Piston slap??
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Joined: Jul 2006
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Piston slap??
Hello all.
My truck is a 99 F150 5.4 4X4 160k miles
When I first start the truck in the morning I hear a ticking noise that goes away after about 5 minutes. I dont hear it unless the truck has set for at least a few hours. The noise speeds up with more rpm. At first I only heard it on really cold days. I am now hearing it on hot days too. It does goes away for a while after a fresh oil change.
My truck is a 99 F150 5.4 4X4 160k miles
When I first start the truck in the morning I hear a ticking noise that goes away after about 5 minutes. I dont hear it unless the truck has set for at least a few hours. The noise speeds up with more rpm. At first I only heard it on really cold days. I am now hearing it on hot days too. It does goes away for a while after a fresh oil change.
Hotshot
Joined: Jul 2005
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i have not had the piston slap, but have read about it. it appears to be worst when cold as you said. it gets better after an oil change when the oil is at its best and warm. it would appear the warm THIN oil is best. i have heard of a couple guys putting 5W30 synthetic oil in the motor and helping quite a bit. i would do that first. if you are using a thick dino oil right now, going to a thinner weight oil might help, but i think the synthetic is well worth a try.
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Hi Steve. Thanks for your reply.
Sadly, All I have ever used in it was Full Synthetic Valvoline 5w30. I changed oil last night and used 10w30 in hopes to help the problem. I guess thats not going to work then.
Sadly, All I have ever used in it was Full Synthetic Valvoline 5w30. I changed oil last night and used 10w30 in hopes to help the problem. I guess thats not going to work then.
Moderator
Joined: Dec 2001
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From: Louisville,Ky.
You sure you don't have a broken exhaust manifol stud? This can sound like a ticking noise too and goes away once the manifold heats up.
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Lexman1
It wont hurt me to check it out but the sound definitely goes away with a fresh oil change so I have slim hopes that it will exhaust related.
A friend suggested that it may have a weak oil pump. My oil pressure gauge shows about halfway or a little more right after startup though.
It wont hurt me to check it out but the sound definitely goes away with a fresh oil change so I have slim hopes that it will exhaust related.
A friend suggested that it may have a weak oil pump. My oil pressure gauge shows about halfway or a little more right after startup though.
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Joined: Dec 2001
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From: Southeast FLA
What happened to using the spec'd semi-syn 5W-20? I actually use full syn 5W-20, but I fail to see the argument to use a thinner oil, then suggest 5W-30 for a 5W-20 engine. Synthetic will be thinner than dino, and the 20 will be thinner than a 30 weight. Kinda surprised that, this far down the road ... ah, forget it. This forum just isn't like the other FTE forums...
Back to the piston slap: My uncle's '97 4.6 has had it for a very long time. He's now got well over 215k miles on the original engine (and tranny). I don't like the idea of Ford's piston slap any more than you, but if you treat the truck right it should last nonetheless.
Back to the piston slap: My uncle's '97 4.6 has had it for a very long time. He's now got well over 215k miles on the original engine (and tranny). I don't like the idea of Ford's piston slap any more than you, but if you treat the truck right it should last nonetheless.
Tuned
Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 464
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From: Bismarck USA
Don't rely on that oil pressure gauge. I think it's an idiot gauge. Meaning as long as the pressure falls in the "normal" range, the gauge will read normal. If it goes high or low, then it just pegs the gauge.
So unless you take a reading with a meter, I wouldn't trust the gauge.
From what I understand, Ford switch awhile back to this idiot gauge. People would come in and say the engine is running hot or pressure is high/low, and there's nothing wrong. Just a gauge inaccuracy since they are not perfect. So they switched to an idiot off/on style gauge.
So unless you take a reading with a meter, I wouldn't trust the gauge.
From what I understand, Ford switch awhile back to this idiot gauge. People would come in and say the engine is running hot or pressure is high/low, and there's nothing wrong. Just a gauge inaccuracy since they are not perfect. So they switched to an idiot off/on style gauge.
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Joined: Dec 2001
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From: Louisville,Ky.
It is an idiot gauge. If it has above 7psi, it will show where it does now 1/2 or a little more.
Piston slap has little to do with oil pressure, it is caused by the pistons that Ford used. In an effort to reduce reciprocating weight and increase fuel mileage, Ford used shorter piston skirts to reduce piston weight. This can cause the piston to wiggle just a little when cold, until the block and pistons warm up and expand. Although annoying, it doesn't hurt a thing.
Chevy LT1's had this issue as well.
The newer 3V engines 04-up have gone back to a longer skirt.
Piston slap has little to do with oil pressure, it is caused by the pistons that Ford used. In an effort to reduce reciprocating weight and increase fuel mileage, Ford used shorter piston skirts to reduce piston weight. This can cause the piston to wiggle just a little when cold, until the block and pistons warm up and expand. Although annoying, it doesn't hurt a thing.
Chevy LT1's had this issue as well.
The newer 3V engines 04-up have gone back to a longer skirt.