I ran 15W40 in a 5.4 Engine that had 70K miles on it at the time. it did not sound right and made me suspect there was some oil starvation going on. Maybe 70K miles is to tight of an engine to use 15W40.

so in summary....around 2000 ford was pushing 5W30....then later for CAFE ratings they pushed 5W20....and if you have complaints of engine noise tell you to use 10W40.

The ticking problem seems to be by the folks who used 5W20. Is there anyone out there who has had a 5.4 on 5W30 since new and currently have the ticking problem?

 

Diesel oil has higher zinc content and acts like a cushion. More phosphate too.
I've run diesel oils in gas motors for years without any worries. I've also ran byke oils like Motul or Maxima. But what ever I use on a motor I stick with and don't mix.

 

OK, another 5.4 guy with the dreaded rattle. Sounded like I had the worst valve clatter or maybe a broken exhaust stud because it seemed to get better after 10 minutes or so. Wouldn't go away but since it got "better" I thought it might just be that thin oil draining out of the valve train. I was going to try to live with it until one day one of my kids closed the door with all the delicacy of a rodeo bronc and I thought I heard it.
Let it get cold, crawled under it, brother-in-law started it up it was the heat shield on the cross over pipe from the driver side exhaust manifold to the passenger side pipe. A spot weld or something must have broken. Put a screwdriver on it and it stopped. Took it off, there it was. Fixed with a $0.50 hose clamp.
Hope this helps you folks and maybe saves a teardown.

 

I have a 2006 lincoln Navigator with the 5.4L 165,000 miles. it is ticking like the devil. I put the 15-40 in it and it still ticks.... What now?????

 

54K miles on my '07 and 5.4 is quiet as a church mouse.

 

yeah the oil way that it seems to get rid of it is change out the cheap oil pump with a HPOP and check your lifters you cam shaft and the oil pick up with and lets not forget to check the damn cam phasers (lockouts if you can get em or make one haha) that is what im doing here in the month... Its funny how this post is still TICKING along in 2015 LMAO

 

119,988 miles, and still ticking away here!

Although it did recently seem to get more......metallic? sounding. Either way, runs great and drives fine so I'll just keep going with what seems to be working!

 

Ok so I've read and read this form and for those of you worried about this tic you should be concerned. If your vehicle is new or used, oil in the cold can be like honey if you buy a new or used car check the oil if its brown change it. Once the oil is used and moving threw the engine it will get debris with in the oil and begin turning into sluge this is why we change our oil regularly. There are tiny holes that get plugged when these holes get plugged its difficult to get them clear with out replacement parts ie phasers or lifters these are important I'm no pro yet but I have seen people run cars past there oil change dates and if you do change your oil on time you still have old oil in your engine its like cooking using oil there is no perfect engine but check your oil change if required around 150.000 miles take your car into a shop and take the valve covers off look at the springs with the lifters these lifters have tiny holes that push oil threw to the cams and pistons for those of you replacing the phasers this must be done in conjunction with your lifters and springs phasers do that a spring life and wear out when used for 150.000 miles which will enable the phasers not to open as they should to make the timing chain tight. Over time when these aren't working properly the lifters will clog up and these pin holes that pump oil will fail they normally run 10 dollars a pop but when changed will put the oil back in the top of the engine this needs to be done at 150000 miles regardless of how old your engine is phasers are apart of your timing and wear out the same time as the lifters this tic will go away if its not a more serious issue please please consult with ur regular repair man but I can't stress regular maintenance oil tune up and timing these are critical to engine life regardless of how much you do to your vehicle don't use a bottle to fix your issues it may work temporary but it will cause issues later. Phasers and lifters check and change if needed.

 

Modular ford engines do not have lifters anc i havs never seen oil galleys get plugged up if the oil is changed regularly.

while the ticking is annoying, it may still go lots of miles. Several folks on this forum have said they have 200,000 miles ticking all the way.

 

I didn't read all of this thread, but I'll add that my parent's 99' Expedition has been running 15W-40 (Rotella, Motorcraft, etc...) for ~ 15 yrs and and 170k miles. That thing still runs great, doesn't tick and the oil stays verrrryy clean(still yellow on the stick) for the first ~3k of each oil change (runs 5k per oil change). This truck also towed ~ 7k lb trailer for the first ten yrs of its life.

This truck has always used a Motorcraft filter and mostly Rotella T brand oil (usually bought by the gallon when on sale at Walmart). If the truck wasn't starting to rot apart I think they'd drive it for another 100k miles.

 

I can tell you they most certainly DO have lifters. On OHC engines like the 4.6, 5.4 etc, they are called hydraulic "lash adjusters". They sit in a bucket underneath the cam followers and push up on them on one side to keep them at 0 lash.

 

I have a 2004 with the 5.4 with 157000. it has the tick pretty loud. i was driving today and got a alarm from the info screen saying reduced power and the water temp went from normal to hot at the same time. i check under the hood and fluid level was good and the engine doesn't seem to be running hot and there is no reduced power. And when i cut the key off and restart the engine all is well for a few miles. The check engine light was not on before this happened and now it is on. Any ideas on what i should check now. the truck runs strong and is not actually running hot when the alarm comes on.

 

Registered to share my story.


I bought a 2007 screw on the side of the road. Cheap. Was a fleet truck with 260KM on it. Heard a tick from the engine but rolled the dice due to the price ($3300). Ive done re and re's myself on engines before so I wasn't too worried.

So I cleaned it all up and did the bodywork, took nothing to certify (fleets need to be certified every year here).

First thing I did was change the oil to the 15w40 for the (I know debateable) detergents to help clean it out. Made no difference in the "tick" but didn't hurt anything.

Drove it for about 2000KM and then changed it out to the recommended 5w20. Forget the brand but it was synthetic,

Let the truck idle as I cleaned up and once it got to temp "BANG BANG BANG CLACK CLACK CLACK"

Immediately turn off truck and let cool, check fluid levels, all good. Start back up same thing. Slept on it, realized that THIS was the cam phazers acting up not the tick. So I changed that oil out the next day and ran the 15w40 in it and it has not done it since. That was two oil changes ago.

So I still have the tick which I feel is either the timing set or the valve train but with the thicker oil the phazers have shut up for now. Ive had two ford techs and two independants say the same thing......."just drive it"

I purchased a used motor that I heard run and was satisfied with and its sitting on a skid until d-day arrives.

Other than that the truck has been fine. I feel sorry for the previous owner who dropped $45k on this beast to only get 7 years and three grand out of it.l

So if you do have the clanging phazers it might be worth a shot to try the thicker oil. The (amateur) timing sets on these engines run on oil pressure, and the thinner oil doesn't build enough pressure to run the phazers once things start to wear out, hence the noise. Thicker oil seems to make them happy (/amateur)


This thread was very helpful on this topic I read it from start to finish.

 

Since the first oil change 150000 miles ago we've always used 10/40 or 15/40 without a tick or worry on the world. And more often or not we use a diesel grade oil. We live in SoCal so "Cold" weather isn't a common issue. Just the "year round" Summer.

 

May sound retarded but not much of the mechanic buff, and the reason I love this sight, but question is can I add 10w40 on top of my 5w20 or should I just dump oil out and start with a fresh 6qrts of 10w40? On my 5.4 triton. Also should I change the oil filter? And what brand should I use?