4.6 Clicks

66ford289 said:

My friend has a 4.6 SOHC engine and it clicks at idle. It sounds as if it is somewhere in the valvetrain.....timing chain, valves? Everyone is telling him it's his lifters(do 4.6 even have them?) and if anyone has any ideas how can we check for problems? The clicking is in sync with the engine so it's not any random rattles.

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With most OHC motors the valve clearances need to be adjusted every so often...can someone with more knowledge fo the 4.6 elaborate on this?

OHC motors have camshaft folloers, which are basically lifters. One simple thign to check is the spark plugs. Many, many people including me have had problem with the spark plugs backing out. When this happened to me, my car had a loud tick at idle, sounding exactly like a pushrod lifter tick. Come to find out, one of my plus was finger tight and responsible for the noise. Ford is aware of the problem and in 2001 they made a change, adding more threads to the plug hole.

are you sure it's a tick or could it just be the injectors. the injectors are pretty noisey on the 4.6 motors

stangman said:

are you sure it's a tick or could it just be the injectors. the injectors are pretty noisey on the 4.6 motors

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I bet this is it. How does the car run?

66ford298:

No flame intended but lifters in the case of the OHC are more properly called lash adjusters. (You don't want the pushrod mob to get upset!) Lash adjusters can and do get tired and can be replaced. The tensioners used to be cast and are now plastic and they (either type) can get tired, too. If the noise is coming from the front of the engine, then replace the tensioners. And the guides, if the mileage is high (>100k). You don't say whether the car has aftermarket cams but they can push borderline lash adjusters over the edge. With the screwdriver/stethoscope, you should be able to pinpoint the area where the ticking originates. One final note, if there is a lot of gunk built up then it is possible that the oil supply to the lash adjusters is not 100% or the lash adjuster innards are partly plugged. Either way, the adjuster doesn't work as intended, resulting in noise.

HTH,

Chris