Just finished about 2 weeks worth of repairs on my van (thanks for all of your help btw). Started her up and heard this...

https://clyp.it/4uraeltc



Work performed:

Drained coolant prior to repairs.
Took the intake manifold off and blocked all the ports.
Cleaned out plug wells and replaced all the spark plugs.
Changed out valve cover and intake manifold gaskets.
Torqued everything down to spec.
Replaced some old vacuum lines with silicone vacuum hoses.
Replaced EGR tube that was badly rusted onto exhaust manifold.

Started her up and immediately shut off the engine after hearing a loud knocking sound from the engine.

Checked the oil before the repairs and could have sworn it was at an acceptable level.
Checked after the repairs and it was 2.5 quarts shy of the recommended 6. Must have been mistaken when I read the oil the first time around.

Did a complete oil and filter change before starting it up again.
No metal particles in the oil after oil and filter change.
Oil looked dirty and needed to be changed, but not contaminated.
No coolant in oil.

Pretty sure everything got put back together properly.
Fairly confident that no gasket material or other debris fell into the crankcase or intake ports.

Sounds like a loud fast metal ticking... did not exist prior to repairs.

What could this sound be?

Is it OK to run the car for a bit to see if the sound goes away on it's own?
I have a feeling it might... but don't want to risk it... or has the damaged already been done?

 

Whatever that sound is it most likely will NOT go away on its own---it sounds pretty severe. I'd not start the engine until you have a better idea what the sound is.

If you don't get too many answers here I'd post this same question in the Modular Motors forum, V8 section.

I hate speculating but could something have been left inside one of the ports you blocked while the intake was off?

Depending how long the oil level was so low that could be problematic for the crank and cam bearings. Because this sound didn't exist prior to your work though that might not be the case here.

Best of luck---hope its something cheap and easy to fix!

 

I'm not much familiar with the 5.4, JW, but doesn't it do cam chain tensioning with engine oil pressure? That noise sounded like a combination of chain slap and dry hydraulic lifters. Will this engine run with no oil pressure? jim

 

Jim that's a great observation and you could be 100% right on all points there. It would start but run rough as a cob if oil pressure wasn't sufficient to tension the cam chains; the sounds we're hearing could very well be that system not working properly.

A neighbor runs that same engine and through lack of maintenance "suddenly" found he was a bit over 2 quarts low on oil. This was a new-to-him vehicle, no telling how long it was that low. After bringing it back to normal level he's been driving it daily for about 2 months now.

In this case we need to know how long possibly it was run that low of oil.

 

My son has that engine in an Expedition, it always sounds "busy" (buzzy) when I hear it. One thing for sure, low oil will really make them noisy.

 

Yeah---mine too! Recently placed a microphone inside the engine bay, recording a short excursion on a challenging country road with a GoPro camera. The engine noise inside the engine bay is very different from the sounds outside or in the cabin----almost scary but pretty normal for that motor.

 

It really hasn't been running very much at all lately. Been parked for about 8 months.... I know... not the best thing for the engine, but it's kind of a project and quite frankly has an exhaust smell that could kill you flat in 10 minutes.

I did take it out for an hour drive at highway speeds recently after resetting the PCM and didn't notice much except bad acceleration, that exhaust smell coming into the cab, and some slight bucking and shaking at highway speeds... the result of the drive cycle was engine misfire codes in cylinders 1 & 4 and system running lean which I haven't quite solved yet but did get rid of the coolant leak from a bad intake manifold gasket and replaced the EGR tube. which seems to have made the exhaust smell go away.

As far as the timing chain... I just inspected it and it is very very slightly loose. Don't see how it could be slapping (but admittedly don't understand much about this). When I say loose I mean the teensiest tiniest bit. Not sure how much movement is permissible. One rocker also has the tiniest amount of give.

I inspected the camshaft bearing cap on the rear passenger side (sounds like it's coming from there) and doesn't seem to be blocked. Lifters don't look damaged. Main bearings are pretty much ok? Uploaded some pics here. Maybe you guys will notice something I haven't.. I might not know what to look for. Does it look oil starved?

Imgur: The most awesome images on the Internet

 

Haven't tested the oil pressure since I couldn't find a mechanical pressure gauge locally. There's a harbor freight not too far from here I know they sell one. Engine doesn't really run excessively rough. It makes that nasty sound but seems to be idling kind of OK for an old van.

 

You might get more help from the 5.4 mod motor crowd, dbbldz. I did a site specific search on 5.4 cam issues and got lots of hits in just the last year.

https://www.google.com/search?q=5.4l....com&tbs=qdr:y

These are all ford-trucks.com comments. jim

 

Did you by any chance figure out what was wrong with your van I have a 06 doing the same thing after changing the plugs

 

Does FORScan have an oil pressure PID?

 

My '97 6.8l does not have an oil pressure pid. I bought a cheap oil pressure gauge (digital readout with sender unit) and connected it in place of the oil pressure sensor switch. You could also connect a mechanical test gauge if you have one.

 

Check all of the rocker arm roller ball bearings
Look into the collapsed HLA
Trust your work
But
You are damn sure you didn't leave a rag in a intake port right?
Done it
You did not have the oil cooler off and replace its gasket to the block right?
+1 on the direct pressure gauge test for the oil pressure

 

If the oil has had a chance to drain back into the oil pan while sitting for 8-months, then you may need to run the engine for 6-seconds or a bit longer for the lifters to pump up.

I purchased a used '07 jeep JK (4-door model), and upon start up cold in the morning, first start, the lifters would rattle until pumped up with oil.
After scouring forum threads, a professional mechanic reminded us we need to run an oil filter with an Anti-drain-back Valve.
So, I stuck my mouth to the Fram extended life, and blew and suched and sure enough it has a one-way valve.
Nowadaze, there is no more valve clatter on cold start up.

Just another thought to ponder.

 

Sounds like a collapsed lifter or two to me. If it was sitting for a long period of time without being run, Oil sludge could have plugged up the holes and they can't pump up. If it were mine, I'd pull the valve covers and fire it up. You also might want to pull the VVT out and inspect it for sludge buildup, if it's not working correctly you're going to get slack in the chain.