I'm trying to help my father in law figure out if he needs a new truck or not. He's got a 2007 F-150, 2wd with the 4.2, AT and about 170k miles. He's pretty good about getting the oil changed, but not much else. He usually goes to the same place but I guess one time he want some place different. When he went back to his usual spot, they told him his oil was too thick, they said it felt like 30wt. The truck has recently developed a loud ticking sound but still runs perfectly normal and isn't smoking or anything out of the ordinary. I'm currently searching for possible sources of the noise. Next time I see the truck I will check the spark plugs, exhaust leaks, and engine hoist brackets. Most of the posts I have seen regarding this all deal with older motors, mostly the 97-00 units as it seems most of the common problems were solved after that. Is there anything else I should look at?

 

I can't find any loose plugs or exhaust leaks. I used the screw driver stethoscope trick and the sound is louder towards the middle of the motor but some noise from the passenger side valve cover. I'm going to pull it off and see if anything looks bad.

 

Pulled the valve cover today, found the last rocker arm to be VERY loose, so I'm guessing collapsed lifter or worn cam lobe. I tried swapping with another rocker just in case, but had the same issue. I was also off on the mileage, truck has 194k miles. It will be going to a shop for repair. If I knew it was just the lifter I would do it, but if it's the cam, I don't have a very good track record with replacing them. Father in law is just glad it's repairable.