Noisy lifter - small knock at idle

[bbrence]

Does anyone know of any cylinder head issues with the '04's? At 7,700 miles, the dealer is replacing a cylinder head. I complained of a "tick-tick-tick" at idle. The srvice writer mentioned a FoMoCo "service bulletin" on this issue but I haven't had the chance to speak to the mechanic in detail yet. They originally tried to "loosen and re-torque the cam stands", as directed by the service bulletin. It didn't solve the problem. It sounded just like a noisy [sticky] lifter in an OHV type engine.
Thanks

[ausie]

I was hoping you got it fixed with the retorque. In some cases the tsb's may apply to the 04 as they do to the 03's. As far as the head issue, thought that was only related to the early 03 model (late 2002 build). I hope all goes well with the head replacement. I wonder if it would have anything to do with one of the rockers or valve spring...

[bbrence]

Ausie,
The new head is on and has solved the problem.....whatever it was. I talked with the service writer and the mechanic. They are not sure what was causing the noise in the old head......they agreed it could have been a valve spring, or several other possible causes. Apparently Ford decided it was cheaper and faster to just replace the head......than to try and pinpoint the exact cause. They come all pre-assembled, ready to bolt on.

In any event, it is running like a fine Swiss watch at the moment. Time will tell I guess.
Barry

[mrpork]

how noticeable was the tick could you hear it with the hood down or only up and did you have any mods done to the motor at all . i just want to make sure i dont mess up my ride thanx

[blk04cobra1]

how noticeable was the tick could you hear it with the hood down or only up and did you have any mods done to the motor at all . i just want to make sure i dont mess up my ride thanx
a lot of people mistake the injectors ticking for the "head tick"...it's very distinctive and can be heard with the hood down...if you get a chance, post it up on a video and we might be able to tell :thumbsup:

[ausie]

Ausie,
The new head is on and has solved the problem.....whatever it was. I talked with the service writer and the mechanic. They are not sure what was causing the noise in the old head......they agreed it could have been a valve spring, or several other possible causes. Apparently Ford decided it was cheaper and faster to just replace the head......than to try and pinpoint the exact cause. They come all pre-assembled, ready to bolt on.

In any event, it is running like a fine Swiss watch at the moment. Time will tell I guess.
Barry
:thumbsup: Good to hear you got it fixed. Come to think of it, if it was a valve spring you would have lost some power and that may be an easy find for a shop performing a compression test on each cylinder. Although it may be a good thought to think the valve spring but now I would probably rethink my original thoughts. Considering there are several hydrollic components in the heads, two timming chain tensioners on crank chains, and two on the cam chains, also there are hydrollic valve lash adjusters. If one fails my guess would be that the cause of the noise since there would be alot of freeplay between the rocker and the cam. I did a quick search on it and there seems to be alot of info. Sometimes a cleaning solvent can be added at oil change time that may free up a stuck hydrollic valve lash adjuster. I had a similar problem but only for a limited time but decided to run motor flush chemical in the motor which corrected the issue. I believe what had happened was due to the oil I used which was not the usual stuff. I can still recall that filter issue I had a few months back and that was also the time the motor developed a nasty tick so I decided to take care of it immediately. From now on I will stick to Royal Purple or Amsoil which never gave me any issues. I also had a similar issue with my 01 which started shortly after using Mobil 1 (at the point where they added antiwear stuff to the oil). It was so bad that it ticked like hell until the engine warmed up and the RPM was above 2000. Changing the oil and running a motor flush did seem to correct that issue too. Perhaps that would be the last resort to at least cure it before going to the garage. I will use the Berrymans B-12 chemtool which I found works the best also works great for cleaning out throttle bodies. I thought about using seafoam but that may be a fuel based product (similar to kerosine).