Engine Tick

[Fred G]

Hi Guys,
Does anyone have any info on a lasting fix for the engine tick yet? I thought I heard that the tick was coming back on some of the re-torques. Mine is ticking pretty good now, cold and hot and according to the stethoscope is loudest toward the back of the driver’s side valve cover, quiet in the middle and a low volume tick toward the front. No tick is picked up on the right side valve cover at all.

I really didn’t want the dealer fooling with my car until a lasting fix was found.

Thanks.

 

[COBRyan]

do a search for the thread,,,I think there was a TSB for it

 

[03DOHC]

Sorry, no TSB's yet for the tick, pull or vibe. Only SSM's.

 

[Jim Vaccaro]

Originally posted by 03DOHC
Sorry, no TSB's yet for the tick, pull or vibe. Only SSM's.

What is SSM's??

Jim V.

 

[Black2003Cobra]

SSM = Special Service Message.

Fred - I was just at my local dealer Monday to get my DS replaced, and the tech said he called the hot line back about the tick. (After retorqueing mine cam caps my tick came back, so they told him they were working on it and to call back in a few weeks.) They told him they still don't have it figured out yet. Mine's not too loud, either, so I'll live with it till they come up w/ a good fix. (Not like we have many other choices though, huh!)

 

[Fred G]

Eric,
Yes, I think I remember reading your post that the tick came back. Do you remember how many miles were on the car when the tick started and how many miles you went before it came back? Mine was just starting to tick when the factory rep came in to take car of the vibe at about 400 miles. It wasn’t very loud then, and I didn’t think too much about it. It’s quite prevalent now. I wonder if it’s a coincidence or what, but yours, mine and Jim’s tick. We should compare engine builders and (engine) assembly dates.
BTW, our dyno day is this Saturday at Mustang Magic.
Fred

 

[NetworkingGuru]

Mine ticks as well when idling. Sound's kind of like a busted rocker arm (and yes, I know Cobra's don't have rockers), just a LOT quieter.

 

[Black2003Cobra]

Network - yeah, you can hear the tick at idle, but at other engine speeds as well. It increases freq w/ engine speed. If you have the window up, stereo on, etc, you won't hear it. It is easiest to hear by standing on the left-hand side of the car by the front fender. Sounds like a coin banging on the fender.

Fred - I noticed the tick when the car had less than 700 miles on it. It may have been there from the start, but I didn't notice it then. I think Jim said it didn't tick when it arrived at the dealer, though. I will get the info on engine builders. Jim could get the info on build date. However, since the heads come preassembled, I don't think the two guys who put the engine together did anything wrong. Personally, I think it's just a bad part somewhere. I've heard that now they are even suspecting an exhaust valve guide! Doesn't look like I'm going to be able to make the dyno days. But on the bright side, I should have my exhaust on this weekend! How's your vibe, by the way? Do you still have the 45 mph problem? Next time you are under your car, could you make note of the color of the stripes on your DS and let me know? Thanks!

 

[NetworkingGuru]

Originally posted by Black2003Cobra
Network - yeah, you can hear the tick at idle, but at other engine speeds as well. It increases freq w/ engine speed. If you have the window up, stereo on, etc, you won't hear it. It is easiest to hear by standing on the left-hand side of the car by the front fender. Sounds like a coin banging on the fender.

Mine must be something different. When I heard it, it was only when the fan kicked in. I looked for something stuck in the fan, but found nothing :shrug:

 

[Cobra'03]

Maybe it was something (like a wire wrap) hitting something when the fan air hit it???

 

[NetworkingGuru]

Originally posted by Cobra'03
Maybe it was something (like a wire wrap) hitting something when the fan air hit it???

I dunno. I don't have anything tied down, so it would have to be a factory thing. I'll check it again next time I notice it :shrug:

 

[Fast03Cobra]

My tick has ALWAYS been there. Never that bad. Not bothering me too much UNTIL I went to the track last weekend and made 7 runs in the 1/4. Now I can hear it pretty bad. Changed the oil today and still TICKING! I use 5w-30 Mobile1.

I do notice that smaller DOHC engines have a lot of ticking too. Maybe the larger engine magnifies this? There are a lot of parts in those heads.

Could it be normal? Why would it get louder with age and wear?

 

[Randee of the Redwoods]

At around 3200 miles I had the SSM done to work on the tick. Now, at some 4600 miles, the tick is still gone. It took my dealer a day to figure it out, but they did seem to follow an acceptable procedure that included calling the Ford hotline to learn of this problem. My car has since been dynoed, flashed, and redynoed out to 7000rpm and the tick as not returned.

 

[slow lane]

I thought that I had the engine tick until the owner of a tuning shop pointed out how loud my fuel injectors were when they fired. I wonder if anyone else here is just noticing the very noticable sound of the fuel injectors firing (distinct "ticking").

 

[A's Cobra]

i was told it was my injectors by ford dealer, they asked me to give it a chance to break in if it was still there after a few thousand miles they can look at replacing individaul injectors, apparenly they have to be pretty bad

 

[Fast03Cobra]

If its injectors, why does it not make the SAME sound from ALL the injectors?

I only hear it on the drivers side, towards the rear of the engine. Most of the sound eminates from the left front wheel area.

Taint no injector to me. Could it be something else like a heavy duty oil pump? Or something else?

 

[Fred G]

Hey Group,

Had the cam re-torque procedure done last Wednesday. Since the dealer was not at all familiar with the problem (or re-torque) you might say they were somewhat apprehensive about ME telling THEM how to do their business…and this was after I had given the service writer a fistful of posts from this board addressing the issue when I scheduled the appointment the previous week.

Anyway, to make a long story short, the writer called Ford and got the procedure (as we had known all the while). My tick was on the left side and very loud. They did the re-torque and the noise was gone. When I called the dealership the following day to report the good news, the service writer said he had already received a call from Ford Engineering wanting to know how they made out. He said he’d never received a follow-up call from an engineer before and I guess he finally realized this was a serious issue, as we all knew before the re-torque that there was no guarantee it was going to work.
I also reported the initial success to SVT. My concern at this point is that the tick doesn’t come back, since it didn’t begin till I hit about 400 miles.

 

[TruBlu03]

To add some info, mine has ticked since they day I brought it home, and still ticks 400 miles later. I just attributed it to the injectors, my GT made this sound as well so it seemed normal to me. Same thing with the dreaded clunk, but in the 03 if I shift quickly(well, faster than I did in the GT) it is very smooth and no clunk ever. If I drive like an old lady with real slow shifts it will clunk every time. Btw, speed shifting is super easy, good clutch, tranny and stock shifter IMO. If I was ever so inclined I could see some super easy power shifts, very hard to do in the 00 GT even with better after market parts.

I could be wrong about the tick so like others I'm keeping on eye on all "engine tick" type posts.

 

[bassin247]

My car started ticking the other day. The only thing thats different is I had my oil changed at jiffy pube. They used 6.5 quarts or penzoil 5w20 and their penzoil filter.

I think I am going to drain it and put in mobil 1 5w30 and a motorcraft filter and see if this fixes it. I had the dealership changed the oil the first 2 times and it never ticked, but shortly after I add a different oil it's ticking.

Hrm.

 

[CaptK2003]

Another Ticker

Picked up the car last week. The ticking noise is pretty bad.
Seems to get worse with every drive.
It was there from the beginning though I too thought it was normal. Now it is louder and sounds almost like an engine "pinging".

I'm sure this must be the same problem others are enjoying.