I bought my 04 supercrew w/ 32,000 miles changed oil (5-20 motorcaft) religiously at 3000 miles and do not "beat" my truck at about 80,000 miles i noticed a start up knock that lasts until the truck idles down.it has gotton a little worse i am at 96,000 right now. local ford dealer says this is normal?

 

what kind of oil filter are you using?

 

motorcraft

 

does it still knock if you hold the rpm up to whatever it stays at for the cold start?

 

yeah even if you idle up it still does it for about 15-20 seconds then totally goes away..

 

so the guy at rich ford tells me this is normal. Is anybody else experiencing this and how serious is it?

 

Do a search on Cam Phasers. That could be your problem.

 

it is a slow knock ,if it were cams woudnt it be a faster top end knock?

 

The older 5.4's had piston slap I havent seen that on here with the 04+ trucks. They get the camphaser problem. If it were me with a 04+ and I had a knocking I would learn about those.

 

If it completely goes away that fast, that sounds like piston slap. Can't say I've heard of an '04 with the problem but not entirely impossible. If it is piston slap the he's right, won't hurt a thing. Mines been doing it for several thousand miles now. The colder it is the worse the noise also. How long the trucks been sitting (at least overnight) has a lot to do with how much noise it makes. Does yours only do it on like the first start of the day? Another indicator of simply being piston slap.

Not "beating" your truck and changing the oil every 3k has no bearing on the condition or its effects. Nor will that logic improve or change it. I change my oil every 10k and beat mine on a regular basis.