Stagmiere racing recommended me this quick fix to the very annoying valve tick and it worked for me. They suggested to get rid of the 5w 20 oil which is way to thin to begin with and told me to use 5w 50 made by motorcraft. Apparently ford decicded that this oil is best to be used in all there new svt products. And yes it worked!!! The noise is gone.... I'm not sure if it will work for everyone but it did for me. Good luck.
Possibly have the cobra valve tick quick fix
- Thread starter potent8
- Start date
I often wonder why in my 03 I use 5w20 Motorcraft synthetic & when Shelby customers come in we use 5w50 synthetic. Next year I'm going to switch over. I can't really see the harm in it..
Absolutely, but I would imaging getting rid of the noise is ok for most people.
http://stangshiftergaskets.com/2003_2004faqs.htm#_Toc35092459
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They are two different engine designes. I'd caution before doing the switch. I've seen numerous threads on why we need the 20W oil in our 4.6's. You can get dizzy from all the reading though. I finally just left mine as is and run 5W20 Mobil in mine.
Oh, back in the day they used to put a little saw dust in a noisy differential too. It worked for a while.
As tight as our motors are, thick oil sounds like a bad idea. There's only one way to fix the tick if you have it... anything else is just a bandaid that could cause more harm.
5w30 for me
0w-30 Amsoil Signature, 170* thermostat and LDC head cooling mod for me. No tick. 40k miles.
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i have no tick ... I was just thinking outloud...Lol
5w50 oil
I have used Castrol Syntec 5W50 oil in my 03 KB Cobra for over 7 years, with "NO PROBLEMS"!!!:thumbsup:
I have used Castrol Syntec 5W50 oil in my 03 KB Cobra for over 7 years, with "NO PROBLEMS"!!!:thumbsup:
If this is a recommendation for "fixing" the true tick issue, it really isn't a fix. As mentioned above, it's a mask. But it you just have a slightly noisy valve train, the heavier oil will help quiet the noise.
Go here for the proper fix for the actual tick issue. Tick Issue Fix
Go here for the proper fix for the actual tick issue. Tick Issue Fix
how exactly does heavier weight oil help a tick coming from a worn valve guide when the stem seal allows a verrry minimum if any amount of oil in the guide area? if it quieted a noise you had, the noise was most likely from the lash adjusters.
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Something Brian(suaveFlooder) mentioned is that going back to a synthetic blend took his ticking away. Ive used nothing but full synthetic and cant seem to get rid of my ticking except for the cooler weather. Going to try Motorcraft or another sythetic blend on the next change. Its what came from the factory, why change it I guess?
I'm also considering going back to motorcraft synthetic blend 5w20 next spring when it comes out of storage. Now I have mobil 1 5w20.
True statement. I have been running Mobil 1 synthetic 5/20 since 30k miles. I'm at 90k now. I have ALWAYS had what sounded like an exhaust tick, or engine tick. SUPER annoying! I stated doing some research and found out that synthetic oils make your engine noisy. Some cars HAVE to run it, but those that don't, really shouldn't/don't need to.
Swapped back to motorcraft 5/20 synthetic blend and the tick was gone in about 2 seconds. Literally. I will continue to run a synthetic blend until I sell the car/blow the motor. I'll let you all know how she looks when I pull it apart at 200k miles :beer:
Don't know about the have to versus should versus don't need to about synthetic oil. I've dabbled on cars for about 20 years now (had to pull my shoes off to count that high, jeez) from SBF to FE to 2V and 4V. Started off with conventional oils, progressed to the blends, and now have used full synthetics for about 14 years now. Pulled the motor apart in my 97 ford f-150 to re-cam and time it. It had seen only synthetic (10w40) since the first oil change at 3000 miles. It was at 125,000 miles and had no ridge at the top of the bore and you could see plain as day the factory cross-hatching in all of the bores. I have never seen that from any conventional oil or blend.
As far as the 5w50 vs 5w20 in our motors. I was not aware of the GT500s running 5w50. my experience with racing FE motors usual resulted in 5w50 being a necessity for decent oil pressure due to the large clearances (relatively speaking) we would run in the mains for higher rpms. Would be curious as to the main bearing clearances on the GT500 relative to the Cobra. danger in a motor with factory clearances is you push too much oil pressure and the oil pump relief bypasses oil, so in effect you have more pressure but less oil flow. might not see any ill effects on a street driven machine but I would be wary on a motor that is raced without first doing some more homework. also, these motors tend to collect oil up in the heads, would be nervous that the heavier oil would exascerbate this effect by slowing drainback (had the valve cover off a 2V once while running to diagnose a valvetrain noise, quickly modded an old valve cover by cutting out the top so i had access while minimizing the spray - never saw anything like that with old pushrod motors lol).
Cheers.
:beer:
you know i thought the same thing about bearing clearance when i read this thread, because thats what we've been told all along about the lighter weight oils we use today it's because of the tighter tolerances in these new motors. so i checked and main bearing clearances on a 5.4 in a gt 500 are .0009 to .0019 in. (07 spec.) Strangely enough, they do not list a spec. for main journal to bearing clearance for an 03 cobra.
Crankshaft
Main bearing journal diameter 67.493 mm
Main bearing journal maximum taper 0.05 mm
Main bearing journal maximum out-of round 0.05 mm
Main bearing journal-to-cylinder block clearance 0.023-0.055 mm
Connecting rod journal diameter 52.983-53.003 mm
Connecting rod journal maximum taper 0.004 mm (0.0002 in)
Connecting rod journal maximum out-of-round 0.004 mm (0.0002 in)
Crankshaft maximum end play 0.130-0.301 mm
Thrust bearing journal diameter 67.493 mm
Thrust bearing journal maximum out-of round 0.05 mm
Thrust bearing journal maximum taper 0.05 mm
Thrust bearing journal length 17.725-17.775 mm
They do however list crank to block clearance. ??
Crankshaft
Main bearing journal diameter 67.493 mm
Main bearing journal maximum taper 0.05 mm
Main bearing journal maximum out-of round 0.05 mm
Main bearing journal-to-cylinder block clearance 0.023-0.055 mm
Connecting rod journal diameter 52.983-53.003 mm
Connecting rod journal maximum taper 0.004 mm (0.0002 in)
Connecting rod journal maximum out-of-round 0.004 mm (0.0002 in)
Crankshaft maximum end play 0.130-0.301 mm
Thrust bearing journal diameter 67.493 mm
Thrust bearing journal maximum out-of round 0.05 mm
Thrust bearing journal maximum taper 0.05 mm
Thrust bearing journal length 17.725-17.775 mm
They do however list crank to block clearance. ??
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