2006 4.6 Liter V8- Cam problems

[JP1968]

Hi. This is my first post. I am stupid when it comes to cars. I am trying to research if "my problem" is a Ford problem.

My 2006 Explorer had 32,000 miles when I bought it. Sometime after that we heard the ticking that I have since learned may be something about a stuck lash adjuster? Our Ford garage was never worried about it and never attempted to diagnose or fix it. We now have 94,000 miles on the truck and my cam needs replacing (what I am told by another mechanic/ford certified but not Ford garage). Could these two things be related? Are there problems with the Ford cams in these Explorers? if you were to replace the cam would you replace the engine? (a suggestion made by another party because the whole engine has to come out). I am at a loss. I have never dogged this truck. She is my baby and I treat her well. You could never even tell she has 94,000 miles on her to look at her. What causes the cam to go?

Thanks in advance,
JP

 

[Boomyal]

The basic 4.6 has been used in many applications for quite a few years now. I am not aware with any significant 'cam' problems in any of them. The weakest link, if there is one, would be in the long timing chains and tensioners. Even then, I think these have held up very well.

I have a high mileage '97 E150 that developed a 'tick' in it. I could have sworn it was coming from the front of the engine. It turned out to be a crack in the flex plate, at the rear of the engine. The flex plate was in the process of cracking all around the bolt holes that hold it to the end of the crankshaft.

This all is not to say that you don't have a cam problem. I just do not think that cams have been problematic across the board.

 

[Explorer_PL]

I have an 06 with 179k miles, and the ticking I have is from the exhaust manifolds that snapped the studs. Otherwise, still strong like new.
Not impossible, but very unusual to have the cam go bad on those.

The cam repair may be close to the cost of replacing the motor only if you were to drop in a used one. Otherwise, a rebuild one is way more expensive than fixing the cams.

 

[vipersinu2]

injectors

can the noise be the injectors ticking?

does this sound like your noise?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHP1g499O2o

 

[Laserbait]

Hi. This is my first post. I am stupid when it comes to cars. I am trying to research if "my problem" is a Ford problem.

My 2006 Explorer had 32,000 miles when I bought it. Sometime after that we heard the ticking that I have since learned may be something about a stuck lash adjuster? Our Ford garage was never worried about it and never attempted to diagnose or fix it. We now have 94,000 miles on the truck and my cam needs replacing (what I am told by another mechanic/ford certified but not Ford garage). Could these two things be related? Are there problems with the Ford cams in these Explorers? if you were to replace the cam would you replace the engine? (a suggestion made by another party because the whole engine has to come out). I am at a loss. I have never dogged this truck. She is my baby and I treat her well. You could never even tell she has 94,000 miles on her to look at her. What causes the cam to go?

Thanks in advance,
JP

Hey JP,

What makes the shop feel that a cam needs to be replaced? How is the driveability of the truck right now? Like the others have said, it's very rare to have a cam go bad.

 

[badmotorfinger1]

Does the ticking go away less than a minute after a cold start up? If so, you have broken exhaust manifold studs.

Can you isolate the cylinder(s) it's ticking? If it will tick during idle, pop the hood and listen to see what side of the engine ticks and around what spark plug.

What oil are you using? Different brands can result in lifter noise. I run only Motorcraft 5W20 in my Merc (the only vehicle I own where I follow the manufacturer's recommendations on oil brand).

If the ticking is constant or varies under load, based on past experience I would check the torque on the spark plugs. If that checks out, I'd look at the coil packs. I had one that was ticking and an extra 1/4 turn on the bolt fixed it. Finally if all the above fails, I'd check the injector.