Muddy Waterz

I gotta 99 F150 with the 4.6, bout 80,000 miles on er...
anyhow....im starting to notice a ticking sound coming from the top righthand side of the motor(passenger side)
i keep my oil changed and i dont hot-rod it....so im unsure why its ticking.....what could it be and can it be fixed and will i be able to drive it till i can fix it??
thx fer any help yall could gimme...

89F150

Could be an exhaust leak. Maybe have a listen around your manifold around that side and see if its coming from there.

Muddy Waterz

nope, that wernt it.....thinkin it may be a lifter, or so ive been told...was also told i cant tighten up the lifter, i would have to have a new push rod
is this true?
think im gonna try sum thicker oil too

LunaticSVT

There are a few possibilities and I will list them below.

1. I'm pretty sure that the ticking sound is a result of the cam followers, or other components in the OHC set-up. While efficient, OHC set-ups are not nearly as quiet as the old push-rod valve systems. It will sound like an exhaust leak.

Try this. Sit next to a wall. Does it get louder when you accelerate? If so there you go.

2. It may also be the injector pulse. That is a common tick noise that you will hear on these OHC 4.6s.

3. You could be experiencing piston slap. You will need to check your vin. Is the 8th character a 6 or a W? If it is a W then your engine was built in the Romeo Michigan plant and you can ignore the rest of this. If it is a 6 then your engine was built in the Windsor, Canada plant and read on. You can also look at the label on the valve cover (driver's side of your engine bay). It will tell you where your engine was made (Windsor or Romeo), as well as the build date. If built after April 15, 1999 then do not bother in regards to PS. The engines after this date have been reengineered to eliminate the slap problem. If it is prior to the date listed you can take it to your dealer. If under warranty (which if you have the extended warranty) they will replace the engine with a reman. If out of warranty they will most likely charge you for the repairs.

Also understand that this needs to be diagnosed by your dealer. They can tell you if you have PS or not better than I or you yourself can. Just so you are aware the TSB's on PS are 12798 and 12799. There may be others but i do not know of them for the 99.

4. One of the most common causes of engine noise comes from the use of a poorly designed or incorrect oil filters. With these OHC engines you must use a filter with an anti-drainback valve, preferably one which is made of silicone for durability and flexibility. If you use a filter without this type of valve, oil can drain out of the filter and on start up you get lifter rattle which is both annoying and potentially damaging to your engine. Always buy an S designated filter.


Hope that this is of some help.

Muddy Waterz

LunaticSVT=very smart feller lol!!
reckon its prolly a follower then, cause the 8th character is a W.....dont do it when it starts up, only after its warmed up...and thicker oil didnt make it quieter, thanks fer the info,LunaticSVT!!

now on to the next question...
when i accelerate with the AC on, all the nice cold air goes to defrost/floor, when i slow down, the air comes thru the vents like its spossed to....yall reckon its a vac line issue? or is it sumthin else??

again thanks fer all yall's help!!

LunaticSVT

Sounds like it would be the vent redirect door within the venting is either fixing to break or has broken. I have seen this in older vehicles. Eventually you will only get the air blowing out the defrost/floor option. On repairing.....that is a toughy. You can rip apart the dash and go after it or try to hook up a wire clothes hanger and use that as a temp fix. Replacing the entire unit is going to be a costly and difficult task.

Muddy Waterz

well, i reckon ill go with the coat hanger idea, i dun had the dash out twice..(first time cause the heater core went out, second time was cause i put the dash back in wrong..no wires fit lol)

thanks again fer yer quik reply

Muddy Waterz

well, it seems ive realy done it this time......
the 'muddy waterz' got too deep!!
i submerged my 99 F150 in the backwaters of the mississipi lastnight
when i got back with a chain, only about a foot of my cab was visible, ruining everything...
drained the oil today, and i reckon about 5 gallons of water came out before i seen any oil..
lots of problems now, the ticking and the A/C didnt bug me much at all
so, what next....i reckon i need to take out the spark plugs fore' i commence crankin the motor..and all fluids and filters will need to be changed...
any advice from the gurus would be nice
and another thing......i cant get my windows to roll up....door locks, mirrors, and seat power works but i cant roll up my winders and it might rain tonight.....and theres no fuses blown either.....
so again, if theres any advice ya'll can give, i sure would like to hear it....
has anybody else in here ever submerged their F150 for over an hour and a half and had any luck gettin it runnin again?
anuther thing...the adjuster will be here in 'two buisiness days'....will it hurt to work on it and such? will it lesson the risk of him totalling it?? would it be best if it was totalled??
this is my first expeirence with insurance, so i dont know what to do......help!!

LunaticSVT

I would total it. You are going to run into so many issues if you allow it to not be. You will have to strip the interior out and clean it. You have more than likely destroyed the electronic Control unit at the very least. So you will see that most if not all your electrics are screwed.

If you are dead set on trying to save the engine then you will need to clean it as soon as possible. Any delay in cleaning makes small dirt and silt harder to remove and may cause rusting and corrosion. Dirt and silt will and can damage bearings and precision parts. You will have to disassemble the engine completely to do this cleaning. If you do not want to pay for a complete overhaul you can do it yourself, but this will not gurantee that the engine will be free of problem.

My recomendation would be allow them to total it.

Muddy Waterz

thanks fer the quik reply...
bad news i guess, huh
im right upset now...reckon ill a few beers
so, when the adjuster comes....do i tell him bout all the stuff that got ruined? like my cell cradle, stereo, amp, speakers, digital camera,ect??
will i be reimbersed fer all that stuff too, or just the truck?