I wanted to add another statement, I am not trying to defend the design of the 5.4. I think the stroke is WAY too long and the engine would have been better designed with a shorter stroke and larger bore. The stroke is so long that the piston ends up sitting .120 down the bore! Even with the piston down the bore that far you need a 18cc dish to run 8.5:1 compression with the PI heads! With a shorter stroke and larger bore the chance of piston slap would have been nearly non-existant.

But Ford doesn't listen to me... So we live with what they have. I don't know about the rest of you but I think the 5.4 is a pretty good motor! I am happy with mine even if I would change a few things....

 

MOTOR magazine December 2003 issue: http://motor.com/

Service Slants
Ford Truck
Engine noise, driveability complaints. Some 1997-2000 Ford trucks equipped with the 4.6, 5.4 or 6.8L V8 may exhibit a ticking noise after startup in extremely cold temperatures (below 10*F). According to Ford, the noise may be accompanied by a rough idle or misfire, and is most likely the result of the roller rocker arms becoming disengaged from the hydraulic lash adjusters. New design valve lash adjusters and rocker arm retaining clips are available to eliminate the problem.
New design lash adjusters Part No. YL3Z-6500-AA
New design retaining clips Part No. YL3Z-6A539-AA

Trucks that can benefit from the revised parts include 1997-99 F-250 light-duty pickups; 1997-2000 Econolines, Excurisions, Expeditions and F-150s; 1998-99 Lincoln Navigators; and 1999-2000 F Super Duty pickups.

Thought that this may be of some help to someone out there. The above article is not accessable on the internet, you need to have the actual magazine. But there are other links on their site that you can access

-hooD

 

I don't buy it. If tolerances are the issue, wouldn't every engine made have piston slap? They don't. It's a design flaw. Maybe not fatal but embarassing. The GT gurus had to modify the crank and use aftermarket rods and pistons at 500 hp. Why didn't they use stock rods and pistons if they're good for 3 x's the power?

 

Sounds like oil flter drain back to me. Personally I found fram filters particularly bad at this, try a otocraft filter with the anti drain back valve or a Wix brand.

Lots of Jap sports bikes have piston skirts so short you can see their underwear ;-) yet dont exhibit piston slap like you describe and I have heard

 

I use Motorcraft filters. Doesn't help.

 

Well, at just under10K I have it too. It is 5 degrees out.
Looking through different threads I am confused as what to do next. Try reporting to the dealer or grin and bear it?

I don't see how the oil filter has any effect since it is upside down and the drainback valve doesn't do anything.

 

I am not at all concerned about the cold piston slap. I work for a car rental company that has 3 airport shuttle van's with the 6.8 v-10. They have all have had the slap since new. It usually goes away between 15sec to a minute or so, depending on how cold it is. The oldest one is a 98 with 102,000 miles on the clock, the newest is a 00 with 71k and the middle child is a 99 with 90k. However the mileage does not tell the full story, they run anywhere from 8-22 hours a day, 365 days a year. If you were to translate hours run into miles, the oldest would have over a million miles on it! None of them have ever been apart for anything! The two older ones do have some lifter noise for a couple of min after a cold start, but thats it! They run great, and after they are warm, are quiet as a mouse. And for anyone who does not know the 6.8 is just a 5.4 with two extra cylinders. So the bottom line is if you don't like the noise just put in a remote start, fire it up from inside, wait a minute, then go outside and forget about it, she's going to last a LONG time!

 

My 2001 5.4L made the same cold start noise. I was using 5w30 blend motor oil. Since I own an auto repair, I contacted my Pennzoil rep. about the oil because the truck calls for 5w20. Not a fan of 5w20, I always put 5w30 in. He told me the Pennzoil 5w20 is a syn-blend oil and was designed with Ford (they also make the Motorcraft oil for Ford) I put it in and have not heard the noise again.

 

Actually, Conoco makes Motorcraft oil, not Penzoil. The Penzoil 5w20 is much darker due to it's higher Moly content verses the very light amber colour of Motorcraft,

 

I also had the knock on my 98 expy with 110k miles. Thought one of the rotating components on the front of the engine was going out. Replaced the oil with Mobil 1 5W-30W and the knock is gone.

 

Makes for an expensive oil change.

 

I use Amsoil 5w-30 change oil every 25000 miles or 1 year and change the filter after 6 months. Makes using synthetics cheap
I have done this for many years and you just can't beat it.
plus better mpg,protection and the engine is clean clean clean
millions of miles can't be wrong

 

I'll stick to every 3k.

 

3k to 5k oil changes only cost you money and make the oil company money.Do yourself a favor and do some research on oils

 

So is that a common practice with syn oils? What I mean is the length of time between oil changes. I haven't gone to syn yet due to cost and the fact that I reach 3,000 miles every 6-8 weeks! I live in a desert climate so I am a little nervous about all those sand/dust particles being sucked into the engine and doing damage.