It's been two months since the last post on this subject, and since I'm fresh off a frustrating phone conversation with Ford cust. service regarding this issue, I'll post it again.
What's the latest word on this? Any Ford TSBs and such?
All I can get from Ford and the dealership is "it's a normal operating condition" and "it won't effect the performance or durability of the engine". I guess common sense doesn't come into play. If you HAMMER on something, eventually it will break, and it will break sooner than if you SLIDE on that same thing.
My neighbor has a truck identical to mine, same model(f150) same year(2001), Windsor built 5.4 engine, no noise. How can a noise be normal in one engine and not in another. It's downright embarrassing to go out to my awesome looking truck after work and start it up to a resounding...tickticktickclackclackclack. "Hey, nice truck, but what's up with that noise, put some oil in it".
In case anyone is wondering, it's topped off with Mobile1 10w30 and has a Motorcraft oil filter, so the noise isn't from the usual suspects.
I'd like to get my hands on that document that was mentioned in a previous post where Ford tells the dealership to tell the customer that the noise is normal, but if the customer is persistant, replace the engine.
I'm up against the wall as I'm quickly approaching the 36K mark and feel I'll have to buy an extended warranty. Ford says that since the not-a-problem was documented during the warranty period they would be of assistance should anything arrise down the road outside of the warranty, yeh right. If they say it isn't a problem now, why would they offer to help pay to fix it in the future?

:-X23

 

There are several points of interest in this story and the others I have read on this subject. The first being "normal operating condition and it won't effect the performance or duability of the engine." This being the case then the dealer service rep., the district service rep., and the regional service rep. won't mind putting it in writing that they will stand behind the motor for the next 150,000 for any oil usage, excessive noise, compression loss, or any other issues related to such problems. And to remove any future disagreements about the cause of future 5.4 disability, we should just get a full warranty for the 150,000 miles.

With that said, the second point I want to bring up is the piston slap or knock that you are hearing. When you bought your truck you bought it on site after hearing it run and test driving it. Ford sold you a quiet truck and did not mention the fact that you may be hearing knocking noises from the engine after 10,000 miles. They have known about the existence of this problem since '97 and continue to blow it off. To continue to sell trucks without warning the buyer about possible consequences is dishonest to say the least and a lawyer would have a blast ripping Ford on that fact. I just got the class action claim form for the suit against Ford for the old TFI modules that failed from heat. Perhaps we should get those attorneys involved in the 5.4 engine knock issue too.

Next, you should use the 5W/30 oil as recommended by Ford and the Motorcraft filter.

Last but not least, if this is a short skirt issue, they need to use the hypereutectic pistons and put tighter clearances in them. I am guessing that they cannot use longer skirts due to the length of the stroke and deck height of the engine.

Regards,

Phil

>It's been two months since the last post on this subject,
>and since I'm fresh off a frustrating phone conversation
>with Ford cust. service regarding this issue, I'll post it
>again.
>What's the latest word on this? Any Ford TSBs and such?
>All I can get from Ford and the dealership is "it's a normal
>operating condition" and "it won't effect the performance or
>durability of the engine". I guess common sense doesn't come
>into play. If you HAMMER on something, eventually it will
>break, and it will break sooner than if you SLIDE on that
>same thing.
>My neighbor has a truck identical to mine, same model(f150)
>same year(2001), Windsor built 5.4 engine, no noise. How can
>a noise be normal in one engine and not in another. It's
>downright embarrassing to go out to my awesome looking truck
>after work and start it up to a
>resounding...tickticktickclackclackclack. "Hey, nice truck,
>but what's up with that noise, put some oil in it".
>In case anyone is wondering, it's topped off with Mobile1
>10w30 and has a Motorcraft oil filter, so the noise isn't
>from the usual suspects.
>I'd like to get my hands on that document that was mentioned
>in a previous post where Ford tells the dealership to tell
>the customer that the noise is normal, but if the customer
>is persistant, replace the engine.
>I'm up against the wall as I'm quickly approaching the 36K
>mark and feel I'll have to buy an extended warranty. Ford
>says that since the not-a-problem was documented during the
>warranty period they would be of assistance should anything
>arrise down the road outside of the warranty, yeh right. If
>they say it isn't a problem now, why would they offer to
>help pay to fix it in the future?
>
>:-X23