I just purchased a 1997 ford f 150 from a reputable Ford mechanic but when I drive the truck there is this annoying ticking noise which increases somewhat when giving it gas (kinda unnoticeable difference). I took it to my local mechanic and he said the idler pulley and fan clutch were going out so I bought the replacement parts and he put them on (the idler pulley wasn't bad). It still makes the ticking noise the local mechanic said to replace the harmonic balancer that it was going bad (Truck doesn't shake or anything and runs great). I finally asked the mechanic that I bought it from what it was and he said it was the timing belt slapping the guard or something and it had done since the truck had approx 30000 miles on it. It now has 180000. He said nothing to worry about but it is VERY annoying I am trying to decide how to fix it. What do you recommend? I don't want to keep changing out parts just to figure out the problem. Anyone else had this problem with their 4.6???

 

Could be the fuel injecters, That happened to me.

 

i recently bought a 5.4L on e-bay, seller said it had a ticking noise but ran fine...

i have been rebuilding this motor, taking it apart and inspecting everything. i noticed the heads werent getting lubrication in 4 of the cam journals, at 83k. i wonder if you need to pop the valve covers and peek inside and see what it looks like.

 

check all your exhaust manifold studs they rust out and break off. i can say for sure its NOT a timing belt since 4.6 and 5.4 use chains and they very rarely cause problems.