My problem is not having to get the motor it is the people installing the motor, that would be my the thing. I know its not very common as I maintain fleets for contrators and have yet to here a piston slap noise in any. A couple of the expds already have over 100,000 miles on them with just reg services. Most of my customers feel the same way about the dealers as me.


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99 F150 XLT 4X4 s/c orp 5.4 automatic 3:73
Ford soft tonneau cover rubber maid bed mat and mud from the dirt bike

 

Dustoff
I am in Beloit, about 50 miles south of Madison, just north of the state line.

 

KKIRT1: The dealer used my original assembly,
which was fine with me. The less they take apart the better off you are(don't want possible vaccum leaks due to bad gasket installs) and they only had 1,200 miles on them. So in short the only thing original on my new engine was: intake maniflod to include everything mounted on it
fuel rail, coil packs which include the engine wire harness, plenum assy, throttle body.
DOGCAM: well the 2000 model is the same engine as the 99 less the intake maniflod. they refined the intake to squeeze a few more ponies out of it! From the info i have i do have the 260hp version which came in the 99' 5.4 as oppossed to the original 235hp engine.
You gotta like the power and torque of these new engines! Definately fun to drive.
I hate the damn tranny's though!

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1999 F-150 4X4 Super cab lariat, 5.4, 3.73 gears,deepwedgewood blue,
and all the options, build date 3/1/99

 

OH, woe is me.....ever since I've been reading these posts about "piston slap", I have been very attuned to monitoring my engine sounds. Well, it may very well start to be manifesting in my 5.4L. Presently, I have 4750 miles on the truck. Last couple of mornings, when I've started my truck, I've listened intently to the engine. During first several minutes of warm up, I hear a sound like, "katda-katda-katda-katda....very faint, but it's there. Is this what the piston slap sounds like? I can hear it most clearly from the left side of the engine, under the fender. If this is the slap, and I plan to have it looked at by the dealer, I have a another question. If one was to not have a repair accomplished for this, how long do you think the engine would last. What would eventually happen to the engine?

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1999 F150 4x4, dark blue, 5.4l auto, Manick brush guard, KC Hilites, tinted windows, K&N air filter without airbox, Gibson side swept exhaust, bedliner, toolbox, Uniden CB with whip.

 

I would like to comment on piston slap. In another life, I had an 84 Honda Accord that I
bought new. It had loud piston slap especially when starting on a cool or cold morning. The dealer asured me that nothing was wrong, and apparently he was correct. I drove the car 95,000+ miles before trading it with no engine problems other than the piston slap noise. Many vehicles later, I am now the proud owner of a 99 F-150 SC with the 5.4 engine. The engine build date is 5/17/99, and I have heard no piston slap.
Regards.
Vern

 

WJT: I have roughly the same mileage and I have yet to hear the sound, but if the sound you are referring to stops when the engine heats up, your probably hearing the slap. As for the location of the sound, since the problem originates at the rod of the cylinder, it could be coming from any one or more of your 8 cylinders.

Kr4dt: The sound you are hearing is probably the valves. It won't harm your engine to the extent of not being able to drive, but it will cause other problems like poor fuel mileage etc. At least, that would be my guess.

The piston slap on the 5.4 is due to an metal sleeve insert which does not fit tightly enough which the rod pin goes thru to tie the piston in place. *IF* it is not 100% properly installed, it will move and cause the piston slap. If it is properly installed, it will not move and you will be fine, which is why not every 5.4 has the problem. The 4.6 uses a different type of setup and does not have this problem.

My 0.02!

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David
'99 F150 XLT SC, STYLESIDE
4X4 ORP 5.4L, AUTOMATIC,
139wb, Rhino, K&N,
BugGuard, RainGuards
Superchip

 

Well tonight i drop off my truck to have the
new (FQR) motor installed beginning tomorrow,
so hopefully by monday i will have positive feedback about the process, i am going to have them put on a new serpentine belt while
it is in there since that way i don't have to pay for labor just the price of the belt, also having them change fuel filter and doing
a transmission service since they have it in the shop anyway so i should be set for a while on maintenance items. other than oil changes of course.

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97 F-150,XLT,4X4,Supercab,bright Red,5.4,3.55 LS,LT265/75/16 Bridgestone Dueller A/T tires,Downey SST soft tonneau cover,56,000 miles with piston-slap motor about to be replaced.

