2007 F150 5.4 3v, I can start it and idles fine, except ticking pecking from what seems to be the passenger side. Driving it up to 30 mph then it misfires and backfires and won't run much over 30 mph. Truck has 163k on it. I have replaced, spark plugs, coils, cam phaser solenoids, cam phasers all with OEM Ford parts, still doing the same thing. I'm guessing probably timing chains and guides, or a bad lifter or rocker arm. Has anyone else had this issue?

 

Do you have a CEL or any Codes? Loose chains (though 163k mi is not unreasonable life for steel chains) or broken guides will usually give some noises other than simply ticking / pecking.

 

Clean all coil contacts

 

Every damn time I click on the justice scale at upper right - the forum gives me a popup that says "You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to redfishtd again"!


Damn!

 

Yep, it does the same for all of us when we give too much too often to one person. I think it kind of sucks when that one person keeps helping you and you get shutdown trying to thank them like that. OTOH it keep dishonest people for rep-ing each other back and forth all day long too.

 

That's true - I can only hope others recognize those little 'tid-bits' of wisdom and appreciate them as much as I do.

 

Did you make sure all the plugs are tight? A loose plug will cause a tick noise and a misfire.

 

No I do not have any codes just the pecking ticking noise. I pulled the passenger side valve cover and started removing the cam so I can check the rockers and lifters before tearing the front end of this down. I'll keep you posted on what I find. Thanks

 

I think you are on the right track. The noise you describe is almost certainly coming from a bad lash adjuster or roller follower.


Unfortunately, even after replacing mine, I can't provide a reliable way to 'test' the lash adjusters. With residual oil in them, they won't easily compress, (but that's what they should do). How quickly would they bleed down? I don't know. I have 'fiddled' with my old ones - and found a couple that definitely were 'stuck' or 'seized', but have no way of measuring if they were extended or partially extended. I just cleaned the wells and oil passageways with compressed air and carb cleaner with Q-tips and replaced them ALL.


I had a couple of roller/followers with a little slack in the roller bearings. (would wiggle maybe 1/32" - 1/16"). I had a very noticeable - annoying 'tick' that could be easily be heard from inside or within thirty feet with hood closed.


Replacing all lifters and followers (as part of my timing job, at 212K miles) cured it totally. She's quiet as a mouse.

 

We used to put a pushrod in a drill press and use the drill press to compress/test lifters. As long as they did a slow collapse with a moderate amount of pressure we reused them.

 

Yeah I can see that would work. I guess as long as they were full of oil to start with. These little lash adjuster 'buggers' had a bunch of crazy characteristics all ready to confuse me.

Initially I was trying to push the plunger down with my thumb !!! No way. You would leave a nice concave depression in your aching thumb. I tried various tools. Then I noticed if I 'pulled up' on the little plunger, "SOME OF THEM" would pull up - maybe 1/16 inch and '****' a little bit of oil out of the hole in the side. (Which seemed confusing when pulling/ not pushing). If I did that repeatedly, they would pee all the oil out then the plunger would move freely maybe a full 1/8th inch. (I think that is about the maximum designed travel). But then, I couldn't get oil back into them to see if they would hold / resist pressure. The ones that were seized, I couldn't tell if they were fully extended - or seized partially collapsed.


I _think_ the problem with them is they leak down if they are compressing a valve spring when engine shuts down. Then any sludge that cools / dries inside causing them to not extend to take up all lash slack on next startup - and they peck & tick like hell.


Perhaps one could soak them in strong cleaning solvent, bathe them in oil and reuse most all of them - hoping for the best.


But by the time I finished my timing job - HOPE wasn't one of my stronger qualities any longer! lol

 

Very flaky results some seemed stuck , some loosened up but had like ridges in them . Not worth spending time on ,replaced all rollers and lashes $265 oem .
Oem select ebay . No way would I skip changing them after 100k while I was in there . They work too hard for their size, combustion dirt settles in them .
Made it very quiet after replacing. .

 

replaced chains, guides.... everything. Disgusted. New complete motor on the way, this will be the last 5.4 3v I buy, possibly the last Ford I buy as well

 

How did this go from Misfire ticking pecking & no codes to "new motor is on the way" all in the course of 3 posts?

 

Impatient, and I have a very low tolerance of putting money into junk. After all the problems that Ford has had with these you would think that they would take care of it. I guess not. I have been a loyal Ford fan ever since I began driving because most of my family worked there, which also explains why they drove everything besides Ford. I dunno guess I'm just red assed about it. Thanks for the help