I've had that sound for a while. You can't hear it from inside the cab but you can really hear it at a drive through when the sound starts echoing off the wall. It's still got lots of power and gets good mileage, if it is bottom end noise then I'll drive it till it blows and buy a low mileage salvage motor.

 

Holy crap , you said it was coming from the right side before. Now your saying the drivers side .??? That's totally different

Which side is it ? that's important.

 

The original poster of this thread (lockheed) has the noise in his right catalytic converter, while mine has the same noise in the left one.

 

Oh , my bad - I thought you were still the OP talking - Thread Thief

 

Yeah, it's sort of a hijack, but I figure with us having what sounds like similar problems, that we'd try to figure this out together.

The dealership just called and told me that mine was definitely the problem mentioned in the TSB on page 1 of this thread. They're going to install the sound-deadening wrap kit tomorrow to the tune of $620!!!

It's pretty sad that Ford is calling the sound "normal" and is charging me over $600 just to hopefully quiet down the sound to the point that I won't notice it, yet not eliminating whatever the heck is causing the sound to begin with.

 

Magnaflow makes a direct fit exhaust system that includes 4 new converters for a little over $500 for your model. Personally , I 'de rather do that then pay someone $600 to blanket the problem.

 

I would go with an aftermarket cat rather that pay that. Thats half the price of longtubes and cats.

 

THIS SHOULD BE COVERED UNDER THE EMISSION WARRANTY 8/80 AND SHOULD NOT COST YOU A DIME.

but if you did have to buy it, I would buy the kit from me and save a few bucks.


Ed

 

The tech at the local Ford dealership claims that changing the exhaust will not eliminate the noise. He claims that it is an "engine pulse" that is amplified by the light-off converter. Supposedly that's why the TSB states not to install new cats.

The kit won't be in until Wednesday after all, and I'm seriously thinking about calling it off tomorrow, pocketing the money, and living with everyone thinking I've got a rod knocking or main bearing noise.

 

I wish it was still under warranty. I just turned over 90,000 a couple of weeks ago, not to mention that a '99 F-150 is 9 years old.

 

my bad, I was looking at the original posters Lockheed's 2001 and not what year your truck was.:o


you haven't heard this noise in the nine years you owned it? bummer!

or is this just a new development?

Ed

 

Well, It's funny - I purchased mine new in 98 and belonged to ALLData for quite a few years plus Motorcraft.com. Frequented Scorpio off and on thru the years - This is the first time I seen this TSB or ever heard of a wrap kit.

I guess it's out there , but it's the first time I ever seen someone bring it up or actually do anything like this. The ONLY TSB that I've seen and it's been brought up here every now and again is the heat shield TSB.

If this is common enough to produce that TSB, it seams like I would have ran into it somewhere. Don't get me wrong , I believe it,- I Just never seen it or heard of it, for that matter.

Everyone has gave you good advice above - I know the cats fall under the emissions warranty , just not sure how long that's in effect.

I will say , I don't believe that "engine pulse" explanation - I think that's crap to tell you the truth. There's quite a few other options you can take for the cost they want to charge you. I can't believe the engine pulse deal

Oh well, good luck.

 

edit

 

I just bought the truck 3 months ago, and honestly, I never noticed the sound when I first drove it. Perhaps it's just that I notice it now because I'm aware of it.

If lockheed's truck has less than 80,000 miles on it, I highly suggest that he take it in to the dealership.

 

I'm surprised that Ford actually said that in the TSB. I'm all for eliminating the sound with options other than the wrap, but I don't know of any surefire ones. If the cat isn't actually making the noise, then replacing the exhaust won't accomplish anything in regards to the knock. I want Ford to tell me what the knock is actually CAUSED by, not how to mask it.

You guys have pretty much convinced me to call the dealership tomorrow and cancel the work order.