Ford Coyote redone heads, timing, now heavy tick from inside valve cover?

Hello everyone!

I'm here for a smidge of advice, where ever I can find it. I have a Gen 1 coyote which I just recently pulled out (mainly for TKX swap). I mostly focused on heads and timing. It got new lifters, MMR springs/retainers, billitt oil pump/crank sprocket, pickup tube, windage tray (truck variant), polished journals, and all new Cloydes timing set, which I thought was very easy to install with the timing marks.

Bad news is after a 5 second test start and getting everything else bolted up, I now find that it has a mechanical tap to it. Passenger side. Runs as fine as it did before, but this noise caused me to turn it off fairly quickly. Got louder when the oil cap was opened. A few things come to mind.

When turning the motor after timing it, I noticed the passenger side chain slapped every rotation, on the non-tensioner side. I chalked this up to be the tensioner not having oil pressure in combination with the strong MMR springs pulling the cams back to a closed position. Perhaps it was a mistake to turn to OEM replacement tensioners with upgraded springs? I am certain I took the care to time the motor properly.

Otherwise, all I can think of is needing to run the motor for longer to get oil everywhere in the system. The longest I've let it run is maybe a minute or two, I am afraid of wrecking my freshly redone heads. I primed the motor every time I turned it (via garden sprayer) and before the first start. I also have an oil pressure gauge that reads normal. Maybe the lifters or tensioners need time during the first start?

Already took the cover off and looked for loose parts, none on the head. Anyone have experience with this?

Video: (apologies for talking over it):

Thanks in advance.

You might want to post this in the S550 forum.

There shouldn't be any tapping. Especially after a minute of run time. Are the springs compatible with the VCT? Or did you switch to lockouts?

01yellercobra said:

You might want to post this in the S550 forum.

There shouldn't be any tapping. Especially after a minute of run time. Are the springs compatible with the VCT? Or did you switch to lockouts?

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Apologies, it was a quick paste over from Factory Five. I sometimes forget the engine questions belong with the S550 when the motor is in an SN95.

Otherwise, I was told by MMR that these springs should work with the VCT in combination with only 12psi of boost. How would that cause tapping, maybe its trying to turn the cam but doesn't have the power over the springs?

I'm no professional, but my understanding is that the stiffer springs won't allow the VCT to move. So I was thinking maybe the tapping you're hearing was the VCT being pulled back. But then you said it got louder with the oil cap removed.

My guess is you have a couple lash adjusters that didn't pump up. Depending on how fast they bleed down after you shut off the engine you might be able to find them by squeezing them in a vice or something.

01yellercobra said:

I'm no professional, but my understanding is that the stiffer springs won't allow the VCT to move. So I was thinking maybe the tapping you're hearing was the VCT being pulled back. But then you said it got louder with the oil cap removed.

My guess is you have a couple lash adjusters that didn't pump up. Depending on how fast they bleed down after you shut off the engine you might be able to find them by squeezing them in a vice or something.

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Well, I suppose the VCT could still make sense because they're right at the oil cap. But then only one side does it.

Hopefully I won't get to the point where I need to remove the cams just to take out brand new lash adjusters and test them in a vice.

Gonna see if I can rig it up to run without the passenger valve cover on and spot the noise.

ForeverDrivin said:

Well, I suppose the VCT could still make sense because they're right at the oil cap. But then only one side does it.

Hopefully I won't get to the point where I need to remove the cams just to take out brand new lash adjusters and test them in a vice.

Gonna see if I can rig it up to run without the passenger valve cover on and spot the noise.

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If the coyotes lash adjuster are a similar design to the older 4v’s you could pop them out while keeping the cams in… if not them you are going to have to do what you stated unfortunately.

wckdvnm said:

If the coyotes lash adjuster are a similar design to the older 4v’s you could pop them out while keeping the cams in… if not them you are going to have to do what you stated unfortunately.

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Luckily it seems like it is faulty tensioner hardware on the passenger side, specifically the secondary tensioner. After running it without the valve cover for a few seconds, I noticed how loose the secondary chain guide seemed and later found the chain had literally no extra tension. Not convinced the tensioners are of quality now.

If Cloyes can't get a secondary tensioner right, I'm not confident with keeping any of their timing components. Will see if I can get my money back and switch out

ForeverDrivin said:

Luckily it seems like it is faulty tensioner hardware on the passenger side, specifically the secondary tensioner. After running it without the valve cover for a few seconds, I noticed how loose the secondary chain guide seemed and later found the chain had literally no extra tension. Not convinced the tensioners are of quality now.

If Cloyes can't get a secondary tensioner right, I'm not confident with keeping any of their timing components. Will see if I can get my money back and switch out

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Everybody gets bad parts. I've had multiple faulty oem parts over the years. Cloyes is generally a quality product

I agree with @vr4. I would call Cloyes and discuss this with them before you decide to go with another brand and ask for your money back.

@vr4 and @CobraBob

I contacted MMR specifically about this issue since I believe a contributing factor is the upgraded springs pulling back against the tensioner. They recommended genuine Ford Performance parts instead, and upon looking at other reviews, I've got goosebumps about whether Cloyes chains will even hold under boost. Considerable amount of stories of Cloyes chains breaking. Its not that I didn't know about this, but I had just as many people recommend them without fault. They were a stopgap between a month or so ago when Fords timing kits were sold out.

I might be being a PITA about it, but 1/3 of Cloyes chain reviews breaking on multiple applications, PLUS my own experience not starting well, is not worth my completely redone heads! Let alone on an interference motor. Will run with Ford Performance.