I'm hearing an additional tapping, clicking, knocking type noise from the left hand side of the engine. The only way i can think to describe it is if you started your truck and listened to it idle, on top of the injector click you'd hear another click or tap. it's not all the time, at all. it'll probably do it twice in a row every two days or so. I first heard it tuesday night after i got done installing my new tuner and tried out my tunes. after playing with it for a while i pulled over to listen to it and after a minute or so of idleing, i heard an additional knock, twice, two clicks of the injector solenoid to give you an idea of how fast it it is and how i'm timing it. it's a wierd noise for sure, i know for a fact an injector is beginning to s*** the bed, is their any chance it could be that injector showing how bad it really is? I'm pulling the valve covers right now and fire it up to see what i can see. i'm going to torque everything on the left hand side down, assuming i dont find anything wrong. the reason i say that is, is that you can let this thing idle for a half hour or so and hear nothing. i took it for an hour drive last night and heard nothing, went through the drive thru and it made the tappet noise twice. got it home, listened to it and still nothing. So we'll see i guess. sorry for how vague this description is but it hasnt made it very long and it does it so quick that i can't really put my finger on the noise. and it does it and stops it so quick i cant pop the hood and check to even make sure it is exactly under the valve cover. the noise makes me think lifter, valve, injector, rocker arm, push rod issue though. just some basic checks i've already done is coolant looks good, oil looks good, blow by is good, and no codes. this noise is definitly mechanical though. Thanks for any help or advice you can throw my way. Again, sorry for how vague it is. I'll be back in an hour or so after i pull these valve covers and start it. I also have a Snap On Solus Scanner if you want me to monitor anything in particular.

 

Could be the famous #8 dead head issue....I suppose a different PCM calibration could highlight that particular issue. Since you are going under the valve cover, you might as well do the 50cent mod and torque everything down. There is a reasonable chance things will sound better after that process.

Then locate your favorite CD and load it into your radio. These trucks will sound different from time to time and even make strange noises....try not to drive yourself crazy. If performance is good, no ill symptoms are present and fuel mileage is reasonable then just turn up the radio until the noise goes away... I am sorta half joking but half serious as well....my truck has made strange knocking/tapping sounds from time to time since it was new. I drove myself crazy trying to locate and correct the issue. An FRx helped reduce the frequency but it still occurs. These days I just turn up the radio and carry along my merry way. Almost 300k miles and the engine is still running strong as ever...

 

lol god i hope your right. i was under this driver side one about five months ago for new glow plugs, i did the 25 cent mod and installed the glow plugs, and totally forgot to torque the internals down. i did the passenger side 25 cent mod and new glow plugs about three months ago and made sure i remembered to torque those internals. This noise is definitly new and sounds mechanical although it could just be that injector having fits every now and then. it may have done it before this new custom tuner, i was only running a superchips before, however if it was, it was only a few days or so, i've listened to it idle plenty and it's never made that noise. its fuel mileage is up with this new tuner and it pulls real hard, and no noise is apparent when the converter locks up and i let off. injection stops and she's all quiet. it's got me worried though..new injectors will be coming in a few weeks, maybe some supportoing mods will have to follow quickly!

 

Well I pulled the valve cover, torqued everything down, which felt like it needed to be done, and started it up. Nothing out of the ordinary. Let it run for a minute and watched everything operate, all looks good and the noise didn't seem to rear its head. The injectors all seemed to be tossing oil good as well. The first two cylinders seemed to have a little more white smoke coming out of the pushrods holes then the two cylinders closer to the rear of the engine. Nothing else sparked my interest. I guess I'm not going to worry about it and drive it till I can't.

 

hey everybody, i have narrowed my internal engine knock down to a bad injector on the left bank. it started fine this morning so i was not able to tell which one is the problem child. i've done a cylinder contribution test and everything comes back fine, did a injector buzz test and they all seem to be buzzing. is there any way to make this injector act up or tell if it's bad just by running? the injector that is tossing the least amount of oil is most likely the bad one correct? i have a new stock one sitting here beside me and would like to correct this problem because other then obvious reasons, almost everyday but today it's started on seven cylinders and then will pick up the eighth one after it's run for a minute. and now that it's done this for a month or so, when i let the engine slow down to an idle, every now and then i get a knocking noise. i'm hoping i can pull the valve covers and let it run till it makes that knocking noise a few times while i'm watching it.

 

You won't be able to isolate it until it does it consistently. The best time to catch it is when the engine is really warmed up and in gear with your foot on the brake (that's when mine showed up). If you've got it to that point, unplug one injector at a time between restarts and tests until the noise is gone.

Tired oil causes injector knock too.

 

thank you tugly, just got the valve cover off, going to start it and try to make it make the noise. it's got 3000 miles on 5w40 rotella synthetic, i don't think thats it. it's not really a big deal to pull this valve cover so i might just do a compression test on all these cylinders as well to ease that part of my worries too. any idea what good compression is considered on these engines?

 

How to Check Compression on a 7.3 Ford | eHow.com

 

thank you texas, i started my truck and using a mechanics stethoscope i am able to isolate that the first injector on the driver side bank is much louder then the rest. they are all tossing oil as they should but i can really hear a definitive louder clack out of the first injector. I believe i'm going to try my luck and change it out and wish for the best. lol

 

Dothedew192. It's been a month, do you have any update on your knocking injector?

I'm chasing the same thing around and around on the drivers side. I hear it when it's hot. By time I get the valve cover off I can't get a knock. It can sometimes be pretty steady and annoying at a traffic light. Doesn't seem to affect performance, but don't like the noise.

I'm thinking since my injectors are tossing good oil, and seem visually good at the moment, I'll start with the oil rail crossover line and see if that helps. If not, maybe I'll buy a new #8 injector and change it out. If it still knocks, I'll swap the removed injector with each one down the line until I have results. Probably need some o rings along the way as well.

Thoughts anyone?

BTW all stock except for 6637 and 4" turbo back exhaust. No tunes. Has 145,000 miles.

Paul

 

On cold start, walk around to the tailpipe. Does it sound like a miss in the exhaust sound? Mine does and I've got all the other noises (though a bit more consistent, apparently). I've had a tappy sounding injector on the drivers' side bank since I bought my truck 1.5 years ago (40k miles on it since then).

I have AE and my #8 throws around a 6% Perdel consistently, even after changing to another CPS. It throws oil fine (did the 50 cent mod several months ago and everything was already tight when I tried to torque it all down). I'm also running a high pressure oil crossover, which made no perceptible change in the noise.

I finally just went out and replaced the stock in-dash CD changer with a higher wattage aftermarket unit and it pretty much has taken care of the noise.

 

No miss on mine. I've noticed the sound off and on for 3 years and 35,000 miles. It's just getting worse or I'm more aware of it. After some more reading and looking, I ordered the FRx by Riffraff Diesel. I'll give it a try and see if it helps. It sounds like it could be an issue of air passing through #8.

Also, this is an interesting read I found on another post. http://www.thedieselstop.com/faq/949...les/032139.pdf

Paul