head tick: bad lash adjuster ?

venomous99

venomous99

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my car has has a tick at idle that is audible at start-up and all temps. it seems to go away immediately as soon as the throttle is applied and isnt as loud as what ive heard online for headticks.
i probed around the engine with a stethoscope and can hear a definite metalic tapping around the top of the valve cover over cylinder 5. when i probe the valve cover bolt over this cylinder i can hear this sound while when the other bolts are probed i cant hear a thing except normal injector ticking.
probing cylinder 5 as the rpms are increased the frequency of the tick increases, which gets muffled when not using a stethoscope. btw, its amzing how much sound you hear with the steth that normally is not heard to the naked ear.

ive read about bad lash adjusters being a possible culprit of these head ticks. how often do these lash adjusters go bad. anyone have experience swapping these out?
do you need special tools to get these out?
any tips on removing them? what is the difficulty level in removing these?
can the adjuster be removed w/ the head in place?
to take out the driver side valve cover will the MC need to be removed?

when i had purchased the car, we ran a compression check and all cylinders checked in around 160 w/ healthy plugs. at the time the tick was believed to be injector noise and a massive exhaust leak kinda masked the valve noise.
 
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mwolson

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Unfortunately, it is more likely that the tick is due to a worn valve guide than a bad lash adjuster. I hear a lot of people just let it tick and don't worry about it.

Here is the text of the TSB I found on this:

Article No
03-11-4 ENGINE - MUSTANG COBRA - TICK NOISE FROM ENGINE - COBRA VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH ENGINES BUILT BEFORE 11/1/2002 ONLY

Publication Date: May 23, 2003

FORD: 2003 MUSTANG

ISSUE:
Some 2003 Mustang Cobra vehicles with engines built before 11/1/2002 may exhibit an unusual engine tick noise that is present at all temperatures during idle. This noise may be due to valve guide wear in the left bank cylinder head. Guide wear manifest itself as a tick noise which can be heard at the rear of LH head, through LH catalyst, at the LH front wheel well and may not be heard with the hood open.

ACTION:
Use the diagnostic procedures listed in this article to evaluate the vehicle condition and replace the cylinder head if applicable. Refer to the following Service Procedure for details.

SERVICE PROCEDURE
NOTE: THIS REPLACEMENT CYLINDER HEAD WILL NO IMPROVE OR REDUCE PERFORMANCE.

In order to diagnose noise, the following items must be checked:

- Verify noise by placing a stethoscope on the back of the left head near the exhaust ports.
- Verify that the noise is heard in the left side exhaust system (left side wheel well or catalytic converter, from underneath the vehicle).
- Try to isolate the noise by cancelling the cylinders, by unplugging the injectors one at a time (start with #8 cylinder).
- Verify that there are no exhaust manifold leaks.
- Check to make sure that the camshaft spacers are in place. If not, install cam spacers (per Workshop Manual Section 303-01C) and retest vehicle.
- Check for proper cam sprocket bolt torque, retorque to spec listed in the Workshop Manual Section 303-01C.
- Check for spongy lash adjusters (refer to Section 303-00 in the corresponding Workshop Manual).
- Verify that the timing chain tensioner pin has been removed.
- If the above diagnostic does not eliminate the noise while the cylinder are cancelled, and the engine was built prior to 11/1/2002, replace the left side cylinder head and cam assembly with Part Number 3R2Z-6049-GA. Refer to Workshop Manual Section 303-01C for cylinder head replacement procedures.

PART NUMBER PART NAME
3R2Z-6049-GA Cylinder Head And Cam Assembly - Left - Cobra Only

OTHER APPLICABLE ARTICLES:
NONE

WARRANTY STATUS:
INFORMATION ONLY

I have read that one possible cause for this is heating, and is why many people do the head cooling mod.

If it is the lash adjuster, it is pretty easy to get it out once the valve cover is off. You need to esure the cam for that valve is on its baseline, compress the spring, pop out the follower then pop out the lash adjuster. But I hear getting the drivers side valve cover off is a b**ch due to interference with the master cylinder.
 
venomous99

venomous99

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not sure if its the same issue w/ the worn valve guids as the tapping is isolated to cylinder 5 and the head is also the revised version. im hoping this is the lesser of the two evils..id rather remove the mc to get the valve cover off than remove the head to fix a worn valve guide.
 
spitin venom

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ive read about bad lash adjusters being a possible culprit of these head ticks. how often do these lash adjusters go bad. anyone have experience swapping these out? KingSnake knows all about this but I think he is currently banned.
do you need special tools to get these out? Yes
any tips on removing them? what is the difficulty level in removing these? From what I hear it is pretty easy
can the adjuster be removed w/ the head in place? Yes. The cams don't have to be removed eitherto take out the driver side valve cover will the MC need to be removed? ?

when i had purchased the car, we ran a compression check and all cylinders checked in around 160 w/ healthy plugs. at the time the tick was believed to be injector noise and a massive exhaust leak kinda masked the valve noise.
 
spitin venom

spitin venom

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It sounds like lash adjuster problems to me. The head tick gets louder when the car warms up. Both times I had the head tick I couldn't hear it when the car was cold, only when the car was at operating temps.

