Hi everyone!

We just bought a '99 4.0 Ranger for our son to take to College. It only has 72,000 miles and sat mostly the last three years. He and I have done all the services, cleaned and detailed and basicly brought the truck back to life. It looks nearly new and runs strong.

We noticed after our first oil changed to 10/40 that the lifters were making a pretty serious amount of noise. I read the owners manual and discovered that it is supposed to us 5/30 so we changed it out right away. I would say that 80% of the clatter went away. What a relief.

The problem is the last 20%. When cold it doesn't make noise. Once warmed up and idling it clammers away intermittantly. Then when you drop it into gear(underload) most of the noise goes away. The engine idles great and it seems to make very good power. It runs great, passed smog with flying colors so I'm trying to understand all this noise.

Are the valves adjustable? If so, how? I've been looking through the internet and can't find any instructions posted anywhere. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

The second question I had was in regard to idle speed. I believe that it's computer set and nonadjustable but I can't confirm that either. I haven't put a tack on it but it seems to idle somewhere above 1,000 RPM. I would suspect that's too much for a 6 cylinder. What do you guys suggest?

Third question is regarding gas mileage. On our son's first tank around town he only managed 13 MPG, is this what we should expect for city driving? He says that he wasn't hot roding around but... The motor seems pretty thirsty to me. Any clarification here would also be greatly appreciated.

Thank you all in advance for your advise.


Eric

 

Welcome to FTE.

The valves are hydraulic & thus self adjusting, so valve lash isn't adjustable on this OHV pushrod engine.

Good idea to change the 10W-40 out & put in the specfied 5W-30 imo. I'd give it a few days of running & see how it does on quieting down some more.

Seeing as how it hasn't been driven much in the past few years maybe a fuel system treatment & engine decarb proceedure, with a dose or two of Chevron's Techron Concentrate Plus, in a tank or two, of Texaco or Chevron gas, with some spirited daily driving, with rpm's around 3500 for two or three miles, would help clean out any combustion chamber carbon deposits, if the noise is carbon deposit related & maybe with the mpg, by tidyng up the injectors spray pattern.

You said the noise goes awy with some load on the engine, so I don't think it's wrist pins, or piston slap.

If you let the oil drain for a long time when you change it & didn't pre-fill the filter, you might notice a "marble noise" sound, (sorta like two pool ***** clacking together) at idle, for a few days, but it will likely work itself out with time. My 99 4.0L will do it, if I don't follow a partcular oil change routine.

Also did you use a Motorcraft FL-1A filter???? Some filter brands have been known to cause some engine noise problems, but usually at start-up.

 

Does the idle increase when the engine is cold? You should notice a drop in rpm after about two minutes of running. If it stays the same you may have either 1) a slow or lazy thermostat, or 2) an IAC (idle air control) that is gummy or defective. If you turn on the A/C, the IAC is supposed to kick up the idle to compensate for the load of the compressor. If it doesn't increase the idle, the engine rpm should drop. If the IAC is working, the idle rpm should bump for a very short period of time and then go back to its set point.
A bum thermostat could help explain the 13mpg. Have you checked the fuel pressure regulator on the vacuum line side of the diaphragm for evidence of fuel? If the diaphragm is ruptured, you will get higher fuel pressure, and reduced mileage. A friend had a extended aerostar with a 4.0 auto and got 20 mpg regularly, and that beast was heavy.
tom

 

We just found this site and I can't thank you guys enough for the feedback. We'll follow up on all of your suggestions.

Where would we find the fuel pressure regulator? We'll check tonight after work if you can get back to us...

When we changed the oil we went with a Pensoil filter as we have been hearing bad things about Fram filters lately. We can certainly go get a motorcraft filter if you think it might help. We hadn't noticed any of this value noise when we test drove the truck or drove it around town before we had time to change the oil out.

We've changed the thermostat the first weekend we had the truck. I have noticed that the idle speed stays up until it well warmed up but we'll check the idle speed with the air conditioning on this evening as well.

The "pool ball" noise is a perfect description of the noise. That high pitched clicking sound in intermitant and not consistant. We could change the oil filter out and see if that somehow helps.

As I stated previously, we didn't have any of this engine noise before we changed the oil and filter.

Thank you again for any input.


Eric

 

Mine engine has been made a noise similar to what you describe for all of its 137000 miles. Hard to say if we are talking about the same noise but clatter is a good description of how it sounds at idle. 3 or 4 times over the years Ive been asked if I had a diesel.

Engine still runs great.

 

Long wordy post, but bear with me, it has reason behind it.

Well Fram at one time made Pennzoil's oil filters, so I'd use the specified Motorcraft FL-!A filter.

