1999 F350 6.8l (12/98)
Auto 4r100 (12/98)
220k Miles 4wd

1.) Low volume tick in the lower end that turns into a decent knock as it warms up. Just noticed it wasn’t there all the time when I fired it up this morning to video.

2.) Rattle like sound starts about 2k rpm’s and gets a little louder as it goes up until the engine noise over takes.

My first v10. Purchased from a family member in September. He owned it for a few years. Before that, it hauled a 5th wheel for the better part of its life. I’ve put about 4k miles on it now.

New that I’ve installed;
Auto lite plugs (torqued)
Motorcraft COPs
Pass side O2 sensor
Fuel filter
Lash adjusters
5w30 w/ Wix filter
Air filter

I initially put in 5w20 but after 1k miles it ate a quart.. filled it back up, same thing. Switched oil and now I don’t see any any change in fluid level just over 500 miles. Hopefully it’s just picky.

Air filter was the sandiest/dustiest cleanest one I’ve ever seen. Neglected for sure.

Cleaned the throttle body, intake, IAC. They were all gooey black.

Checked the PCV, hose/elbow. All the hoses seem to be attached, tight and decent condition for their age except for the charcoal canister. It’s still there but kinda deteriorates when you touch it. Will replace.

Fuel pressure is 28 at idle and about 37 when steppin into it. I believe this is in spec but not as high as most report.

Stethoscope on the injectors sounds about the same. Some had a slightly different tone/pitch but nothing too crazy.

Unplugged the MAF and took it for a ride. Seemed to have more power. Shifted harder especially up hills but the engine really did feel stronger. Cleaned it with MAF cleaner, plugged it back in. Cleaning didn’t change anything. (Not the proper way to diagnose but I was curious)

Read a good thread from JimmyPet. His ended up being the cat (at 30k miles). I removed mine at the flange and held the exhaust away with some wire. Seat of the pants didn’t feel any different and it was so darn loud I couldn’t make out other noises.

Egr appears to be working properly. Goes up and down when I give it gas. Monitored with FORScan.

Any other ideas on the knock or the ‘ping’? Related?Fuel pump not making quite enough pressure? Worn injectors? Oil pump or pickup tube? Bearings? Timing? Although I haven’t seen a rig drive this ‘normal’ with a timing issue. I’ll keep tinkering, just hoping someone else can hear this and identify. If I can get a good enough recording. Any helpful PIDs to monitor with known good values? FORScan.

Thanks for any input!

 

Not the best audio/video. Thinkin about it now, I’ll have to pull the motor to assess the situation.. It’ll be this coming week. Have to get it ready for winter before snow falls. Always somethin.

*unless someone thinks they have a better idea… please haha

 

Took the trans out, hoping it was a flex plate.. no dice. Took it out and checked both sides, looks fine. Not sure if the torque converter looks like it’s been overly hot or just well seasoned. Possible cause of rattle like noise? Might have to do the “Replace with known good part” technique. Install a new converter, filter and fluid.

I don’t mind troubleshooting, just not sure what the next step is though. Shop has to cut cut it open to check it right? Pricing is all over the board for new ones. 150-1500. Don’t need the high end and don’t want bull pucky either. This one in it is a ‘ford renew’.

And the knock sound, I haven’t been able to find a common reason for when it’s not knocking. Warm cold driven idling. Most every time it’s there. Very few it’s not. With the plow on now it seems to be fairly prominent every time I start her up.

 

I put it in 2nd and went up an incline so I could try to get the rattle sound better. I took it from 2k to just about 3k rpm’s in the video.

 

Take the belt off to make sure it's not a accessory making the noise.

Denny

 

I put a stethoscope on everything I could see but I did not try removing the belt. I’ll give it a try.

I read about the oil passage on the passenger side getting full of crud and causing over heating issues but not necessarily my issues.. I know this engine wasn’t the cleanest when I had the valve covers off but it certainly wasn’t the worst I’ve seen. Right from 2k+ it sounds like a hoopty.

The noise does seem different when TC locks and unlocks but I didn’t feel or hear anything loose inside it when I just had it out. Only had one let go on a C6 and you could tell right away, all the pieces floating around inside.

 

Are there 2 different rattles you're trying to diagnose? Your first video sounds like it is coming from the engine and the rest of the videos seem transmission related?

Engine ticking sounds about right, at least my V10 with 220k on it sounds similar. I think you can read up on these forums and find out that Wix filters aren't preferred. You should try and use Motorcraft filters moving forward. The exhaust manifold studs are prone to failure causing exhaust tick, but yours doesn't sound like that. Have you tried using premium fuel with octane additive? Once again, seems like it is a very common question/thread on these forums with the V10, they do ping and I haven't found a definitive answer on how to fix it.

 

I removed the belt, didn’t take but 20 feet to hear it still.

Yes 2 sounds. One is the knock, the other I can’t tell if it’s the trans or the engine. New exhaust manifold gaskets and studs.

The knock I’m afraid is a spun bearing. Not sure if I can rule that out unless I pull the engine to pull the pan. But it isn’t there 100% of the time. Or it could just be really quiet and really loud at times. Maybe a partially/clogged oil tube/pickup?

