Engine knock carbon buildup

[partyman2k]

I have a 2000 Exploere XLS w/ OHV 4.0
When I start it up on cold mornings about 2 minutes later a rattle can be heard by the right front wheel . The dealer says it is carbon buildup on a piston. They have run carbon cleaner thru the upper motor but it did not help. Ford says that this is inherent in this engine and will not affect the engine life. They are willing to replace the engine with a remanufactured one. The truck is only 6 months old and I want a brand new motor. Any suggestions to fix the problem or whether to have the engine replaced would be greatly appreciated.

Partyman2k

 

[overseer]

Nextime by the explorer with the 5.0. No problem

 

[Okrazie1]

Some of us do not want the 5.0 because we prefer to shift our own gears.


My understanding is that the infamous “marbling” sound is piston slap caused by the piston design of the late model 4.0 OHV, and the least bit of carbon buildup aggravates it. From what I’ve seen on some other boards on the net (Ranger sites), getting a remanufactured engine is a crapshoot. You might get a good one, or you might get one that sounds as bad or worse than the one you have now. I have the sound in mine, but after thinking it over, I decided to live with it. It doesn’t do it all of the time, its not extremely loud, and other than the noise the engine runs like a champ. I’m going to continue to keep an ear out for it and if it seems to get worse in the next year I’ll take it in before the warranty runs out.