My 99 F-150 4.6L has been making a progressively louder "ticking" noise that seems to correlate to one cylinder. By that I mean that the frequency is the same as one cylinder of wight would be. I suspect that I have one (or more) of three things going on 1)a bad injector 2) bad lifter(s) on one valve or 3) loose exhaust manifold.

Does anyone out there have any experience with this problem? The truck has about 3,000 miles on it and I'm about to take it to the dealer and do battle. My experience has been that the dealer will usually say that "it's normal" or "they all do that". I'm really not being **** about this, just concerned that there is a problem with this engine that needs to be corrected.

 

Also have same ticking noise on 99 5.4L with 6000m. Seems to go away when engine warms up but doesn't seem right. My 97 4.6L never made the noise, even with 72k miles on it. Is anyone else having this problem and what could be the fix?

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99 4x4 SC Lariat 5.4l 3.73 rear, oxford white

 

JJ, you could have piston slap. It appears only on cold startup and goes away after 10-30 seconds. Some sound louder than others, but to me it sounds like the engine is not getting oil. If this sounds familiar you should have it checked at your dealer. Ford is currently replacing these engines. There are a number of piston slap threads which can provide you with further info.

 

Johhny, if your 4.6 L was built in Windsor it could have piston slap as well. My 5.4L startup noise got louder and louder as time went on. Apparently all 5.4, 4.6 and V10 engines built at the Windsor plant (97-99) share this POTENTIAL problem. The incidence of this problem is estimated to be only about 1 in 1,000 engines, however the problem has been there since 1997 and has only been fixed in the past 6 months, so there will be quite a number of engines that need to be replaced. See piston slap threads over the past few months for more details.

 

Ml,

Glad I have a Romeo!

 

My 4.6 has this noise continuously, i.e. when cold and when hot. It gets louder when the engine warms to operating temp and stabilizes. It seems to be coming from the left side of the engine.


//JQ

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99 4DR, 4.6L, Auto, Westin Sidesteps, TriGlas Cap, K&N Filter

 

ml,
Thanks for the info on the piston slap. I read in some of the threads that Ford was supposed to have solved this problem for the 99 5.4L's. The ticking that I have sounds more like a stuck lifter or valvetrain problem and usually last for five to ten minutes until the truck is up to normal operating temp. I definately agree with you on the point that the engine isn't oiling up soon enough. I had the original oil and filter on the truck when I first noticed the tick at about 2500 miles. I checked the oil and everything was fine. I changed the oil according to the service manual at 5k miles with Valvoline 5w-30 and Motorcraft FL820-S oil filter. Ticking stopped for a while but has returned only on cold mornings (Below 55 degrees). When the engine is warm, its so smooth and quiet that you can' t even hear or feel it running. I will be making contact with my dealer though.

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99 4x4 SC Lariat 5.4l 3.73 rear, oxford white

 

My 99 F150 4.6L also makes a ticking noise. I've got 9000 miles on it and have had two oil changes. It has made this noise from day one. I would just like to be able to buy a new vehicle and know that a known existing problem by the manufacture had been resovled.