Hey, my dad has a F150 that has been making a strange engine noise. I'll do my best to describe it and if anyone has any suggestions on what we should do to remedy the situation that would be great.

Basically when the truck is at 600rpm you can here a distinct clicking noise, its also pretty loud because I heard it even outside the garage. The noise is not the only thing at this rpm, the entire truck vibrates. As the truck approaches 1000 rpm the clicking noise doesn't go away but gets more rapid. However the vibration goes away. Also as the truck passes the 1000 rpm mark you start to hear a rattling noise.

Does anyone have any suggestions, I've read it could be the cam phaser? My dad thinks that maybe 1 or 2 of the cylinders aren't firing.

 

HOW MANY Miles are on the truck. being a 01 has it ever had plugs and the COPS changed? The cam phaser problem didnt really start until the 04 and up models. How often is the oil changed in it?

 

Possibility 1: Two problems, - The manifold bolts are known to break for that model year.

I would update the coils and install a fresh set of plugs like KRC mentioned above - since this is fairly cheap to do yourself and most likely needed.


Possibility 2: The plug may have come out of it's chamber. They can loosen on their own and eventually blow totally out , -if it hasn't already. Check each one. Torque to at least 20' lbs.

Since you don't mention anything about what's been serviced and when, the vehicle probably hasn't been takin care of. So, - do everything, -take care of her and she'll return the favor. - Nice Trucks!

BTW- These trucks aren't programed to idle @ 600 rpm or even close to it. 700-750 w/factory tune. No exception, so yea - more than one problem I'm guessing.

Use the search bar - This will bring her back if you really want to fix it

 

My money is on a spark plug getting ready to self-eject. Torque them to 28 ft/lb.

 

Hey thanks for the advice. The truck has 66k miles on it. The oil has been changed regularly since we owned it, about 2 years, but before that is anyones guess. We'll replace the plugs and check the bolts to see if that solves it.

 

One other thing I should mention is that the check engine light isn't on, and we had it checked with a computer and nothing came up. If it was the spark plugs wouldn't that show up on a diagnostic?

 

Not if they were loose preparing to eject like they suggest..