ok my 2004 Sd has a 2valve 5.4 that i just turned 101k last week. My motor has a tick for about three months now and i first thought it was the header gaskets. So saturday i removed the headers and install all new studs , installed new header gaskets and bolted everything back up. Well i still have this tick and the passenger side and its coming from the valve cover. So far i unpugged each injector and COP to see if its the injector of spark plug and its not any of them. So all thats lift is a lifter or the rocker? I read that you can buy a tool that pushes the valve so you can install new lifters and rocker? I also heard this is a very easy fix to install new ones? And can someone tell me if i should go OEM or aftermarket and whats a good high quality company because i dont plan to get rid of my truck. Thanks

 

I have very little experience with these 5.4s, but have you re-torqued all the spark plugs to make sure one is not about to blowout? My truck had a tick and I thought it was valves before I knew about the plugs blowing out on these trucks. You still may have a tick with a plug getting loose even if the COP and injector is unpluged. The helicoil kit from Snap-On was 400 bucks, but hopefully I will never do another plug blowout. I believe the torque values are 11 ft/lbs with anti-seize and 14 ft/lbs if dry. You may have already known all this, but I figured I'd mention it.

 

yea i removed and retorqued the plugs a few months ago to 30ftlbs and silver antiseize. I called blownsparkplug.com and talked to one of the owners who goes on the trips to fix the trucks and he told me to do this and i "should" never have a problem

 

I have read a thread where someone replaced lifters and it didn't seem that bad. If I find the post I will leave it here.

 

found a bad #1 plug yesterday, the porcelain seperated from the stell body and fuel/etc was blowing through it. So i installed 8 new spark plugs and my in Park tick is all gone. NOW i have a tick/thudding sound only when driving down the road? Im now thinking its a bad starter motor or a hidden rot hole in the exhaust pipe even though i cant find or see one

 

i was thinking lifter but the noise is only happening when driving down the road. In park i can let it sit and rev it up and the motor is quiet as a mouse