So my 04 FX4 with only 55000 miles is finally starting to rattle. I change the oil more often than necessary, use Motorcraft 5-20 syn blend and a Motorcraft oil filter. The big question is...

What happens if you let it tick away and don't fix it? Beside the noise, what can happen? Will they actually break? Freeze up in the wrong spot and shove a valve into a piston?

 

what exactly is it doin? What do you mean by rattle?

 

Phasers sounds like a rod knock at hot idle. A tick could be a loose spark plug or a bad cam follower.

 

It sounds like what solid lifters sound like at idle. A rod knock is a harder sound. The truck runs fine. Some folks have said that bad phasers sound like a diesel at idle...that would also be a fair description of the sound. I understand that the solenoids that work the phasers could be the cause...I have researched that particular fix...seems to be an easy enough repair.

 

Howdy, noob to the board here...

Where did you find the research for the fix? I occasionally have this on my 2004 SCrew.

 

VCT Solenoid...

 

you don't mention which motor ( 4.6, 5.4 ) my 4.6 started to tick like a loose lifter. took it to ford and after tearing down covers it was the cam on right side rear journals worn out. metal went down to bottom and ate the thrust bearing and rod bearings on either side. result! $5700.00 for rebuilt motor. the pressure drops to the lifters and they start to rattle then the crank starts to knock. this was at 63,000 after adding Lucas at 60,000. ran perfect till then. checked with Lucas and they said not to use the standard stuff in low vis trucks ( 5-20 ) they have a synthetic version now. the cam journals have holes for the journals like the tip of a pen. the thick oil additive plugged for a second and that's all she wrote! check on the net for ticking ford trucks and you will find dozens of the same story. Ford denies any responsibility but has service bulletins for the problem and how to diagnose which head has gone bad. I tried to trade it in and the salesman bent down next to the truck and listened for the knock, then took 6000 of the trade for a new motor.

 

Bob, it's a 5.4.

 

Mine knocks at hot idle too. I've got 153k on it though. My plan is to let it go because I've read on here about plenty of people that developed that sound at around 50k and have had no ill effects now that they're well over 100k. It bothers me a lot but I'm not going to spend all kinds of money chasing down a sound that might not even affect engine life. As far as VCT solenoods, I've read several posts about how it helped for a short period of time but the sound came back.