I have a 2003 Screw that I did the 5.4 swap in last year. It has all new internals, but I re-used all of the valve train components and heads after port and polish, decking, and 3 angle valve job. The 4.6 I swapped from never had valve train noise before, but on initial start up of the 5.4, I hear ticking on the passenger side. There was also timing chain chatter from 1200-1700 rpm only. There is no vacuum, compression, or exhaust leaks, and all of the oil galley plugs are re-installed, or omitted where required. I assume the oil pump I bought is standard volume because it mated up to my pick up tube.

In addition to the ticking and chattering, the “idiot” oil pressure gauge would stay “normal” at idle, but once the truck was shifted into gear and the rpm dipped below 750, the oil pressure would drop off until the throttle was bumped or the truck was driven. On the last ride before I parked it and didn’t use it again, I was a mile from my house when the oil pressure needle started bouncing from low to normal for about 10 seconds while driving, then it bottomed out and stayed. Then the valve train noise got loud on both sides and I could feel power loss. Luckily I made it home without the truck overheating or seizing up.

I also want to add that the 5.4 block that I used was de-greased, pressure washed, hot tanked, magnafluxed, and torque plate bored if I remember the correct terminology the shop used. And I cleaned the oil pan by hand and made sure there was no sludge in the baffle, or in the pickup tube. And a new pickup tube o-ring was installed as well. Oh yeah, the oil restrictors in the cam towers (cast valley on my Windsor PI heads, not restrictor tube) were free and clear.

Has anyone come across this issue before? I’ve seen and read similar things, but not all of these combined.

 

Hope you didn't use a fram oil filter?? I would take off the oil filter and cut it open an look inside. Could be a clogged oil filter or a bad/ defective oil filter. post your findings.

 

It was the sump screen. I don't think the block was completely clean and I use motorcraft filters. Engine probably has less than 1000 miles on it since installation

 

Yeah, that's not good

Mitch

 

How far did you drive it with 0 oil pressure?

 

sooo.... i cleaned the screen and the pan. there wasn't any extra junk in the pan. put it all back together and it fired right up and the pressure stayed good. but when operating temp was reached and the truck was put in drive the pressure dropped off again until the throttle is bumped. It has 5w20 in it. The funny thing is that the lash adjuster noise on the passenger side is still there, but it gets quieter when operating temp is reached..

 

about a mile or less

 

Shop rag/towel material........so much for cleaning..did you use a bath towel to clean the oil pan? You may have debris blocking the passenger side cyl head oil restrictor starving the lash adjusters that side usually is the side to get any debris from the block and shut off the restrictor, or you may have a cyl head cup plug that tilted and is allowing parasitic oil loss. I have seen numerous cyl head cup plugs that were not installed deep enough usually after a repair or rebuilt cyl head, or were not installed straight in the oil passage bore and ended up tilting in the passage. The small ones behind the front cover can bleed out and you will never know it. Just a possibility. Many times when shops rebuild the heads or install new cyl heads plugs are left out, cross threaded or loose. It can get confusing trying to understand which plugs are installed and which get omitted.

 

Thanks for the reply,
There were iron flakes, and some other non-ferrous particles in the mix. There was also a small piece of plastic that must have broken off the timing chain guide and migrated to the pan.

I have drawn the conclusion/assumption that the new shop did not hot tank the block like I requested. However, the block was cleaner when I received it but I did have to buff out some rust on the water pump ports but I didn’t think anything of it. They must have just steam cleaned it.

I have decided (reluctantly) to yank the motor back out and do a full overhaul and take the block to the old shop I used in the past where my blocks have come back cleaner. I wanted to use the new shop for all my work because they were helpful with my swap questions, and they have a dyno

When you say “cylinder head cup plugs”, do you mean the oil valley plugs on the front and rear of the heads? Do you have a pic? I made sure I had them plugged in the back, and open in the front for the tensioners. And my head gaskets were not blocking any passages.

I have posted images in my gallery, but this forum will not let me post them to the thread. my work computer is acting up

 

The cup plug I am referring to looks just like the large coolant "freeze" plugs but is much smaller, approx 3/8 of an inch in diameter as they block the oil passage at each end of the cyl head. They are not threaded but silver color and pressed in. The factory inserts them into the oil passage bore about 1/4 from the face of the plug. Sometimes mechanics don't insert them far enough and they come out or as I mentioned they will tilt allowing a loss of oil pressure.. Considering the amount of debris in the engine oil system I would bet the cyl head oil restrictor is blocked and starving oil to the passenger side cyl head. Sounds like you have a plan however, probably the right thing to do just yank it and start over. Good luck with your project. Sounds like you have a handle on the situation..Take care.

 

So the black material in the sump screen was plastic from the timing chain guide, the non-magnetic material was from the timing cover, and the magnetic material was from the 8mm bolt in the pic that was ground down by the chain. Thus ending the economy parts venture

 

When you get a block back from a machine shop, you should thoroughly clean it, including all of the oil passages.