Gooal22
Comments:
As far as I know, every engine with hydraulic lifters will tick sooner or later when cold. Once the engine is warm, ticking will go away. I have seen this ticking in each and every Ford my family had (including passenger cars, full size pick ups) but never in those that had mechanical lifters. However, hydraulic lifters have an advantage that is also their main reason to exist: they adjust themselves to close gaps, something that mechanical lifters can’t do. So, when a mechanical lifter begins to tick, the noise will go on and on (and the performance worsening) until you manually adjust the valve gaps. By the way, this is not a Ford thing. GM’s six in line engines with hydraulic lifters are notorious for a real LOUD cold start lifter noise. Now let’s go to the...
Facts:
1) Oil might have an influence (my Explorer began to tick right after the last oil change, although oil and Motorcraft filter were the very same of every change before). However, I think the root cause for valve ticking is related to normal wear.
2) In the past, engines lasted like half they do now, so when an engine needed a rebuild, the valve train was rebuilt altogether and you had a silent engine for another good period of service. People didn’t have the chance to notice ticking and if they did, it was short from a rebuild so it was not something to care. Nowadays, hydraulic lifters do wear (and tick) long before the engine goes for a big repair, so you have to put up with it maybe for years.
3) Valve ticking IS a malfunction, since your valves aren’t working properly while it happens, but as long as it only lasts for a few minutes (maybe seconds) at cold start, you shouldn’t care much for it.
4) Now, if you anyway want the noise out of your car, this wonderful site we are in has the answer:
www.explorer4x4.com/lifters/lifters.htm . A great write up with plenty of photos. You don’t want to grab a wrench before reading it.
Hope this helps.
Best,
Luis
PS: Since yesterday morning and with no apparent cause, valve ticking at start in my X has almost disappeared.
Hey there, another central Illinoisian. Welcome to the site, you will find lots of good info for your Ex here. I would go with what these guys are suggesting, start playing with different viscosity oils and stay away from the fram filters. Good luck.
