2014 Mustang GT ticking/tapping noise.

[Honest Mike]

Hey guys. Yes I searched here and on Google. I have read countless posts on this topic and still can't come up with an answer. My car is making that ticking noise that we've all heard so much about. Has anyone actually figured out what it is? No it's not the fuel injectors. This has no rythym. Some people say theirs started after an oil change. Mine has always done it. Before I changed the oil and after. Mine takes 5w50 oil being that it has the Track Pack option. Full synthetic. Maybe the oil is too thick? Or maybe the synthetic isn't allowing the motor to break in? Honestly to me it sounds like exhaust ticking. Like when you shut a car off and you hear the exhaust cooling down. But this only does it with the car running, warmed up, low rpm's. Driving me nuts.

 

[Honest Mike]

Let me also say I tried that XL17 additive. Did nothing. I read one guy say that cured his noise. So I tried it hoping it would cure mine too. Nope.

 

[Honest Mike]

Mine sounds just like this for reference:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Hga9tZMtN0g

 

[Buggywhips]

Mine had the same thing. Long story short - I got Ford Customer Service involved and they helped expedite things once I took my car to the dealership. All told the car was in the shop for 8 weeks off and on. I'd have them remove the oil filter and cut it open (WITH YOU THERE) to see how much, if any, bearing material you have in bottom of the filter case. Then have them check the crankshaft end play to see how close to being out of spec it is. If you have a significant amount of copper in your oil filter and crankshaft end play being close to out of spec then I'd demand a new engine. NOT a re-manufactured one but a brand new long block assembly. My car had a very significant amount of bearing residue in the filter and my crankshaft end play was still in, but almost out of, spec and my engine was replaced. I had two rod bearings with scoring and a main bearing with excessive wear. At the time the car was NA with only a CAI, tune, and exhaust.

If you don't have any material in your oil filter and your crankshaft end play is well within spec then they will probably tell you that the sound is normal and to not worry about it.

I installed a Paxton SC after about 2,500 miles worth of easy driving and waited 7,500 miles (painful) before it's first oil change. I took it to the dealer and showed them that the engine was tick free and that they needed to do the first oil change to see if the tick came back. If so it was an issue with the engine and not the SC/mods. So far so good. No tick!

What worked for me was going straight to the Service Manager and talking through the problem with him very calmly and worked with him closely to try and figure out the problem. I'm not a patient man, but knew exercising patience and polite persistence was the only way this engine was going to get replaced.

Good luck!

 

[Honest Mike]

Ok so it is infact coming out of the motor itself? I have read so much on this topic I'm more confused now than before lol. Some people say a new motor fixed it. Others say a new belt tensioner fixed it. Others say they stopped using synthetic oil and it fixed it. Others talk about a TSB on something called a "stretchy belt". And then the one guy who said the XL17 additive fixed his noise. So you had the exact same sound as the red one in the video above? And a new motor fixed it? Unbelievable. My car has under 6,000 miles on it. Changed the oil at 4,998. Was noisy before and after the oil change. Thanks for your lengthy detailed reply!

 

[1FastFord]

I had that noise, all pulleys replaced, water pump, stretchy belt, tensioner and alternator. After all of that new shortblock at 3500 miles

 

[Buggywhips]

As I understand it the 2011-2012 had a similar noise but was more towards the front of the engine and a TSB was issued for a tensioner and/or the AC belt (stretchy belt you mentioned). The 2013's and 2014's tick usually isn't resolved with either of the 2011-2012 fixes.

My noise sounded exactly like the video and commonly described as the BBQ tick. I put my car up on jack stands with it running and me underneath it with a stethoscope. The tick was definitely coming from the lower rear of the drivers side. I tried XL17 to no avail. I tried switching to Amsoil oil and filter, changing oil weights, different oil filter types, and even a couple different additives and none fixed the issue at all.

Is your car an auto or manual? When they had my car apart I had free access to the shop as I had befriended the Service Manager and Shop Foreman. I picked up my clutch disc and found the springs in the clutch plate extremely lose. I shook the disk and the springs rattled with a similar noise and I wondered to myself if the springs were the culprit. After they found the bearing issues I kept my mouth shut about it because I wanted to make sure nothing stopped the progress being made. When I came to pick up my car with the new engine installed the Shop Foreman came to me and said he wondered if the clutch disk wasn't the culprit but he kept quiet for the same reasons.

 

[Buggywhips]

Delete - Double Post.....

