

The torque applied to the plugs makes no difference. It's not that they work themselves loose and need to be tightened. Rather, it's that the actual threads holding the plug in let go and out it comes. Well, hopefully out it comes. Sometimes little bits of plug get left behind and tear s^^t up bad. But when/if it does come out, the actual threads in the head that the plug holds on to are flat gone. You can't just put in another plug, there's nothing to hold it in anymore.

Most people have no comprehension of the forces in play inside these engines. I mean, sure, we know the pistons harness the power of an explosion. But for the most part, how difficult that really is eludes most. For example, at 5,400 RPM, the piston inside your engine travels down the bore at 510 miles per hour. Not only does it have to travel that fast, it has to stop, change direction, and accelerate from 0 to 510 mph and slow from 510 mph to 0, all in only 4.16 inches. That's about the speed commercial jets fly. To give you an idea of how fast that really is, it works out to 748 feet per second, which is only slightly slower than the speed a 230 grain .45 caliber bullet leaves the barrel of a government model Colt .45 with a 5" barrel. In a racing engine, at 7,500 RPM, the pistons reach 709 mph. That's just shy of the speed of sound, Mach 1, which is only 716 mph at sea level. In fact, if you could eek 8,000 RPM out of it with billet rods, a billet crank, light customs pistons, and a few other choice mods, your pistons would literally be super sonic. Every revolution of the motor, each piston goes from dead still to Mach 1, not once, but twice per revolution of the crankshaft (once going up, once coming down). Now, think about how absolutely phenomenal those forces are to achieve such amazing things, and think now that the spark plug comes loose in the middle of it all. Or, God forbid, a piece of it falls down into the cylinder with a piston traveling at over 500 mph in each direction. So it's easy to see how the level of damage can be so staggering.

 

The plugs work loose and vibrate (the tick) up and down on the threads till it beats them enough that they don't hold anymore. Then it pops out.

Maybe it's your pcv valve. Mine ticked like crazy when it went bad. passenger side, top of valve cover.

 

Sure sounds like broken exhaust stud, as stated hose works good for checking.
But dealer would look (should) for that, easy to see.
Some people have had a noisy fuel injector.
Hose works good if you place it by the noise, just keep it out of fan and belt area.

 

Just had truck checked out for noise, It has a rust hole inthe manifold.
Mechanic said this is common for the modular engines because of the maiting of aluminum heads to the steel manifolds, it causes them to rust easier. Depending on how bad the rust is it will cost from $300 to $1200 if he has to replace the manifolds. Most is in labor. What a pain!!

 

check all the exhaust studs especially the ones in the back. those are the ones that seem to always break off. two back ones on passenger side were busted off when i bought it. the seller told me about it.he didnt mind driving with the tick. it drove me crazy. about 5 hours in my driveway, new set of studs,new gasket. i was good to go. the rubber hose works well check everywhere.