May be giving up on ford...

[Bad Karma]

I bought an 03 crew cab lariat FX4 F150 about a week and a half ago...test drove it for about 30minutes and everything went smoothly and quiet and smooth as a ford can be.

then last weekend i noticed a ticking when cold cranked. Thought maybe i had a lifter ****ing with me. but i have a warranty on the drivetrain that supposedly covers everything except brakes shocks tires etc...

I took the truck to the dealer i bought it from and they checked out the tick...call me and say to come pick up the truck and that the noise is extremely common on the 5.4 2Vs. he said it was a piston not swelling as fast as it should or something...i was extremely busy when he called me to explain so i didnt catch every word. and something about it not being worth to fix.

But it makes the truck seem ragged to me, i go to crank up my "new" truck and its ticking....wtf!

i am going back to the dealer and talking to the owner (he sold me the truck) and telling him nice as possible that its either getting fixed or they are gonna have to sell it to someone else.

 

[WVUAnt]

It is primarily a cold start issue. Yes, it is common on 5.4 2V motors, and even some 3v. The noise does go away and does not present any long term problems for the motor. My 99 has had the knocking problem since new. It was covered under a TSB...cant remember the code, and the engine was replaced. I do remember that the TSB was very specific with dates of manufacture listed. The replacement motor knocks as well. The knock goes away when the engine is warm or when you shift the tranny into drive. The noise I think is officially called a spark knock. Using 5W20 and synthetic blend, along with an FL820S Motorcraft filter helps. There are a ton (including my own) of knocking or ticking motors with well over 100,000 miles on them.

 

[Svets96]

As stated the 5.4 is known to do this. The 4.6 doesn't. Go to some Ford truck forums like ford-trucks.com, fordtruckfanatics.com, fordpower.net, fordf150.net, f150online.com There are some very knowledgeable people on there. Good luck. Sorry to hear about your negative experience.

 

[adrnlnrush]

This is common with the 5.4L 2V motor, it's called piston slap and only happens with a cold startup as said before. I had an 03 with the same problem and yes it is annoying but there is no true fix. However it also poses no real problem except mentally.

 

[Svets96]

^ I like ur sport trac very sharp.

 

[98rs]

I get a little tick on cold starts also. But i think thats common for most cars /trucks Right?

 

[WVUAnt]

This is common with the 5.4L 2V motor, it's called piston slap and only happens with a cold startup as said before. I had an 03 with the same problem and yes it is annoying but there is no true fix. However it also poses no real problem except mentally.

Actually its a spark knock...Ford TSBs never referred to it as piston slap...piston slap was a GM problem.

 

[bsmith782]

Sounds like buyers remorse to me.

 

[GTSSTANG]

I toolk my L in for the same problem/noise when it was new. Sound was really loud. I to thought it was piston slap. It was so loud I could here the tapping inside with it parked a 100 feet away. The sound did go away after about 20 seconds.

Well after countless trips to the dealership only to be told they do not hear anything, one of the techs found the problem. The pulleys needed to be lubed.

Never heard another sound from it.