Head tick? or paranoia?

[JedWele]

Hey guys had a question. Trying to figure out if all the head tick talk has made me paranoid , I just got a 04 cobra late build (02/04) with the hood open sounds smooth as silk, with the normal injector noises. If I climb under the car on either side like by the cats there is a mild ticking sounds. You can’t really hear it just walking around the car and I don’t hear it echoing of buildings or anything. I am assuming this is normal engine noise right I mean I don’t know if I have owned a car that has a engine perfectly quiet like a sewing machine , or is this actually head tick.
I guess I was wondering if someone has a car they know doesn’t have the tick, what noises do they hear in that area.

 

[JedWele]

Oh btw , completely stock 24k miles , no signs of abuse, still has stock original good years with plenty of tread so doesn’t look like it has had a hard life.

 

[dvast8n]

More than likely you're hearing the injectors.

 

[corpsedub]

not normal. here's mine:

http://home.comcast.net/~corpsedub/Project1.wmv

it's louder now. ford wouldent do anything because they could not reproduce it cold.

 

[JedWele]

Well now i am not sure what to think, the previous owner said he was using castrol 5-20 , I changed to mobil ext perf. 5-30 today and now I really can't hear the noise . I even drove it around for 30-40 min , even let it idle in my garage where it would of echo'd.

 

[CobraBob]

Might sould like a silly question, but did you change the filter as well? What filter was in the car (was it a Fram?) and what filter did you install?

 

[JedWele]

It had a motorcraft filter, but I installed a mobil

 

[CobraBob]

Just checking. Believe it or not (cheap) Fram oil filter can actually cause a ticking sound which can sound like the head tick issue. Changing the Fram filter to another name brand fixes the tick sound. So if the Fram filter can cause the ticking sound, and you apparently haven't heard it since changing your oil/filter, it is remotely possible that your filter was the culprit. I forgot the reason why the Fram filter caused the ticking sound.

 

[JedWele]

I had always thought of motorcraft as high quality filters. But the last time I changed my oil in my 86 SVO , I used a motorcraft instead of the mobil filter I normally used, and noticed a little rattle on cold starts like it took longer to build oil pressure recently changed back to mobil filter, and now it is gone. Also when I was changing oil last night in the cobra noticed in the filter , the mobil had a spring or valve on the back of it, where the motorcraft didn’t , not sure if it’s a bypass valve or what.
Cobra bob , I also read your faq and one of the area’s where you talked about the head tick said that
“”The Tick” is really loud. Seems to be most prevalent when the engine is lukewarm. If it is the real tick, it will only get louder with rpm. There seems to be a more common tick that is rather quiet, that goes away with rpm. This is not to be confused with injector noise. Put it this way, you will KNOW if it has the tick”

So maybe it was the filter if not is it possible it was the noise you described above in your faq?

 

[CobraBob]

No, I don't think it was the noise mentioned in my FAQ. I haven't personally heard the ticking noise resulting from the oil filter. I can't even remember if anyone posted a sound file. I just remember that more than one person had the problem and in every case they had a Fram filter. And in every case changing the filter to a better quality filter eliminated the ticking noise.

I have to believe what you were hearing was related to your oil filter. Or it is a coincidence. At least it is gone.

 

[SicStang03]

Mine has a mild tick at idle from underneath the car too. It doesn't get louder at higher rpm's so i figured it was normal....