Valve Train Noise...?

Tony Conti

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I'm getting (have had) a noisy valve train on my 09 GT (85k miles) for a while now. I change the oil every 3,000 miles with mobil1 full synthetic and in general take good care of the car as a whole. Its a ticking more than a knock but I feel that it is just too loud to be totally normal? My driver's side catch can is also collecting a good amount of oil as well. Any ideas? It's driving me nuts. Also, both sides are making the noise.
 

Dino Dino Bambino

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Can you post a video of the engine idling so we can get an idea? Move the camera all the way round the engine bay as you're recording so we can get a sense of where the noise is loudest.
 

Tony Conti

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I emailed the vid to myself and saved it in my files. It says the file is too large, took the video on my phone and its 22 seconds... any idea on how I can get it on here?
 

MrAwesome987

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I emailed the vid to myself and saved it in my files. It says the file is too large, took the video on my phone and its 22 seconds... any idea on how I can get it on here?
Upload it to Youtube. You can put it on there as "unlisted" and then share the direct link on here.
 

Tony Conti

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I wasn't completely sure but I didn't think the injectors would be quite that loud. But as far as knowing a ton about the 3v motor I don't really know too much. I've had two 2v mustangs before getting this mustang. So this is my first time with a 3v, I do want to eventually know more about these motors though.
 

MrAwesome987

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Don't take my word only, let's wait and see what some more knowledgeable folks say. I'm no expert either, but I know my stock injectors were quite loud. You can actually put a long extension or something on them and the other end on your ear and hear them. Might help you figure out if it is indeed the injectors or valve train.
 

FredB66

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I had a very similar tic-tic-tic in my '07 GT. It turned out to be 3 loose spark plugs. By the looks of them they were original plugs in a 100k mile car.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk
 

Tony Conti

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5K miles ago I replaced the spark plugs and coil pack. Motorcraft OEM plugs and ford performance coil pack gapped and torqued to spec. The noise was still the same back before that and hasn't skipped a beat.
 

Lime1Gt

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Just for learning and diagnosis, if you don't have a mechanics stethoscope get a long screwdriver or similar and hold it to your ear and touch the other end to injectors, different points of the valve covers, exhaust manifold, top of the alternator, etc. and you will be able to learn where the different sounds come from and what they sound like. You have eight cylinders that should all sound roughly the same if things are normal. You may also notice that some noises travel to other areas due camshaft length,etc. Valve cover noises will be different in different spots due to the location of moving parts. Safety first. Be very careful around moving parts such as alternator pulleys and belts.
 

Rick Simons

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It doesn't sound bad to me. Does the noise change at all as the engine warms up? Mine seems to get little "tickier" once it's warm and the oil thins out some. Engine has 125k on it with new cams, followers, and lash adjusters. I heard someone say years ago that noises are often amplified in an aluminum engine due to it having lower density than cast iron. Dunno if it's true, but it kinda makes sense.
 

Woodtrucker

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I have had the exact same noise. Can't really hear it with car idling hood shut. After my 30 min drive to work sitting in a drive thru, I can hear the tick bounce back off a brick wall and it's actually quit loud but most of the time I don't even notice it. Can't hear it at all on a hard pull and when car is cold I usually don't hear it much. Only when it's pretty hot does it get really noticeable but sounds exactly like your youtube clip. I bought mine stock with 79k miles. Swapped plugs with champion one pc. (I know some will give me a hard time for that but oh well), not two pc design that breaks, and I used same coils and it ran exactly the same as before the plug change. mine runs out great except for a little throttle hesitation when cold. Other than that, it runs like beast when warm. I might go for a ride later and come back and put the stethoscope on it and see if I can hear some chatter from valve train or from injectors...I'll report back later.
 

ridindirty2130

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I'm at 202K+ miles on my 2008 and I've found that ticking can come from multiple places. The most common that I've seen over the years of internet searching for my own car was from the fuel injectors/ignition coils, roller rockers, or somewhere within the drive train and/or the VCT system. Your video sounds like the fuel injectors but in my experience changing injectors didn't help. I replaced plugs, injectors, and ignition coils and no change in sound. At 200K I replaced the entire drive train because the cam phasers were knocking (chains, guards, all solenoides, cam phasers) and was expecting to have to change out roller rockers because that seemed the logical place where the ticking came from. Fortunately (or unfortunately depending on how you see it) the rockers and lifters and springs were all in good shape, so no go there. At some point I cam across a forum thread where a user said that they had either heard or talked to someone about the stock intake design being the cause of the ticking. That idea sounded pretty weak to me, but considering that I already had long tube headers and had just upgraded to the Hot Rod cams during the drive train replacement, I figured I may as well tie all of the power together by buying the FRPP intake. Low and behold, the sound went away! I still can't believe that after all this time and endless internet searching that the intake was the issue, especially since I can't find the thread (or any others) that suggest the intake being the cause. But I made the changes in stages with the intake being the last piece installed and the ticking did go away. I definitely wouldn't suggest spending $500 for an issue that isn't causing any problems, or if you don't already have a set up that will greatly benefit from the intake. But if you just can't stand the sound then I'd suggest doing a few google searches and see what you can find on the topic.
 
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Woodtrucker

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I put a steth on my engine today.
I also uploaded a video. It’s interesting that FRPP intake cured problem. I get the most noise from the injectors. I probed the intake in several spots, probed the valve covers at each cylinder on both sides and it was identical and no tick. When I put steth on top of rail of the injectors I get a very noticeable and even tick all the way down the rail. I also made a video that sounds a lot like yours Tony.
 

GriffX

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I had a ticking noise problem on my 4 cylinder supercharged Mercedes and did it with a different approach. I recorded the noise for each cylinder with my phone and analysed it with Audcity. Camshaft related noises occure with half of the cranck frequency. Faulty lifters do tick,tick-pause-tick, tick, I found one.
And now I have a noise databench for future noises.

Mustang: I have in mind that camshaft noises on the passenger side can have something to do with oil starvation from a faulty gasket below the chain tensioner. But can't emember if its in idle or during startup.
 

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