 

KCDAN, Good luck on your pending repair. I have a question for you. Did you have extended warranty coverage to enable Ford to install a FQR engine? Or, did you report it during your warranty period, subsequently getting your engine finally repaired at this time? Another question for you, if you don't mind. How loud was the "piston slap", I know that question may be hard to answer through this medium, however can you still give an example? (maybe comparing the sound of the piston slap by percentage to the overall noise of the engine) Thanks

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1999 F150 4x4, dark blue, 5.4l auto, Manick brush guard, KC Hilites, tinted windows, K&N air filter without airbox, Gibson side swept exhaust, bedliner, toolbox, Uniden CB with whip, and now, a mild developing case of "piston slap", but that's OK, Big Blue says that he'll hang in there for a while...

 

wjt: Don't mean to "but in"... but there may be two distinctive type of piston slap noises. The one that my motor was replaced for was worst when rolling to a stop sign after a cold start. It did knock when it was started but not all the time. The rolling stop sound was very noticeable and happended all the time when the truck had set for longer than an hour and the outside temp was below 70 or so.

Bottom line -IMO, if you have to search to hear it, it's probablhy not piston slap!

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'97 F150 Lariat, Flareside, white/sliver, SC, ORP, 5.4 (FQR), Mods: 305/70/16 GY ATS, AR Baja wheels, dual exhaust, Smittybilt Nerf Bars, Edelbrock IAS Shocks, K&N Filter and Carbon Fiber Bug Gaurd. Rigged the fog lights too.

 

I agree. Piston slap on my truck could easily be heard by passers by. The knock is quite pronounced. It doesn't seem to alter the performance of the engine any. It doesn't burn any oil and performance and gas mileage is at least as good as normal.

My dealer has 2 engines on order. One came in last week but it was not mine. Hope it comes in soon!

 

ml, do you know what kind of motor you are getting 235 hp or 260 hp. Rebuilt or new. The local ford place has one on order put I can't seem to find out these questions from them. If it is possible to get a new 260 hp version I want to make sure I get it rather than a 235.

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1997 4x4 5.4 ORP XLT extended cab Dark Toreador red Westin nerf bars tint HARDER THAN A ROCK AND FASTER THAN A HEART BEAT

 

CLOAKER you was saying that 4.6 dont have
piston slap mine does at least i am pretty
positive it does. i downloaded the file on
piston slap noise and sure sounds like mine
when i start it! it sounds like a diesel truck!
starting up for about a minute then fades away and its getting louder since it is getting cooler weather it really pisses me off to.i have 45.000 miles on my truck i have
my papers were i had this noise looked into when the truck was still under warranty. but all they told me was its okay B.S. I wrote FORD customer service and they called me on the phone about two months ago and told me i would get a call from my service dealer within 2 or 3 working days telling me what to do aparently i can go to hell cause no one never called me and that was 2 months ago i really like my truck and i ask for some
help but i am not going to get any so i guess i am going to turn it over to the attorney general and let them handle it!

 

OH yeah on my post above i forgot to mention what year my truck is mine is a 97 F-150 xlt ext. cab 4.6 4 wheel drive

 

WJT, I agree with both kkirt1 and ml in the regard that if you have to listen too hard for the noise you probably are not blessed
with piston slap, in my instance the slap
happens every morning in the winter but much
less frequent from say April - October. The
closest i can describe the noise mine makes
it sounds almost like a rod knocking for about 20 seconds in the morning, it is not faint and it is a knocking sound not a ticking sound like maybe lifters would make.
i do hear it slapping in my parking garage
at work when i leave because of the sound bouncing off the concrete, but less pronounced than at start-up. i first heard
the noise when i had maybe 3,000 miles on the truck and first reported it shortly there
after but it took quite a few trips to the dealer before they even heard it i would have
to leave it there overnight and have them start-it and listen to it and hope that was one of the mornings it acted up, they heard it once and that was about 2 years ago at that time FORD saying it doesn't exist to well that is normal to well it's not normal
but it doesn't hurt anything to now replacing
the motor, So because of this being reported
when i was in warranty and with the info i have followed on this site and shared with my
service manager we are getting it replaced. so today i am proud driver of a 4 cyl. contour, well at least i didn't hear piston
slap this morning on the contour.

Well once again another long message so i will stop now..........


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97 F-150,XLT,4X4,Supercab,bright Red,5.4,3.55 LS,LT265/75/16 Bridgestone Dueller A/T tires,Downey SST soft tonneau cover,56,000 miles with piston-slap motor about to be replaced.

 

F-trucks, If you have a 4.6 with the piston slap, your the first I've heard of it. My friend, the ford engineer who works on the F150 consumer complaints told me the 4.6 can't get the piston slap like the 5.4 because it's different. Perhaps you are the first! Please let us know what your dealer comes up with, and perhaps under engines post a 4.6 piston slap board to see what other 4.6 owners think.

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David
'99 F150 XLT SC, STYLESIDE
4X4 ORP 5.4L, AUTOMATIC,
139wb, Rhino, K&N,
BugGuard, RainGuards
Superchip