For the rattle I ran down the road with my go pro underneath the bell housing but it’s too windy to hear. I’m thinking I’ll put it between the firewall and engine and give it a ride. It sounds just like a rattling soup can with a hose clamp on an exhaust. Or some ugly valve noise?

Wix isn’t good for the v10?? Man, I read a lot of threads, like most of us here. I thought wix was a good ‘go to’ choice.. I haven’t seen anything bad about them, although I haven’t looked into filters as I’ve always used motorcraft on the 7.3l and wix/motorcraft for the GT.

Oil consumption is back as well, about the same as when I was using 5w20. No leaks, so that’s sad.

 

​​​​​​If it was a spun bearing it would have come apart already. Sounds more like a top end problem, rockers, piston, piston pin. Next start disconnecting one coil at a time and see if it changes or goes away. If it changes it's a piston problem.

Denny

 

I fired it up and it was quite loud again. Sounds the loudest when you stick you head behind the passenger wheel. So I disconnected the coils one at a time. I thought one on the drivers side may have changed the sound but I did it a couple times and I think it was in my head.

Used an infrared thermometer on the exhaust manifold to possibly see a temp difference on a cylinder. All the cylinders appeared normal. The front (1 and 6 I believe) cylinders were about 80 degrees cooler than the rest. Probably because they’re at the beginning of the run.

Used the stethoscope on the manifold and it sounds like it’s coming from cylinder number 8 or 9. Drivers side, 2nd or 3rd from the firewall. I can hear the sound the loudest there with the scope. Odd. Because it’s most audible without the scope is behind the passenger tire.

Thanks for the ideas. I’ll keep at it until it’s pulled out or I find it.

Don’t feel like swapping my 6.0 or 7.3 drivetrain just yet. Which is the current game plan for the spring.

 

Before you pull the motor I would remove the valve covers and make sure you don't have a broken valve spring, pull the drivers side first.

Denny

 

I did have the covers off recently when I replaced all the lifters/lash adjusters. Doesn’t mean I didn’t miss something so I’ll give it another good look through. I’ll start with the drivers side. Passenger side took quite a bit longer to get on and off.

 

Pulled both valve covers. Nothing looks out of the ordinary. Just dirty, mainly drivers side. Which goes to show how crappy cleaners work, or how dirty the thing was/is. Or how bad my luck is.

I used: (changed oil 5w30 and motocraft filter after each, around 1k miles between each)
Amsoil power foam through the intake.
Seafoam through vacuum.
Golden eagle engine flush. 20min (15min at idle)
Marvel in the oil.
The passenger side cleaned up quite a bit but the drivers side doesn’t look like it did anything. I’ll take some more photos tomorrow.

I bought some felpro valve seals, 2 different valve spring compressors (different angles). Glad I did, because some cylinders you have to be creative or lucky.

It took me a lot longer than I thought. Was thinking I’d have the covers off quicker since I’ve done it a handful of times now, wrong. Both sides suck but passenger side you can’t get too mad at otherwise you’ll bend/break/tear something you shouldn’t. I removed the upper part of the trans dipstick. When you pull that off the back of the head, move the wire loom up over that stud and it gives you the 3/8” more room to lift the rear of the cover. Might be easier/better ways, just fyi.

I’ll be finishing the the last couple (cylinders 5 and 10) tomorrow morning. It’s a long shot for noise but if it helps tame the consumption at all then I’ll be happy. The originals were hard and holes worn/oversized.

Cam wear doesn’t look horrible but some of the cam followers feel almost too loosey goosey in your hand. I know they have some left to right wiggle but idk how much they’re supposed to have. I’d replace them all but I feel like I should do the cams at the same time since they are worn and at that point I’d feel obligated to pull the heads for a valve job and everything else.. sigh..

I was doing the seals without air, just piston at tdc, but it was taking so much time. So I used air, and to my surprise, a couple of the cylinders had a lot of air coming out of the intake. Maybe I wasn’t at tdc? My big shop air compressor was running non stop for a few of them.

One valve, cylinder 2, I had air in the cylinder, it was on, and I got the spring keepers/locks off no problem. Pulled the seal out, no problem. Went to put the new seal on and the valve stem started sliding into the head.. I had it at tdc (or close), so it didn’t fall in. But it was like the air wasn’t doing anything. I could slide the valve in and out with my fingers, no resistance. I spun it (not sure if that’s bad) a couple times and in and out a few more and then poof! Pressure. Carried on my way and finished the install.

When I swap the motors in a month or so (snows gone still.. crappy winter), I’ll tear down the 6.8l to check it all out and send the heads and block to the machine shop. Then I’ll take my time to rebuild it just to have on hand for a backup/project someday. At least then I’ll know what exactly was going on and I can report back here. For now I’ll just keep updating as I go. Sorry my posts are almost always this long.

 

That's the same noise as my 5.4 makes and every Jeep 4.0 I have ever owned has made. It's just piston slap. Bark is worse than bite type of deal. If you're located anywhere that salts the road, the truck will be rusted out in a junkyard and the engine will still be piston slapping away.

You'll find some crappy looking piston skirts on it. That's about it. If it were mine, I'd keep running it. Not too hard to get the engine out of these trucks , though.

 

yes.mine pings under load..so i use premium..gets ride of most of it..but thats just going uphill..as i do not drive aggressively ...so pinging isnt a real issue 250,000 miles