has anyone had problems with intermittant valve clatter, i have replaced the timing belt and idler tension pulley. replaced plugs and wires, but still have intermittant valve clatter. i use a higher octane fuel but cannot get rid of valve clatter.
FORED

 

Yes my 99 does this. I bought the truck two years ago in December with 76,000 miles on it. The Ford Dealer had changed the oil when traded in with a oil I had never heard of "Northland Lubricants 5W30". I left the oil in 3000 miles and engine was quiet alll the time. I changed the oil and put in TRop Artic 5W30 an the noise started with in the first 50 miles and has not ever completely gone away. Since then I have tried Valvoline Max life 10W30, 5W20, Motorcraft 5W20 and Valvoline Synpower 5W30. All make the noise. I have noticed that the 5W20 oils are the quietest with the 5W30 Synpower similar. The noise seems to be lowest when engine is hot and again lowest with the light oils.
I have been changing oil at 3000 or 5000 miles depending on my driving and now have 105,000 miles on truck, does not seem to be any worse.

I have used both the Motorcraft FL400 filter and the FL1A, no difference.

 

Are you talking about pre-ignition(pinging) or cam follower noise? You mentioned using higher octane fuel, indicating pinging, but are not clear.
t

 

[QUOTE=tomw]Are you talking about pre-ignition(pinging) or cam follower noise? You mentioned using higher octane fuel, indicating pinging, but are not clear.
t[/QUOTE

Not pre ignition. it is in the valve train some where.

What confuses me most is that it was completely silent up untill the first time I changed the oil. And it did not start untill the second day after about 50 miles of driving on the oil change.

 

99F, you did not mention higher octane... So I was asking fored about his noise. In your case, I would think the only way to get rid of the noise is to disassemble the cam, followers and lifters. Take apart the lifters and remove any material that is preventing the check valve from closing, remove any varnish, and then reassemble the whole thing. It might be more cost effective to determine which lifter(s) is/are making the noise and just replace the noisy ones. Doing that is a VERY oily job, and you will rustproof your engine and hood if you try to do it with the engine running.
The lifters flow oil through them when they are on the heel of the cam, and only close up and trap a 'slug' of oil when they start to move onto the lobe. If they don't trap the oil, or the lifter leaks too much, it will clatter. When they are real bad, the clatter will be LOUD and very obnoxious. You can also have a bubble of air trapped, thus leaving a 'cushion' that will allow the follower to clatter against the cam and valve stem tip as it closes the gap before moving the valve.
tom

 

Thanks Tom, it is almost like the dealer I bought my truck from put something in the oil when they changed it, because it started the ticking about 50 miles 3 or so starts after the change.
Dan