Noisy 4.6L 3V?

[blksn8k]

I test drove an 07 Sport Trac with the 4.6L 3V a few days ago. After returning to the dealer's lot I opened the hood to check the layout of the new V-8 and was shocked at the amount of racket coming from the top end of the motor. I could not tell if it was valvetrain related or possibly from the injectors but it was loud! Is this normal? The salesman was as shocked as I was so we tried to find an 06 Explorer to compare it to but they didn't have any other V-8's on the lot. So we fired up a new Mustang GT to see what it sounded like but the exhaust was so loud that it was hard to hear much under the hood. Lol. To the Sport Trac's credit you could not hear any of that engine noise from inside the cab. For those with 06 Explorers, is this normal for the 4.6L 3V???

 

[The CEO]

Why does it matter if you cant hear it in the cabin? There is plety of racket in my 06 4.6 but its a big engine with lots of parts so how quiet do you think it should be? The engine is nothing like my old Audi but you are comparing the noise to? American Muscle or European Engineering? BTW the 5.7 Hemi is way loud as well.

 

[blksn8k]

Why does it matter if you cant hear it in the cabin? There is plety of racket in my 06 4.6 but its a big engine with lots of parts so how quiet do you think it should be? The engine is nothing like my old Audi but you are comparing the noise to? American Muscle or European Engineering? BTW the 5.7 Hemi is way loud as well.

OK, what I would expect from a vehicle with an MSRP of over $35K is a much quieter engine than this POS. How's that chief? Oh, and by the way, my lowly little Ranger 4.0 is nowhere even close to being as noisy as that particular 4.6 3V and neither is the 4.6 4V in my Cobra and I can assure you there are many more "lots of parts" in the Cobra engine than in the 3V. My question was not intended to imply that all 4.6 3V's are this bad. Are you saying they are?

 

[IAmTodd]

It could be from the motor not being broken in. It may quiet down after its break in period. Its also very possible its low on oil.

 

[justin146]

My 3v 5.4 makes alot of valvetrain noise when cold.

 

[The CEO]

BLk, I dont know where the hostility is coming from but its not neccessary. My 04' Cobra is quieter than my Explorers engine but their purposes are different as is their tuning. If you are calling Ford engines POS then why are you looking for a Ford and own a Cobra! Go with a Toyota if your sensibilities are offended by a loud engine with the hood up but quiet in the cabin. If the noise doesnt affect the performance or comfort while driving then why does it matter. IAMTODD is correct when he says the new engine could be the culprit, my Ex was a demo with miles on it so i cant say for sure about the 4.6 3v, but in other cars that I have owned(Audi 2.7t, Audi 4.2, Cobra, Expedition) the engine has quieted down after some miles and an oil change.

BTW, many more "lots of parts" is redundant. Many more or lots of parts is grammatically correct.

 

[blksn8k]

BLk, I dont know where the hostility is coming from but its not neccessary. My 04' Cobra is quieter than my Explorers engine but their purposes are different as is their tuning. If you are calling Ford engines POS then why are you looking for a Ford and own a Cobra! Go with a Toyota if your sensibilities are offended by a loud engine with the hood up but quiet in the cabin. If the noise doesnt affect the performance or comfort while driving then why does it matter. IAMTODD is correct when he says the new engine could be the culprit, my Ex was a demo with miles on it so i cant say for sure about the 4.6 3v, but in other cars that I have owned(Audi 2.7t, Audi 4.2, Cobra, Expedition) the engine has quieted down after some miles and an oil change.

BTW, many more "lots of parts" is redundant. Many more or lots of parts is grammatically correct.

The hostility was in response to your post. You seemed to be implying that it was perfectly acceptable for an engine to sound like crap so long as it was not evident inside the vehicle. That is just plain silly. I was not calling all Ford engines anything, I was referring to this particular 4.6 3V which sounded like a POS to me and to the salesman trying to sell this particular $35,000 vehicle. The reason I asked the question was to find out if this type of noise is common to this engine. I did not ask the question because I wanted you to tell me I shouldn't expect anything better from a Ford. Oh, and my grammatically incorrect statement was only to written that way to make a point, which it obviously did.

