I have a 01 Supercrew with a 5.4 that rattles what I feel is pretty bad on start up but it sounds really good when it's warm. It sounds to me like it is in the top end of the motor. It rattles for about 15 to 20 seconds then quiets down quickly. 28,000 Miles on it. And it's a quart low on oil at the end of this oil change. 3500 miles...

Also I have the stock exhaust on the truck but with no muffler. No other mods.

Questions

* Does it hurt the motor to not have a muffler on ?

* Should I put the stock exhaust back on before I take it to the dealer. (Void warranty fears)?
* Is this rattle normal?
* If they decide to do something will they put a new engine in or a rebuilt
* And after having quite a few Fords over the years this makes me sick because I bought this truck didn't lease (that figures). Should I buy a new Silverado next.

Thank You all for any input

Beardoge

 

Most of this is opinion, I've never had an engine with your issue. Take it for what its worth.

The noise is likely caused by piston to cylinder wall clearance issues. The piston fits a bit too loose in the bore and rattles around utill the piston warms a bit and expands. The oil useage is also likely related, although considered normal.

The lack of a muffler won't hurt a thing. The engine management system will compensate. You may have heard this, but without other modifications the lack of backpressure means you probably make less power than with a good muffler. However, I have heard lots of horror stories about Ford dealers being jerks for a bunch of reasons. If you really are loooking for a new engine now, I'd fork over the few $ for a muffler just to reduce teh risk they will refuse the big $ engine job.

I'm guessing you'll get a rebuilt, not new. Ford even tries to get away with that on really low mile trucks that need engines. Good luck with the dealer, I hope you don't need to go out and price that new GM just yet.

 

Don't forget Beardoge, that the new 5.3's have this identical problem. And the later 5.7's did for years. I heard someone say on the board that manufacturers are making engines to be as easy on gas as possible, hence the larger clearances in an engine. Makes sense to me. However I don't think I want the extra .01 mpg it gives you for a noisy engine. But thats why I am not an engineer, I just work on them.

 

Can somebody tell me if the 5.4 has overhead cams and if it does do they still have lifters. A friend of mine said maybe one of the lifters is leaking down. Does this sound possible?
I am assuming the cam doesn't act directly on the valves like motorcycle engines do.