My truck is going to the dealership tomarrow evening and the regional Ford Service engineer and his manager will be at the dealership on Wednesday to listen for the dreaded PS. I believe that they will agree to a new 5.4 L engine after they hear the PS.

Ron

 

What effect does this PS have on the engine? I've heard claims of increased wear on the cylinder walls and piston rings. Is that the case?
I'm curious to see what Ford says this PS does over time. It must be serious enough if they are going to replace your engine (or truck)

 

I'm not sure what the long term effect of PS slap is other than I would imagine wear of the Piston and cylinder. Ford indicates that there is no long term effect and that engines with PS have been tested for several hundred thousand miles with no problems. My problem would be if I was to trade this truck in today and a dealer heard the PS noise on start up he would more than likely not give me much on a trade in because he would know that the engine is having some kind of problem. Thats my concern.

Ron

 

Ron, to bad you couldn't leave it over at the dealers tonight, suppose to be in the low 20s.That would help them hear the banging.
dogcam

 

dogcam,

It was 28 degrees this morning and she was just slapping away on start up. They would have to be deaf not to hear this engine slapping on Wednesday morning. I now call my truck the "happy slapper" and the guys at the dealership had a laugh and even thought that was a pretty good name to call her.

Ron

 

The Ford Engineer reviewed my situation today and in his words the noise that I'm hearing is the characteristic of the 5.4 L engine on start up. They started up (3) other 2001 f-150 trucks that were on the lot and all three had the same engine noise on startup. Hmmmmmmm....let me think about this. The question I have for Ford is why does my engine sound like it has Piston Slap and so does all the others? If its not PS then what noise on startup am I hearing? Maybe me and others including the mechanics at the dealership are all hearing things????? I'm going to be calling the Ford engineer tomarrow morning to educate me on why a so called healthy engine makes noise like PS on start up. I'm no mechanic but on colder mornings the engine sounds just like the PS wav file on this site, except not as loud

Ron

 

PALongbow----------I am surely not on Ford's side but it may be possible that your truck is normal. I know mine is noiser on cold mornings but I know piston slap when I hear it and this ain't piston slap. If you get a chance start up any hi-performance engine with forged pistons and you will hear true piston slap (until the engine warms up) It sounds like some engines sound after an oil change as they knock for a split second until oil press. is pumped up

If three other new trucks sound like yours then the chances of all having slap is very low. If it were mine I would listen to a few more and then quit worrying.

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2000 F-150, XLT, SC, 5.4, 4X4, 355 LS, ORP, Black/Silver, class III, single CD, sliding glass, med. gray, keyless, elect. shift, engine date 8-18-99, Superchip. 2.02" corrected radiator-F75Z-8005-GA --- '93 Harley Fatboy Black & tons of chrome

[This message has been edited by Bubbadewsky (edited 04-04-2001).]

 

My ears hear tacktacktacktacktack in the http://www.mindspring.com/~acbradley/index.html soundbyte -- which is valve-adjuster noise.

I do not hear piston slap in that wav file.

Ask someone who has ever adjusted a solid-lifter engine -- or who has hot-lashed a running Chevy or Ford 5.0 for his opinion.

If my engine made that noise, I'd be running a can of oil detergent thru it and then sleep well when the noise went away.

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Y2K™ Jim - N8JG@Hotmail.com

Toreador Red, Keyless XLT SC SB 5.4L E4x4 4wDisc/ABS, 3.73LS, Skid, HD 7700# Towing, LT-245's on Chrome, Tube-Steps, Captain's, 6CD, Tonneau, named: "Nick"

 

Well the verdict is in. My 2000 F-150 truck does have noise which closely resembles PS. I was told that this is a characteristic of the 5.4 L engine on cold startup and Ford has assured me that they have never had an engine that was diagnosed of PS fail. I asked for some insurance and they offered me a five year 75,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty. I'm okay with this proposal and a new engine replacement more than likely will not address the issue, but I still think that Ford's engineering needs to find a solution to the PS problem. Personally I don't think that Ford is going to be replacing engines for PS in the newer 2000's and 2001's unless the engine becomes terminal.

Ron

 

dogcam,

You have mail!

Ron

 

Y2K,
We have hydraulic lifters on our 5.4's ... right? So there's no valve adjustment possible. Am I correct in this assumption? I ask because my friend's Tundra has solid lifters and he's getting some valve noise.



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'00 5.4L AUTO 4X4 Lariat (Black/Silver)
'02 F-350 PSD CC DRW 6SPD 4X4 Lariat (order this year)
www.hawthorn-engineering.com

 

Ron, e-mail me, dogcam@f150guy.com

 

Hydraulic lash adjustment, yup.

The reason for my comment is simply that many of the younger owners here do not have experience with anything BUT hydraulic adjustment -- and for engines where you actually adjusted the lifters while the engine was running -- they would recognize what the clacking of a loose rocker arm sounded like.

The clacklacklacklack that these aging ears hears on the tape above is that of such a clacking clacker.

There are people on here with such wide ranges of experience -- from "where's-the-key-go" newbies to "I've-designed-the-thing" experts -- and, since nobody posts their resume, I run the risk of losing someone or insulting their intelligence with the same comment.

I am very interested in the piston slap issue, since I too have a candidate.

It is entirely possible that the tape does indeed contain piston-slap noise -- but I am not picking it up.

Hydraulic adjusters spend their entire life in a very narrow adjustment -- and it is easy for one to sit overnight holding the valve open against the valve-spring pressure and lose a bit of oil due to the compression.

The planned event is for it to nearly-instantly pump-up with fresh oil during the first couple of nudges by the lobe of the camshaft -- but if, for reasons which could include being just a bit 'sticky' from varnish or other oil contaminants, the little pistin within the lifter can resist the needed movement -- thereby causing a clacklacklacklack -- usually until the thing heats up and frees the sticky/gooey contaminant.

In only the above scenario, detergent (or a prudently-applied oil-solvent) can free the goo and fix the problem.

I have a theory, which is totally unsubstantiated by any fact, which leads me to believe that due to the fact that today's engines run ever-so-much-cleaner-burning than engines of even a dozen years ago -- that the oil manufacturers are skimping a bit with detergents -- since they're probably not needed.

Adding to my suspicion is the fact that 5W-30 Mobil 1's Material Safety Data Sheet reads: "...INGESTION: Not expected to be a problem. However, if greater than 1/2
liter (pint) ingested, seek medical attention...".

 

My Co. vehicle, 1997 F-150 w/ 4.6L Windsor has had piston slap since approx. 37,000 miles. It has approx. 162,000 miles & still runs excellant & serves our Co. well.
This 4.6L has had one tune-up (at 102,000 miles).
My wife's 99 F-150 (4.6L Romeo)does not have piston slap.

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1999 Teal Blue F-150 S/C
4.6L, XLT, 3.55 L/S 4x2
Tow pkg., Rhino liner, Engine block heater & Swiss hard toneau cover. Premium sound
255/75 R16 Generals-owl
This" is Mama's pride"