My future son in law has a '96 f150 with the inline six. He recently had the air injection tube replace because it was making a ticking sound that turned out to be the #1 cylider tube was broken and leaking. After the tube was replaced the motor still has a ticking sound, one that was masked byt the leaking tube. It appears to be coming from the rear of the motor,#6 cylinder. Do the I-6s have exhaust manifold problems or could the problem be deeper like a wrist pin going south? Any help would be gretly appreciated.

 

mine makes this sound and I think it sounds like the exhaust manifold gasket. I left it at the ford dealer today and they told me there wasn't an exhaust leak just a bunch of loose bolts, shields, etc... well it is a lot quieter than it was but that noise is still there. You can't really hear it in 1st gear but 2nd gear and up you can really hear it. It sounds like a lifter is pecking but it sounds more on the passenger side of the motor and underneath. I'm just suprised they didn't say anything about the noise. I'm gonna take it back over there and get someone to ride with me and I'll do it.

 

does it get louder at it is being revved? or a constant tick?

the EFI manifolds have a tendicy to warp a little and need to be re-tightned sometimes

or it can be a lifter tick. what oil filter is he using?

 

does it go away once it is warmed up, or is it constant?

 

Usually when one mentions "ticking", our first thought is valve lifters.
Some tick only at initial startup for awhile (no biggie).
If a lifter, the tick speed will vary upon engine speed.

 

well mine isn't the lifters just saying it sounds like it. It gets louder as the engine revs go up. It's a 95 and I've already pulled the intakes off and replaced the exhaust and intake gaskets. When I drove home that sound was still there if not worse. Before we even got into it I heard that it could be the air injector tube but my mechanic said he checked it and it was fine. So do those leaks sound the same? I had it over at the ford dealer 2 days ago and they said there was no exhaust leaks. They repositioned some stuff and tightened some bolts and it is a lot quieter but thats just because the exhaust isn't rattling around.

 

What did they charge you for this tightening? JW since my truck has the same tick, always there, worse upon acceleration, when cruising at highway speeds its hard to hear. So I am interested in what will fix this.

 

I have the same tick. I thought is was the exhaust manifold leaking. I notice it under a light load like going up a hill.

 

96f350 it sounds like we have the same problem. The ford dealer charged me $70 labor for 1.2 hours of work. All they told me I had 2 bolts missing on the cat shield, the crossmember was loose, and they flipped something around to make the exhaust line up better. They drove it twice and said everything is fine. I know I can hear it, heck soon as I left when I got it in 2nd gear I could hear it. But they said I don't have an exhaust leak so I dunno, I was half tempted to drive the thing back and tell them it's still there. I will say the exhaust is quieter than it was but that one sound is still there. Also the truck seems like it doesn't have the power as it did when I bought it. I feel like I'm loosing it out through whatever is leaking. My last tank I got 160 miles and I can usually get around 250 miles so I know something is wrong. I just tuned it up the other day so I'll see how that goes. I read on here the air injector tube is like $300 from ford so I need to get more input on what could be wrong with it. What would be great if someone chimes in and says Hey I know exactly what your problem is and this is what you do.

Anyways I'm not looking forward to pulling those intakes off again as they are a royal pita btw. But if I have to pull them off I'm getting new exhaust manifolds, air tubes, everything darn thing thats in there...

I know how I messed mine up, every 2-3 months we usually take a load of cattle to sell them, with the cattle trailer and everything inside usually weighs around 9,000 pounds and I have to go over a mountain driving in 1st gear with the m5od but I never went over no more than 3k rpms and it really overheats so I have to run the heater on high. I know the 300 makes it's power up to 3,500 rpms. I don't remember if it was the first time I did that run or the second time but it's never been the same since.

 

i don't think the load of cattle is what is hurting her.
I have and 85 F150 with 3/4 ton springs and 3.55's with an NP435 and during the fall i work on a farm afterschool. i have had 14,000lbs of big hay bales on a 30' g/n and had to move it about 4 miles it doesn't really hurt my truck. You know its back there but at 35mph it's not that bad i could go faster if i wanted and its flat land with only 1 hill.
There were F700's with 300's so that engine is capable of moving the weight.

DT

 

well I might've got it a little too hot and that could've warped the manifolds as optikal illushun mentioned earlier.

 

I have the same problem. Mine ticks when i start moving and gets faster when the engine is revved higher. I am thinking it is an exhaust manifold leak. It definitely sounds like it is coming from under the truck. I have a 1994 F150 I6 5-speed.

 

Same prob, gets faster as engine revs, but is not really noticeable at anything but idle because its not that loud, unless your uner the truck, but then the whole thing is. Maybe, if its just the exhaust manifold, when i get my headers, it will go away, and all will be as it should.

 

My 300 used to tick all the time. I was worried that it was a valve seat or something, since I just had the head rebuilt four years ago. But, since I just put on a Clifford intake, headers and a Holley 390, it doesn't tick anymore! When I pulled the old manifold combo off, there was a big ole' hole in the gasket at one exhaust port. My vote is for a bad gasket causing the ticking!

 

Put it in top gear on the hiway, roll on the gas, does it get louder?, roll off to overrun, is it still there, yes = engine noise, no= exhaust leak. You can check the egr pipe as well as they leak sometimes