Motorcraft has a very large (400 sq inch) filter media area, that'll filter well over time, with low pressure drop accross the filter & the bypass valve is located in the base of the filter, where it should be for the 4,0L's inverted installation & the bypass valves setting is speced for our engine, all good reasons to use them imo.

They can be had at Wally World for $3 & change, a danged good value, imo!!!!

To prevent or lessen the clacking marble noise, next time you change the oil & filter, try this routine.

With the filter in it's box, so it won't tip over & with it's open end facing up, carefully open the new filters anti-drainback valve, by slipping a small flat blade screwdiver in one of the elongated slots in the filters base, so the filter can burp.

Slowly pour new oil into the filters center hole, until it competely fills, right up to the surface of the threads. It should do so quickly with the anti-drainback valve held open by the screw driver & it'll take most of one qt to fill it.

Remove the screw driver & oil the filters sealing gasket & set the filled filter aside, so it won't get dirty. I leave it in it's box, so it won't tip over.

Open the remainder of the oil containers, so they are ready to quckly use & set them aside.

First quickly drain the crankcase, don't wait for every last drop to come out. I usually wait until the stream is tiny, or just stops, then without delay, install the drain plug & pour in the remainder of the oil fill.

All this to lessen or prevent the pump from loosing it's prime & trapping an air bubble.

Then remove the old filter & without delay, clean the mounting base & install the new pre-filled filter.

Then disable the fuel pump, by tripping the inertia switch, located in the passenger side foot well, just above the carpet line, with a good thump, or disconnect it, so the engine won't start, then crank the engine to reprime the oil pump, slowly build oil pressure & burp the oiling system, of any trapped air, long enough for the low oil pressure light to go out, but Not longer than 15 seconds, so you don't overheat the starter motor.

Enable the fuel pump, start the engine & check for leaks. If all goes well, you shouldn't hear the clacking noise after your next oil & filter change, or if you do, it shouldn't be anwhere near as loud, nor last as long.

I've had the niose last from four days, to as long as two weeks, but it always evnetually quiets down, unil the next oil change, unless I do the above oil change sequence.

My theroy is that by letting it drain too long, or changing the filter first, somehow air gets traped somewhere in the oiling system, until it's absorbed, or burped out.

The Dealer nor Ford has had any suggestions on how to prevent this aggrivation, I just stumbled on it by trying differet things. Hope it works for you as it has for me.

 

Forgot your question about the fuel pressure regulator. It's in the gas tank, part of the fuel pump assembly.

The circular shapped gadget on the fuel rail, that looks like it could be a fuel pressure regulator, is a damper.

The 99 4.0L's fuel pressure should be 65 +/- 8 psi, at the fuel rail schrader valve connection point.

The engines idle speed is compurer contolled, by the IAC valve. It bypasses air around the throttle body in a controlled fashion by the computer. They are kown to cause idle problems.

A dirty stickng throttle plate will & a dirty MAF sensor also.

If in your maintenance you've found a dirty or poorly fitting air filter, or air box, or air tube, not properly buttoned up, a dirty MAF sensor might be a possibilty.

Just some more thoughts to ponder.

 

I might be showing my ignorance, but did Ford sell any Rangers with the 4.0 SOHC that year? The 4.0 SOHC engines are well know for Timing Change tensioner / guide problems that make a lotta noise... if not, sorry!

 

Good thinking Exploder02, as that SHOC cam chain tensioner problem made somewhat the same kind of sound, but no, the SHOC 4,0L didn't arrive in the Ranger until 2001, so he has the OHV pushrod 4.0L engine in his 1999.

The origional factory engine in mine had bad wrist pins, that made it sound like a diesel, even after it was warmed up, so Ford & the Dealer replaced it with a new factory crate, long block engine, at one month of age!!!!

The new engine suffered this kind of "marble noise" rattle/clacking noise, after my very first oil change, scared the heck outta me when I started it.

Takes about 30 seconds for it to begin it's "marble noise" rattle/clatter/clacking, which comes on slowly at idle, but goes away with rpm, only to return again at idle.

This will go on for a few days, then it's quiet as can be, until the next oil change, unless I follow the oil & filter change routine I posted above.

My replacement engine also sufferes from CCDI knock, which also sounds similiar to marble noise, if I don't keep the combustion chamber carbon deposits cleaned out.

The CCDI noise is only on a cold engine,
as soon as it warm a little, things expand enough to give clearance in the combustion chambers "squish zone", so the piston isn't contacting the head through the combustion chamber carbon deposits & it quiets right down.

