There is another post where someone's engine fragged. They got the truck used and the dealer won't replace the engine. It was posted last week.

 

Mine sounded pretty loud but only at idle... your sounds as if it is normal to me. My 07 engine sounds about like yours but very smooth.

 

I very much doubt you have a bad cam phase sensor. The injectors on these trucks are fairly loud. They make more of a "clicking" sound. If you had a bad cam phase sensor you would know it. It makes more of a "knocking" sound. It really does sound like a diesel. *The sound is usually only heard at idle until approximately 1k RPM's, and usually only heard after the engine has warmed up and the oil has thinned out. I could easily hear mine while sitting in the drivers seat with the windows up.

 

Most of the time the ticking noise is the Cam Phaser. I have a good friend who is a service manager at a dealer and he told me that they were swamped last year with people complaining about the problem. My 2005 had the problem at 800-1000 miles on the passenger side. The dealer fixed the problem with a new phaser. Service time was about 3 days though. I agree the sound is bad and gets worse in my experience.

 

I got both cam phase sensors fixed in one day. I don't know when the redesigned sensors made it into production, but they were available in May 2005 if I recall correctly. What was your build date? I don't think there has been much of a problem since the introduction of the new parts.

 

Hi Loudpedal,

I too have a 2004 F150 FX4 5.4 Triton that sound like a diesel, which is very annoying. I have had numerous problems with my truck since I puchased it NEW in 2004. After suing Ford and the Dealer, they decided to settle instead of going to court and one of the agreements of the settlement was they have to fix the engine noise. I can tell you first hand that replacing the cam phaser and cam tensioners did NOT resolve the diesel engine noise on my truck. They are now going to replace the cam lifters, which, I didn't realize overhead cam motors have, however, I’m not a mechanic. I just know that my gasoline powered engine shouldn’t sound like a diesel. Should they be able to fix the noise, I will let you know what the fix was.

 

I have the sme problem in the right side,,,Mechanic say injectors? Replaced VCT phaser.

 

I have an'05 Lariat SCrew with the 5.4 with 40,000 miles and have had the noise almost since new. First, I need to let you know that my 'diesel noise' problem occurs at cold startup and continues until the engine reaches temperature. My visits to the dealer have gone as follows:

1. Cannot find an issue.
2. Replace Left cam phaser.
3. Cannot find an issue.
4. Replace Left AND Right cam phasers.
5. Dealer says that I have wrong oil and replaced my new Mobile 1 with stock.

Yep! You guessed it. The noise is still there. The dealer is being very nice about the whole thing but the problem still exists. My first car was a 1967 Ford ranchero with the straight 6 and that thing never missed a beat; even in below zero weather (BTW, I now live in Florida). I was hoping that, somewhere in the subsequent 3 decades, they would have gotten better. The only comfort I have is that all of the "domestics" have multiple issues of one sort or another.

 

I to have noticed a slight noise at startup. It is only there for about 1-2 minutes then goes away.

should worry about this?? I just got the truck used but I did buy the extended warrentee. it has 42,000 miles on it.

 

I just had my cam phaser replaced and it made all the difference in the world. My truck sounded like a diesel when i was in a drive thru or when i was driving next to parked cars with the window down. I just picked it up yesterday and it sounds great. At first they said it was characteristic of the motor but they finally gave in and replaced them after i complained enough. I guess it takes a long time because ford doesn't even have a time estimate for replacing them, They had my truck for a few days.

 

new to forum,bought 05 fx4 noticed ticking sound on driver side near top.thats why im here,finding out some good info,must thank all of you ford guys out there providing the info

 

My 2006 has made this noise from the start. I have 22k on it since June and haven't taken it in yet. Is the cam phaser problem on the 06's too? Man with the window down sitting at a drive thru it rattles like a diesel bigtime. I also have a slight ping at take off or if I get off the gas and right back on it.

 

I would take it to the dealer and have them listen to the problem.... There is a TSB on the cam phasers. They know about the problem, so get it in to them as soon as possible. Your engineis NOT supposed to sound like that!

Good Luck!

 

DJR 17,

My truck was having the same characteristics that you have described. My truck also had a rough idle from time to time almost like a miss. They replaced my cam phasers, tensioners, lifters, and the driver’s side cylinder head. None of which fixed the problem. After going around and around with them (see previous post) they ended up replacing the engine and this resolved the problem. The difference between the two engines was like night and day not only in sound, but power. I recommend that you stay unrelenting in making them fix it.

 

I seen a 88 Tempo had the same problem.