 

[Honest Mike]

Mine is a manual. A friend of mine has a 14 GT, non track pack, his car takes 5w20 oil and his car makes no noise. But his is an automatic too.. I hate to say it but if this noise is coming out of the motor, I am not keeping it. I never in my life owned a car with a tapping motor, especially a brand new car. Thanks for the replies guys I really appreciate it!!!!

 

[Honest Mike]

Oh I have also tried stepping on the clutch or letting go of the clutch when it's making the noise. No change in noise. Also it does seem to make the noise moreso with the hvac buttons on but that could be a coincidence or because it's putting a little more drag on the motor.

 

[daustin]

At the time the car was NA with only a CAI, tune, and exhaust./QUOTE]

So you had no trouble getting a replacement with the tune/CAI?

 

[Buggywhips]

At the time the car was NA with only a CAI, tune, and exhaust./QUOTE]

So you had no trouble getting a replacement with the tune/CAI?

Nope, no problems at all. Basically all the mods in my signature were on the car when it went to the dealership with the exception of the Paxton SC kit (Paxton, BAP, ID1000's, etc.).

If it helps here's how it went down for me:

- Purchased vehicle in CO in November of 2013 with 2 miles on the odometer.
- Immediately I began with exterior mods - Wheels, quarter window louvers, GT500 rear spoiler, etc - AND Suspension mods - Koni Yellows, Steeda Springs, relocation brackets, etc.
- At 670 miles I contacted the Service Manager at my dealership and introduced myself. Turns out he had several cars of his own that he has modified over the years with tunes, turbos, etc. I told him my plans with the car which at the time was CAI, tune, and exhaust. He said those mods would be fine and he assured me that he'd be able to get those mods dealt with should there be an issue with the car.
- At 4,977 miles I did the first oil change with Amsoil and filter. My car immediately began to tick.
- I contacted my Service Manager and told him of the problem and made an appointment to bring the car in.
- I did a lot of research online and found the BBQ tick to be fairly common but no exact remedy. When I brought my car in I showed the Service Manager a few videos of the tick for reference.
- The car was at the dealership for two weeks as they worked to diagnose the issue. My tick was too intermittent at the time to accurately diagnose so they returned the car to me.
- Three weeks later the tick was happening the majority of the time so I made another appointment but was met with the same result.
- Two weeks later I contacted Ford Customer Service and made an appointment with the same dealership as they had been very easy to work with thus far. Once at the dealership Ford Customer Service expedited my claim and I made several trips to the dealership (two to three trips a day) to help duplicate the tick since that's where they were struggling.
- Ford told the dealership to tear down the motor to try to locate the issue. I refused to allow them to open the motor and requested a Ford Engineer to come look at my vehicle.
- No engineer was available before my wife and I were scheduled to move to GA.
- Moved to GA and contacted several Service Managers at local GA dealerships and found one that seemed very interested in helping me.
- Made an appointment with the new dealership and contacted Ford Customer Service to let them know what dealership the car was being transferred to. My claim was expedited.
- The new Service Manager contacted my old Service Manager in CO who reviewed what they had done. The new dealership tried to duplicate the problem but struggled to pin point the problem so a Ford Engineer was brought in. The Service Manager made sure I was at the dealership at the time the Ford Engineer was there and I requested that the Shop Foreman was present as well.The Engineer inquired about all the mods done to my car and we discussed each one until he agreed that they shouldn't be responsible for making the tick happen. At first the Ford Engineer was standoffish but relaxed when he realized that I wasn't demanding anything other than figuring out the cause of the tick. I told him once the source of the tick was discovered we could work together to remedy the problem. We pulled the car into a bay and had the car running with all four of us underneath listening to the tick. Baffled I suggested we cut open the oil filter with everyone present and the Shop Foreman suggested checking the crankshaft end play while the Ford Engineer wanted a laundry list of other items checked.
- The car was shut off, oil filter removed, and cut open. It was obvious there was a bearing issue with all the material in the filter. The Shop Foreman immediately looked at the Service Manager and the Ford Engineer and said that the engine had internal issues and that he wanted to replace the engine.
- At the end of the day the Ford Engineer wanted to run a few more tests before he would agree to replace the engine. He gave me his card with his cell phone number and we parted ways.
- Two days later the Service Manager contacted me and stated they were replacing my engine with a new long block and invited me to "supervise" the work so long as I didn't enter the work bay without a Service Writer, the Service Manager, or the Shop Foreman.
- Twice a day I'd stop by and check on the progress and it got to the point they just let me walk back and have a look in. I made it a point not to interrupt anyone and usually came bearing gifts. It's amazing how far doughnuts, pizza, or burgers will get you with the guys in the shop.
- A little over a week later I had a new long block and they even agreed to install a new Excedy clutch and flywheel along the way.

