I am now the proud owner of a 2012 XLT 4x4 3.55 rear end with 46k miles. So far I am very pleased. I still have 14k on the 5 year 60k factory warranty remaining. With that being said I have a concern about the #4 cylinder knock issue I've seen on multiple forums. I've been paying close attention and I "think" I noticed a ticking at warm idle once since I've owned it. Then again I could be overly sensitive to any noise because of what I've read.
I've also seen multiple reports of 100k 5.0's with no mechanical issues. I personally want to be in this group. My question is ...

Is there a specific build date range that seems to be prone to the #4 cylinder "ovalling".

If I'm more likely to be a looking at a new short block in the future I'd like to be as pro active as possible and diligent in getting documentation of noises and oil analysis before the warranty expires.

To be honest with the exception of the one incident I truly have been very happy with this truck. I may have been "looking" for a noise to be concerned about or I'm hoping I imagined it because I really do like this set up. The new 5.0 is a very smooth engine choice with a perfect tone from the stock exhaust.

I test drove the ecoboost also and it was a toss up. The sound of the almighty V8 was the deciding factor. The power was identical from the driver seat with the exception of a ever so slight hesitation from a dead stop with the ecoboost. Probably a personal issue but I noticed it enough to try out the 5.0 for the hell of it.

The ride quality is as expected for an XLT, I've heard the suspension varies on the FX4 and is a little "smoother". Still a smooth ride for a truck though.

If this issue has been limited to a particular build run and mine isn't one of them that would really take a load off my mind and allow me to just drive the damn thing and not over analyze ever little noise every time I start the truck.

Thanks in advance for any info.

 

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...-knocking.html

 

That's a good thread. I've heard that it's the early '12s and '11s that are mostly having the problems. In most cases, even when it is faint, the knock is noticeable.


If you are happy with your truck, and you don't hear anything that bothers you, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

Thanks, good idea.

 

Well, I washed it, polished the chrome, tire shine etc. Took it down the road to get some nice pics and when I got home this is what I heard... Really bummed me out!!!

 

mine sounds identical to that. Im taking it in for a oil change soon and hopefully i can get some sort of paper trail started.

 

My 2011 5.0 has a knock, but no where near that pronounced. And it comes and goes, not there all the time.

 

Didnt even need to put phone inside the wheel well to hear it....get that in ASAP while your still well inside warranty.......if I was in same boat and they gave me a new motor I'd think I came out ahead actually.....good luck

 

I now have a '14 with the 5.0. It has 30,000 miles on it so far and is quite as it was on day 1. If it happened to start making a tap/ knock noise I would take it in immediately due to my experience with my 2012 I posted the linked thread about.

I ignored it until my factory power train was up, but I had an esp. Others may not. I'd take it well ahead of time in case any resistance is encountered and mileage adds up.

 

get that truck to the dealer right away. The guy that owns the local Ford dealership had his '12 5.0 running outside the gas station a month ago and it knocked bad. Not really a good advertisement for Ford.

 

I dropped it off Monday. I haven't heard back from them yet. I update when I have news. Hopefully good news.

The more I look into this issue the more I'm thinking I should "return" the truck and look at a newer model. I've only had it for 3 weeks. I'm hoping the dealership will take care of me.

 

Add me to list...I got the news today... They have ordered me a new short block. They weren't able to duplicate the knocking but the service manager sent the video in to the Ford engineer... He recommended a compression test which lead to a tear down and they found scoring on the #4 cylinder.

I was really concerned about how this was gonna shake out but I gotta say Louisburg Ford in Louisburg KS has been very easy to work with and has been professional throughout. It's this kind of service that will earn them additional business from me.

We talked about the issue with these engines and he assured me that they have made the necessary changes to the block design to remedy this issue. All in all I'm going to look at this as a positive resolution.

 

I'd be happy with that used truck price with new motor

 

A potential horror story that ended well.

 

I'm so happy they're going to just replace the engine for you. So many horror stories about dealerships on here. You'll be good to go for a LONG time now.