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We (the company I work for) just purchased this new to us 2012 F-150 with the 5.0L, 44,xxx mi. It is going to be a crew truck. The first trip to a job site, the driver complained of it ticking. The car lot said to take it to the ford dealership (which is right down the road from them) and get a diagnosis. The dealership said the tech removed the belts to rule out pulley system and said it does it no matter what gear its in, so he assumes its not transmission related. Dealership said its engine related and the next step would be to tear in to the engine to find the issue. Called the car lot to see what they wanted us to do, being it was on their dime. CL said they didn't want ford to mess with but a local shop that they frequently use (of course). Lady in the office went to pick the truck up and they gave her a print out basically stating typewriter type noises were common in the 5.0L after an oil change (which they did while they had it).
I'm the mechanic at this paving company (heavy truck/equipment), but I do everything here automotive, small engines, etc. I know injectors sound like a typewriter and it obviously has nothing to do with the oil. If somebody's typewriter sounds like this then they have some issues. I told her this doesn't sound normal.
The reason I'm reaching out on this forum, is to see if anyone had this issue or seen/dealt with it for that matter and could possibly shed some light before we get the car lot back involved. When the truck is cold it sounds perfect. The truck also has no drivability issues or check engine codes. It doesn't start until after its reached operating temp. The video I've attached is me letting it warm up until it starts making the noise. The whole video was probably 12 mins. so I cropped it for obvious reasons.
Sounds like a tappet (hydraulic lash adjuster) to me. Make sure they used a Motorcraft oil filter and proper weight oil, should be 5w20 in it. If the oil and filter are proven correct next step is pinpointing the exact location of the noise with the cam cover removed.
It'll be a little messy but you're not going to run it long. Warm the engine so it's already making noise then remove it and have your mechanics stethescope ready.
Or you could try deadening each cylinder 1 at a time to pinpoint the one that changes sound and replace those 4 tappets.
I was actually starting to pull coil plugs yesterday but dump trucks rolled in that needed attention. These big trucks you can remove the valve covers and let them run all day long, so that is what I'm used to. It's raining today, that's when these big trucks stop to get small work done. I'll be with them today, but hopefully I can get back to the 5.0 tomorrow.
