'97 XLT; knocking at 62,000 miles

[kelly2]

i've only had it 4 weeks. took it to get inspected today and asked about the rattling/knocking coming from the driver's side of the block. when the mech took off the oil cap, you could really hear it. he's saying replace cam, lifters, and maybe head job. what suggestions or thoughts? no mods done, only 62,000 miles, 4wd, 4.0L SOHC. i wanted to kinda beef up under the hood anyway besides just an air intake and such.

 

[svande8952]

Your lifters are probably flat. If you wanted to, you could probably just replace the lifters and rocker arms. Sine the 4.0 has roller lifters, the cam should still be fine. Since you have the heads off, I would get them ported and polished.

 

[TPLYNCH]

Kelly, did the truck come with the service records? If yes, check for replacement of camshaft tensioners and timing chain cassettes. If not, bring the truck to Ford and see if ONP programs 00M12 and 01M01 have been performed. That rattling on early SOHC engine is most likely the tensioners and cassettes going bad. For more info on the problem, run search for 00M12 and 01M01.