Hello,
I have a 2000 F-150 4x4, 5.4 Triton. I started noticing a ticking sound coming from the engine and I'm not sure what it is. I hear it best when I slide under the truck. It seems to be coming from the left side-bottom of the engine(as you're sitting in the drivers seat). I have read a lot of posts here about valves, lifter, valve guides, etc, but I'm not a mechanic so I'm unsure about what it could really be. I have also noticed a drop in gas mileage and a small lack of power when starting out from a stop. When I start out from a stop, the engine feels ab bit bogged down, but when I reach 30-35 mph, you can feel a surge of power. I checked the exhaust manifold studs that seem to break, and sure enough mine did. I fixed that problem, but it didn't fix the ticking problem.

Also, and I don't know if this is realted to the ticking problem, but I have a large amount of water leaking from the muffler and tailpipe. It sometimes comes out of any of the joints in the exhaust between the engine and muffler. I don't know if this is poor quality gas or what. I tried different gas stations, but the water still leaks. Has anyone has any of these problems? Please give some advice. Thanks.

 

Well, the water part is easy. moisture is a natural byproduct of combustion and the catilitic conversion process. Normally, without a Cat converter Hydrocarbons are emitted into the atmosphere which are toxic. The converter breaks down the hydrocarbons into nitrogen and water which are safe. Now a noise on the otherhand is tricky. I have come to find that noises are a part of owning a vehicle as anything, many moving parts, it could be a small annoying but harmless exhaust leak. For power-loss I suggest a standard tune-up.

 

sounds like an exhuast leak. Fix them and check to see if the tick goes away. If engine is tuned properly it should.