So I don't know if this story will help anyone with the BBQ tick problem or any other problem but I do think the key to getting things done is calm persistence, lots of understanding, learning some of the politics and stay involved. Now when I go back to the dealership I feel sorta like Norm from Cheers...LOL.

Two weeks ago I took the car in for the first oil change on the new motor. Usually this is something I enjoy doing myself but with the tick history I wanted the dealership to first acknowledge that the car was not ticking before the oil change and then to witness that is was or wasn't ticking after the first oil change. While I was there I expressed a concern that I had an excessive whine coming from the rear end. With 3:73's I expected some whine but this was loud and had I surrendered myself that the Paxton would void the warranty completely and that I'd have to go to a local speed shop for them to look at it. The Service Manager said that he'd look at it for me and see what the issue might be. Later that afternoon he called me back and said that they wanted to replace all the bearings and the ring gear in the rear end to get the rear end quiet for me. I asked how much and he said it was covered under warranty. I had to wait a week for parts but they re-built the rear end and it's perfect so far.

 

[zinc03svt]

You know it seems like the majority if not all of the ticking cars are manual and track packs. Has anyone heard of auto car doing this? Great story and outcome buggywhips. It's so true, and I have too preached the value of your dealer relationship. Ricky road racer poppin in with an attitude will get you no where. LOL

 

[daustin]

Nope, no problems at all. Basically all the mods in my signature were on the car when it went to the dealership with the exception of the Paxton SC kit (Paxton, BAP, ID1000's, etc.).

If it helps here's how it went down for me:

- Purchased vehicle in CO in November of 2013 with 2 miles on the odometer.
- Immediately I began with exterior mods - Wheels, quarter window louvers, GT500 rear spoiler, etc - AND Suspension mods - Koni Yellows, Steeda Springs, relocation brackets, etc.
- At 670 miles I contacted the Service Manager at my dealership and introduced myself. Turns out he had several cars of his own that he has modified over the years with tunes, turbos, etc. I told him my plans with the car which at the time was CAI, tune, and exhaust. He said those mods would be fine and he assured me that he'd be able to get those mods dealt with should there be an issue with the car.
- At 4,977 miles I did the first oil change with Amsoil and filter. My car immediately began to tick.
- I contacted my Service Manager and told him of the problem and made an appointment to bring the car in.
- I did a lot of research online and found the BBQ tick to be fairly common but no exact remedy. When I brought my car in I showed the Service Manager a few videos of the tick for reference.
- The car was at the dealership for two weeks as they worked to diagnose the issue. My tick was too intermittent at the time to accurately diagnose so they returned the car to me.
- Three weeks later the tick was happening the majority of the time so I made another appointment but was met with the same result.
- Two weeks later I contacted Ford Customer Service and made an appointment with the same dealership as they had been very easy to work with thus far. Once at the dealership Ford Customer Service expedited my claim and I made several trips to the dealership (two to three trips a day) to help duplicate the tick since that's where they were struggling.
- Ford told the dealership to tear down the motor to try to locate the issue. I refused to allow them to open the motor and requested a Ford Engineer to come look at my vehicle.
- No engineer was available before my wife and I were scheduled to move to GA.
- Moved to GA and contacted several Service Managers at local GA dealerships and found one that seemed very interested in helping me.
- Made an appointment with the new dealership and contacted Ford Customer Service to let them know what dealership the car was being transferred to. My claim was expedited.
- The new Service Manager contacted my old Service Manager in CO who reviewed what they had done. The new dealership tried to duplicate the problem but struggled to pin point the problem so a Ford Engineer was brought in. The Service Manager made sure I was at the dealership at the time the Ford Engineer was there and I requested that the Shop Foreman was present as well.The Engineer inquired about all the mods done to my car and we discussed each one until he agreed that they shouldn't be responsible for making the tick happen. At first the Ford Engineer was standoffish but relaxed when he realized that I wasn't demanding anything other than figuring out the cause of the tick. I told him once the source of the tick was discovered we could work together to remedy the problem. We pulled the car into a bay and had the car running with all four of us underneath listening to the tick. Baffled I suggested we cut open the oil filter with everyone present and the Shop Foreman suggested checking the crankshaft end play while the Ford Engineer wanted a laundry list of other items checked.
- The car was shut off, oil filter removed, and cut open. It was obvious there was a bearing issue with all the material in the filter. The Shop Foreman immediately looked at the Service Manager and the Ford Engineer and said that the engine had internal issues and that he wanted to replace the engine.
- At the end of the day the Ford Engineer wanted to run a few more tests before he would agree to replace the engine. He gave me his card with his cell phone number and we parted ways.
- Two days later the Service Manager contacted me and stated they were replacing my engine with a new long block and invited me to "supervise" the work so long as I didn't enter the work bay without a Service Writer, the Service Manager, or the Shop Foreman.
- Twice a day I'd stop by and check on the progress and it got to the point they just let me walk back and have a look in. I made it a point not to interrupt anyone and usually came bearing gifts. It's amazing how far doughnuts, pizza, or burgers will get you with the guys in the shop.
- A little over a week later I had a new long block and they even agreed to install a new Excedy clutch and flywheel along the way.