How many miles on your revised head?
 
venomous99

venomous99

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the head was purchased new probably in 05 and has very few miles...probably about 30miles since the car was put together and dyno tuned. i dont notice the ticking get worse with temp and i swear w/out a stethoscope on the engine you wouldnt think the ticking/tapping is there w/ a blip of the throttle but w/ a steth u definitely hear the metallic tapping..almost scary to hear cuz the sound is so amplified that you'd think damage is more than likely if the car was run like that.

ive been reading about the valve cover removal. looks like ill have to unbolt the hydroboost and/or mc to gain access...what fun it is. im thinking if that is the case, i might as well powder coat the cover or polish it up.
 
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mwolson

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I agree it sounds like a bad lash adjuster. I don't think they go bad very often. Not good luck. I assume you have run it long enough to get it fully pumped up. It took more than 5 minutes after the last time I let mine bleed down.

You should also read up on checking the lash adjuster preload when you get the new ones in.

While you have it apart, you may want to put screen under the baffle in the drivers side valve cover. They claim is will help redulce the amount of oil going out the PCV valve. the documentation I used is long gone, but here is my writeup: http://www.classictiger.com/mustang/TeksidTerminator/ValveCoverMod/ValveCoverMod.htm

No proof it works, but I can't see how it could hurt.
 
venomous99

venomous99

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update,due to not having any motivation or time to work on the car i brought it in to a reputable forum member. turns out the noise is blower related as removing the belt from the blower eliminates the ticking sound. lesson learned: before tearing into the engine do the basics(ie check the blower as well).
 
venomous99

venomous99

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*update, the motor was rebuilt after finding a pad #2 piston and lash adjusters replaced as a bad one was discovered above 5 and 6.. fast forward to this week. the valve train noise is still present around the same area but is intermittent. anyone know how long if the lash adjusters take a certain amount of time to pump up/quiet down? the car must've been run for at least 20min now.is it not uncommon for new lash adjusters to make intermittent noise until theyre fully pumped up? what else can cause new lash adjusters to go bad? is there anything else to look for in the head? is it possible that its a blocked oil passage where insufficient oil is flowing?
this is on a revised 04 head.
 
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SMOKINRUBBER

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mwolson said:
Unfortunately, it is more likely that the tick is due to a worn valve guide than a bad lash adjuster. I hear a lot of people just let it tick and don't worry about it.

Here is the text of the TSB I found on this:

Article No
03-11-4 ENGINE - MUSTANG COBRA - TICK NOISE FROM ENGINE - COBRA VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH ENGINES BUILT BEFORE 11/1/2002 ONLY

Publication Date: May 23, 2003

FORD: 2003 MUSTANG

ISSUE:
Some 2003 Mustang Cobra vehicles with engines built before 11/1/2002 may exhibit an unusual engine tick noise that is present at all temperatures during idle. This noise may be due to valve guide wear in the left bank cylinder head. Guide wear manifest itself as a tick noise which can be heard at the rear of LH head, through LH catalyst, at the LH front wheel well and may not be heard with the hood open.

ACTION:
Use the diagnostic procedures listed in this article to evaluate the vehicle condition and replace the cylinder head if applicable. Refer to the following Service Procedure for details.

SERVICE PROCEDURE
NOTE: THIS REPLACEMENT CYLINDER HEAD WILL NO IMPROVE OR REDUCE PERFORMANCE.

In order to diagnose noise, the following items must be checked:

- Verify noise by placing a stethoscope on the back of the left head near the exhaust ports.
- Verify that the noise is heard in the left side exhaust system (left side wheel well or catalytic converter, from underneath the vehicle).
- Try to isolate the noise by cancelling the cylinders, by unplugging the injectors one at a time (start with #8 cylinder).
- Verify that there are no exhaust manifold leaks.
- Check to make sure that the camshaft spacers are in place. If not, install cam spacers (per Workshop Manual Section 303-01C) and retest vehicle.
- Check for proper cam sprocket bolt torque, retorque to spec listed in the Workshop Manual Section 303-01C.
- Check for spongy lash adjusters (refer to Section 303-00 in the corresponding Workshop Manual).
- Verify that the timing chain tensioner pin has been removed.
- If the above diagnostic does not eliminate the noise while the cylinder are cancelled, and the engine was built prior to 11/1/2002, replace the left side cylinder head and cam assembly with Part Number 3R2Z-6049-GA. Refer to Workshop Manual Section 303-01C for cylinder head replacement procedures.

PART NUMBER PART NAME
3R2Z-6049-GA Cylinder Head And Cam Assembly - Left - Cobra Only

OTHER APPLICABLE ARTICLES:
NONE

WARRANTY STATUS:
INFORMATION ONLY

I have read that one possible cause for this is heating, and is why many people do the head cooling mod.

If it is the lash adjuster, it is pretty easy to get it out once the valve cover is off. You need to esure the cam for that valve is on its baseline, compress the spring, pop out the follower then pop out the lash adjuster. But I hear getting the drivers side valve cover off is a b**ch due to interference with the master cylinder.
Click to expand...

So according to the ford info it wont hurt my motor to unplug an injector while its running to try and pin down a noise?

Anyone confirm?
 

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