So this replacement engine is mighty persnickety about the kind of gas it gets. The fuel has to have a mighty good add pack, to keep things clean inside.

Ford has a "decarbon" TSB out to service this problem. Edit: Cowboybilly9mile's Decarbon thread, https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ol-engine.html

I've never had an engine this particular about fuel, nor one that "knocks", for so many different reasons!!!!!

So the OHV pushrod 4.0L has engines with various "noise" problems that sound somewhat alike, but usually occur at diffrent operating conditions & temperatures & for different reasons.

This "marble noise" problem wasn't there before he changed the oil & filter. It came about afterwards, so it sounds like the same problem I had, on my first oil change on my replacement engine.

If his knock goes away in a few days, I believe it's due to air entrapment during the oil & filter change routene he used.

Ford has a "Special Service Message" out on "marble noise" & now won't replace an engine with it, as they say it's a known characteristic of the engine & isn't detremental to long engine life.

My Dealers Service Manager says "marble noise" is due mainly to Fords reworking of the 4.0L OHV pushrod engine, over the years, to get more power out of it.

They bored & stroked the engine to get more displacement & cut the piston skirts down, trying to reduce friction.
So some engines suffer piston "wobble" in the bore, if not carefully sized for fit at the factory.

But they have high mileage engines with this condition, so they don't see a life problem on engines with the "marble noise", piston wobble problem.

Problem is, which "marble noise" type problem do we have???? Many sound the same, but as I've said, they usually occur under different operating conditions!!!!!

The diesel "marble noise", piston wobble "Special Service Message" number is 15226 & it covers 98-00, 4.0L engines.

WHEW, just some more info I found in my records, on various OHV 4.0L "marble noise" type knocks, for those with the problem/s!!!!

 

I can't believe the volume of great input. It makes for great reading... and learning. Thank you.

I was wondering how someone would get a copy of that Ford Service Message? Are they posted to the internet?

Thank you again. We're planning on changing the oil and filter again this weekend and will follow our advise. I too have never had an engine that was so particular!


Eric

 

Forgot to ask... What about full synthetic oils? Or blended oils? Any benefits or should we stick with quality conventional oils?

Thanks,


Eric

 

Yes, marbling, is the word I was looking for, like marbles rolling around in a can.. If my engine is any indication, just change the oil and don't worry about it.

 

Synthetic, or semi-synthetic, won't hurt anything but our pocket books!!!!! lol

If your going to use the vehicle under "severe conditions", like frequent stop & go city driving, with the A/C on in really hot temps, or run the interstate at high speeds, for long periods in hot conditions, carry heavy loads, tow, in hot conditions ect, you could likey make good use of a synthetic.

Otherwise a good quality convetional SM/GF-4 oil, that says on the container that it meets or exceeds Fords WSS-M2C929A 5W-30 specs & a good Motorcaft filter, all changed on time as schedled, will likely do fine, & lighten your wallet less!!!!

When you re-do the oil change this weekend, quickly drain & refill the crankcase, then quickly change the oil filter, with the fully pre-filled one, in that order, then crank the engine without starting it, to build oil pressure & burp the oiling system & see if you can eliminate, or at least reduce the knock.

Let us know how it goes.

BTW, has it stopped marbing yet?????

If not, changing the oil & filter again, using the above sequence, won't likely make a difference, or make it stop marbing, until the engine purges itself & the marbling noise ends on it's own.

If you only want to replace the filter, just do that with a prefilled filter, that way you'll only need the filter & one qt of make up oil, to fill the filter.

I don't see the need to toss out all that fresh oil just to change the filter, unless your just "flushing" the engine, because it sat around undriven for so long!!!!

 

Pawpaw,

Thanks again for the updated information. Since it sat for nearly three years with only a monthly start up I thought it a good idea to "flush things" if you will. In addition I had tried a quart of that "Marvel Mystery" hoping to quiet the lifters. So this change I want to go with the factory recommendation (including the Ford filter) and see if we can get it back to being as quiet as it was on the drive home.

By the looks of the filter on the truck (and the overtightness) when we brought it home it was obviously a "Jiffy Lube" sort of installation. I can't image these guys go to the trouble you've outlined but we're going to this weekend.

I'll update everyone then. Oh, it hasn't stopped marbling but I think my son feels that it's a bit better. I'm surprised that the air hasn't been bled out after running around for two weeks. Go figure.

Thanks again.


Eric

 

I think when they modified the engine for hydraulic lifters, they had little room to replace the original design mechanical lifters, so the used miniatures that have a tendency to get entrapped air. Thus the noise as the lifter collapses slightly as it compresses the air inside. Just an opinion. Worth as much as you paid for it, eh?
tom