So I don't know if this story will help anyone with the BBQ tick problem or any other problem but I do think the key to getting things done is calm persistence, lots of understanding, learning some of the politics and stay involved. Now when I go back to the dealership I feel sorta like Norm from Cheers...LOL.

Two weeks ago I took the car in for the first oil change on the new motor. Usually this is something I enjoy doing myself but with the tick history I wanted the dealership to first acknowledge that the car was not ticking before the oil change and then to witness that is was or wasn't ticking after the first oil change. While I was there I expressed a concern that I had an excessive whine coming from the rear end. With 3:73's I expected some whine but this was loud and had I surrendered myself that the Paxton would void the warranty completely and that I'd have to go to a local speed shop for them to look at it. The Service Manager said that he'd look at it for me and see what the issue might be. Later that afternoon he called me back and said that they wanted to replace all the bearings and the ring gear in the rear end to get the rear end quiet for me. I asked how much and he said it was covered under warranty. I had to wait a week for parts but they re-built the rear end and it's perfect so far.

That's awesome! Glad you actually got two dealers willing to play ball. All too often, the dealers just discount problems and blame them on tunes and other mods.

 

[Black Thunder 715]

My ex '12 started making the ticking noise after the first oil change and it was an automatic. I used mobil1 10w30 EP for the first oil change. Then I changed the oil again to Amsoil SS 10w30 and the ticking noise almost completely disappeared.

 

[Honest Mike]

Buggy, great story thanks for taking the time to write all that! So you had your first oil change, and no ticking I assume??

Zinc, I agree, I was starting to think it was only Track Pack cars too, and then I thought the only thing different, motor wise, was the 5w50 oil. I think that oil is much too thick. When you pour it out of the quart it's MUCH thicker than 5w20 for example. Also Track Pack cars have oil coolers. Maybe the oil is being cooled off too much keeping it too thick??

 

[slick3]

Buggy, great story thanks for taking the time to write all that! So you had your first oil change, and no ticking I assume??

Zinc, I agree, I was starting to think it was only Track Pack cars too, and then I thought the only thing different, motor wise, was the 5w50 oil. I think that oil is much too thick. When you pour it out of the quart it's MUCH thicker than 5w20 for example. Also Track Pack cars have oil coolers. Maybe the oil is being cooled off too much keeping it too thick??

I switched over the Amsoil 5-50, made sure I primed the filter as much as I could this last oil change. Ticked all the way home from the shop, started it next morning no tick. Been 4500 miles since and I haven't heard it tick once since. My car ticked the past 2 oil changed with MC 5-50 for about 4500 miles into each oil change and intermittently when warm after that. This is the quickest its ever gone away (5 miles?). I could probably prove its the oil if I switch back to MC but at this point I could care less all I know is that its gone. Putting flame suit on for the Amsoil haters about to post below me. Car has 17k miles on it 2014 track pack,6mt.

Side note, oil temp gauge used to read 12 o'clock straight up with the MC under street conditions. It now sits somewhere around 11:30. Drive train noise is a little more now though surprisingly.

 

[Buggywhips]

Buggy, great story thanks for taking the time to write all that! So you had your first oil change, and no ticking I assume??

No ticking so far! Knock on wood.

 

[evanjp]

Wow. What a sequence of events to get the replaced motor.

Mine has a tick too but it isn't the same as the BBQ igniter tick. It's a faster tick, like pops, and has somewhat of a rhythm. I just changed my oil maybe 250 miles ago with Mobil 1 5w50 and its ticking the worst I've ever heard it before. I can hear it over my motor idling while stopped with my windows down. I'm thinking about bringing it in but I have 42000 miles on it. There are several issues I'm having with the car I just don't want to be without it for over a month...

 

[Budwise]

Even my 2015 has the same tick my 2013 did. Its just the nature of the beast.