Ticking sound 4.6

The 4.6L has lash adjusters on one end of the cam follower. They adjust with oil pressure. It is commom for the relatively small oil passages to become a bit restricted at high mileage allowing one or more to be late getting full pressure. Mine has been doing this for more than 100k miles. I just don't reve it until it quiets down. You can make a big difference with a Motorcraft or Puralator filter along with 5w20 or 30 oil to help it get pressure quicker. There have been some that got so bad the cam follower pops out. This is usually not as much of a problem as a PITA to put it back in. Just keep the revs down until it gets quiet

- it should be OK for a long time.

Lugnut

Thank much. I *do* use the Pure One but have been using heavier oil. Something about 5w20 scares me, just can't seem to get it to compute. I'm at 155 K and have used Valvoline 20/50 racing since around 10K. Can't recall exactly the details in my oil choice but I once raced boats and we went for the heavier oil (big block Chevy's). Also, I think someone here posted and oil comparison chart a few years back and I picked it based on something I saw there.

Well, theres your problem.

A racing engine is built clearanced.

I dunno what your driving habits are, but just use the valv 10W30.. unless you've got long commutes.. then I recommend the Mobil 1. And just go 7,000 instead of 3,500.

i highly recommend anyone with startup or ongoing valve tick run a few thousand with Mobil 1 before they get all upset.

My kid used the well known J place for oil changes and his Probe sounded like all the adjustors had collapsed... it took him about 3000 miles and now it's nice and quiet again.

{Yeah, he didnt believe it would work, either..}

Oh... and I'm at 240Kmile and go a lot longer than 7000 and I use a quart about every 3000

Thanks. Not many long commutes (an occasional 150 miler), so I guess the 10W30 would be OK. A couple questions about Mobil 1, is it OK to switch 155K and is it not as good as the 10W30 for local driving?

How is Mobil 1 not as good as the 10W30 for local driving? It produces less wear and tear on the engine. I would think it is superior to 10W30 for local driving precisely because of that. Plus, it flows better at low temperatures.

Jeff

Mobil 1 is better for any type of driving, IMO.... but, if you dont regularly (at least once a week) run the engine at temp for more than 20 minutes to remove the condensation, you should still change oil at 3- 4000

What about changing at 155K?

From empirical reading on here over the years.. it will enable leaks or seepage that would have been there if they werent sludged up.

I have no leaks at 240 but I converted to synth at 143K... oh.. wait.

;)

Do change filter at 1000, and every 3000 for a while

That makes sense. I was thinking a couple of quick changes of both.

I changed my S-10 over to mobile 1 at 140K with no leaks at all. I changed a mustang 5.0 over at 130K and the valve covers started gushing oil. New gaskets in them took care of it and nothing else leaked.

Thanks. Looks like I'll take the plunge. Probably in steps. Lighter oil first for about 1000.

My Escort 1.9 with 110-K miles developed a cold start valve tick about the time I started using Valvoline Durablend (semi-synthetic) 10W-30. The ticking always went away a few seconds after starting. This went on for about a year. I figured it was caused by an aging valve train. One day, just for the heck of it, I decided to use a Motorcraft-FS400 filter instead of the usual Fram-3600 at oil change time. Surprise, no more cold start valve tick! Now I was really confused. I had been using the Fram-3600 filter for several years before I changed from the regular Valvoline 10W-30 to the Durablend without any cold start valve ticking. I examined both filters and discovered that the Motorcraft seems to have a more sophisticated drain back valve mechanism than the Fram but that doesn't explain why the valve tick started when I changed from an all mineral oil to semi-synthetic. I've been using the Motorcraft filter with the Durablend oil for about a year now and haven't had any valve tick at start up but I'm still puzzled about this.

I have been using Motorcraft 5w20 in my '95 w/165k since Ford introduced it and it runs quiet and smooth. The Motorcraft oil is a synth blend. The manual spec is 5w30.

PoD

I had heard or read somewhere that synthetic-blend is a rip off because it has just a tiny amount of synthetic oil in it--does anyone have any comment about Wal-Mart's own full synthetic? I wonder who makes it, etc. thanks.

Paul of Dayt> I have been using Motorcraft 5w20 in my '95 w/165k since Ford introduced it