I know it seems to be a fairly common problem doing some searching on here and google.

I've lessened it some, I had an ignition tick that is now gone. New motorcraft plugs, wires, and coil packs. I'm running havoline 5w30 with a motorcraft filter now. I didn't notice the tick when I got it only a few months ago, but it could have been there and not as noisy, I'm not really sure.

I've got some parts to put on when I get time. Probably be a month or 2. I have a timing belt and tensioner, water pump, block heater, drive belt, tensioner, and idler.

It's a constant tick. Worse when cold, but still there warm. Sounds like under the valve cover. I'm not afraid to get in there and fix it, just would like to hear some opinions on what it could be for sure. I've read about the lucas and high mileage oil combo maybe reducing the noise, but if its fixable, I'd like to do it when I have it torn down for the timing belt, which is original I'm sure by looking at it. I really don't like abnormal noises from my engine compartment. Bugs the crap out of me.

 

You could have a worn lobe on the camshaft worst case, but I think you got a lifter that is stuck. It's easy to test just push down on the lifter side of the rocker arm, if it goes down real easy bad lifter, you can run her with the cover off to narrow the noise down!

 

Nice, thanks David. I'll look into it when I do my other work. It's definitely not as noisy when warm, but still slightly there none the less.

 

I was debating an oil change to the high mileage oil just to see if it would lessen it. If I do that, I was also thinking of running a little diesel in the oil to loosen things up before I drain it. Kind of old school, but I've done it before. First, warm it up good, then add 1 qt of diesel and drive it easy for 10 minutes or so, then drain it and put fresh oil in. Took away the part time miss I had in my former daily driver, 1990 festiva.

Thoughts on that?

 

If you want to rust-proof your underhood area, run with the cam cover off. Talk about oil hurricane...
The design uses hydraulic lifters to support one end of a cam follower, the other on the valve stem, and the middle pushed down by the cam lobe to open the valve. You should have 'roller' cam followers.
If the lifter is defective it will make loud noise, but it is normal to have a bit of noise on startup after sitting for a while. The lifters(supports) can and will bleed a bit of oil under constant pressure, and allow a bit of clearance that should go away almost immediately after start-up.
The injectors can also make some noise. I would suggest getting a length of vacuum line, and use it as a noise finder, putting one end near the ear, and moving the other end around the idling engine to locate the source. A lifter tap would be pretty loud. Injectors, not so much.
tom

 

DO not run with valve cover off. You can not believe the amount of oil it can throw all over the place. I would also suspect an exhaust leak making the ticking noise. Plus some Ford fuel injectors are a bit noisy.

 

Thanks a lot guys. I'll be sure and check everything out.

 

Just an update on this in case someone is searching in the future. I don't put a lot of miles on this ranger, but it does get driven almost every day (small town). It sat a lot when the PO had it. I switched to castrol high mileage oil and have about 4500 miles on it since switching. I changed the castrol at 3500, the oil looked real good with none used. The more miles I put on it with the high mileage oil and getting driven a lot more, I hardly ever hear the tick. I honestly don't remember the last time I heard it, I never noticed it all winter.