 

[EMG7895]

A cold engine will make more noise especially if its made of different metals. When its cold the parts havent heated up and expanded which make it a little loose. You were probably hearing some piston slap and mabe some valvetrain noise.

 

[IAmTodd]

Go buy an Element

 

[The CEO]

6000 miles, no problems, runs well, love it on my $44k Explorer.

 

[Crizz]

My V8 Eddie was louder when I got him, engine noise turned less and exhaust sound turned a little more ( but needs to be modded as well, I don´t love to drive a V8 w/o hearing it *bg* )

 

[Garth]

Do they get faster after the break-in?

Heard the sport tracs are getting better #s, like low 7s 0-60.

Dont worry I dont ask anywhere but the Ford boards.

 

[Crizz]

Mine will get much faster tomorrow : speed limitter will be disabled. It bothers that the Explorer is limited to 100 mph, esp. over here in GE and overtaking a convoy on the highway.

If it get´s faster from zero up ? Don´t know, have treat my Eddie very kind the first few hundred miles, and most times I need acceleration on overtaking, not on starts at trafficlights.

 

[Garth]

Need to get some of that rangerover tech in there, they are govern at 140...

 

[cwescapexlt4x4]

Do they get faster after the break-in?

Heard the sport tracs are getting better #s, like low 7s 0-60.

Dont worry I dont ask anywhere but the Ford boards.

Well... they are lighter..

 

[V8Pete]

I test drove an 07 Sport Trac with the 4.6L 3V a few days ago. After returning to the dealer's lot I opened the hood to check the layout of the new V-8 and was shocked at the amount of racket coming from the top end of the motor. I could not tell if it was valvetrain related or possibly from the injectors but it was loud! Is this normal? The salesman was as shocked as I was so we tried to find an 06 Explorer to compare it to but they didn't have any other V-8's on the lot. So we fired up a new Mustang GT to see what it sounded like but the exhaust was so loud that it was hard to hear much under the hood. Lol. To the Sport Trac's credit you could not hear any of that engine noise from inside the cab. For those with 06 Explorers, is this normal for the 4.6L 3V???

Just stumbled on to this thread.

My '06 4.6 also makes a lot of clatter. Not when cold, but when warm. I can't hear it in the cab when the windows are up, but that's of little consolation.

FWIW, I also had a '97 Cobra, and it didn't rattle like this. I also have an '06 Magnum SRT8, and that engine is absolutely quiet, as far as mechancial noises go, so I can't agree with the statement further back in the thread that the Hemis make noise. Lastly, I had a new Mustang 5.0 in '86 that made so much noise Ford warranteed the engine at 2K miles. I'd like to avoid a repeat of that.

 

[blksn8k]

A cold engine will make more noise especially if its made of different metals. When its cold the parts havent heated up and expanded which make it a little loose. You were probably hearing some piston slap and mabe some valvetrain noise.

My experience was the same as V8Pete just stated. The engine was well within its normal operating temp as we had just returned from an approximate ten mile test drive. The engine was definitely not cold. Maybe Ford's new 5 year 60,000 mile powertrain warranty will be put to good use with this engine. Lol.

 

[bitkahuna]

I just decided to try 89 gas instead of 87 and I swear the engine's quieter and more 'peppy'. So I'm sticking with it from now on. The 'clatter' you hear might be the engine pinging and knocking because of the cheapest gas the dealer could stick in it.

 

[blksn8k]

I just decided to try 89 gas instead of 87 and I swear the engine's quieter and more 'peppy'. So I'm sticking with it from now on. The 'clatter' you hear might be the engine pinging and knocking because of the cheapest gas the dealer could stick in it.

I might believe that except for the fact that an engine usually "pings" when under load, not sitting in a parking lot at idle.

 

[V8Pete]

I might believe that except for the fact that an engine usually "pings" when under load, not sitting in a parking lot at idle.

What he said. The noise also isn't that loud. Hey, maybe when I put exhaust on it, I won't be able to hear the noise anymore.

I'd be really surprised if it didn't run well on 87. These things are in a pretty mild state of tune. I remember years ago there was discussion about the 5.0s running better on 87 than higher octane because of the higher BTU content.