I have an unmodified 97 XLT that has about 32,000 miles. On and off for the past 9 months the engine has knocked after starting and then once the engine has warmed up it stops. There does not seem to be any consistency as to when this happens -- it can happen on a cold morning (34 degrees) or a warm one (65 degrees), and it can start knocking right away or it can begin to knock after being parked for 30-90 minutes after it was already running. The dealer has looked into it several times. They kept it two or three times overnight to get a first start and although they hear it the dealer tells me that it is normal -- but how can that be since it does not happen consistently. I kind of feel that since I am a woman he is giving me a line. What ideas do you all have for how I can resolve this? I would really appreciate your insight because it is driving me nuts!

Thanks for your help!

It sounds like a bad/weak lifter to me.

Thanks guys for your thoughts.

Two things: 1) At one point the dealer did say that it might be a bad hydrolic lifter, but then after looking at it and making some adjustments, he said that it was not; and, 2)Another time he said that it might be that the engine needs to warm up a bit to get the oil flowing to the lifters. Are hydrolic lifters expensive to replace? Do you think that I'm getting a line because of cost and that the truck is still under warranty? Do you think that if I go for a second opinion that I should go to another dealer or try to find a mechanic that works on Explorers someplace else? Your advice is greatly appreciated!

The explorer uses hydraulic roller lifters which should cost around $18 each from the dealer (depends on where you are, I guess). If the truck is under warranty, check the wording. If it includes the valve train then they need to fix it.

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Danny
91EB
www.hit.net/~danny/explorer.html (http://www.hit.net/~danny/explorer.html)

I have a '99 Eddie Bauer w/ the sohc V-6 the has the same knock you descibed also. Does your XLT have sohc V6 in it too? Were you able to get it fixed???