So Sick Of The Head Tick

[UBNSMKD03]

make me want to get rid of car!!! i hate this damn ticking... i had head replaced and it's still doing it... ford says nothing more they can do... bul****... so they exrend my warr to 75k big deal head is still ticking... should i just get rid of car??? :huh:

[bhartman]

With a CAI and Cat-backs, I don't hear mine anymore. Ford says this problem does not affect the car's performance, so I live with it.

[ausie]

Since I have not had any issues with my 04 except for one occasion I heard a sicking hydraulic valve lash adjuster or tapping rocker. For a second there I thought I developed the dreaded tick since it was extremely loud and out of place with the rest of the usual noises. Bought a cheap filter, and some inexpensive oil and added motor flush to the mix and let run for 10 minutes at idle. The noise went away and has not returned since. It is probable it may be a sticking hydraulic valve lash adjuster not applying the proper pressure to the cam follower. If you wind up with slop on the roller rockers due to the lack of oil pressure in the valve lash adjuster you will hear it. Probably one reason why ford recommends the use of light weight oils so that varnish build up on some parts does not hinder the performace of the hydraullic timming chain tensioners and valve lash adjusters. This is just a thought and does not mean it will cure the issue since it may be something else (coolant realted ?)

[UBNSMKD03]

thanks guys it's just depressing to me.... they told me they dont understand why it's still doing it.... but they wont replace motor.... so hell thats nice pay 34,000 for a car and oh well screw the customer when they are suppose to honor warr.... fine it doesnt hurt motor so they say but they are not fixing the problem like they are suppose too.... and was going to buy a nice sonic blue lighting this month to ad to stable.... i dont think iam now.....sorry just venting

[dwtalso]

I understand your worry. But here's some things to consider.

No one has yet identified what the the "tick" is outside of Ford. The problem is that there are several issues that manifest themselves as "ticks" from the drivers side head. But nobody knows what they all are. It was speculated that it was heat in the 7 and 8 cylinders warping the valve seat and yet there are ticking cars with cooling mods specifically designed to fix that issue, so there ya go.

That sounds bad, but here's some good...

There are several ticking cars that I know of that are well over 50k miles, one is over 80k miles. They have had no issues. Some are driven hard quite often and they are still going strong.

I know of a few high power cars (700+ bhp) that are raced most weekends over the summer that have the tick. They have shown no indication that it affects anything at all. A couple of those are broken now but they clearly broke because of timing/afr/heat issues in the cylinder or rod failure.

I have yet to see anyone do a post mortem on a broken motor and be able to say the head tick caused the failure. Every broken motor I know of popped for some clearly obvious reason that had nothing to do with the valve train.

So, take that for what it's worth. There's still a lot of fretting out there but I haven't seen the evidence that it's a real problem yet. I don't doubt that something might be wearing in the valve train while the tick is occurring. But with these small, high output motors, lots of things are wearing out fast and, right now, no one can say which is wearing out faster ;).

[UBNSMKD03]

thanks makes me feel a little better... dont get me wrong i love the car just annoyed by this..... thank you for you input.... did anyone here of maybe running different oil? right now iam running the oil the dealer puts in i believe motorcraft... maybe if i go to a synthetic??? what does everyone use?

[XFIRECHIEF]

Have switched to AMSOIL 100% synthetic & the so called tick is gone.
Guess dino lubes are a thing of the past.

[UBNSMKD03]

Hey Firechief.... Where Do You Buy It From??? Cause I Know There Are Alot Of Retailers..... Any One Special And What Kind 5w 30????

[dwtalso]

I've been running Mobil 1 since about 500 miles on the clock. I had a hot tick that was a mis-torqued cam ladder, obviously despite the oil, but a re-torque solved that. Maybe I dodged the other head tick without knowing it :). Oh, I have mild piston slap on startup too which the oil doesn't help either :P.

[ausie]

Have switched to AMSOIL 100% synthetic & the so called tick is gone.
Guess dino lubes are a thing of the past.

Which grade of AMSOIL have you used? My all time favorite is the Series 2000 20w-50 oil. :tmb: I have used it in all of my vehicles and even during the harsh winter months. The 20w-50 series 2000 oil pours like a 5w-20 or 10w-30 even when the temperature is at 20 degrees F

I have a friend who is an AMSOIL dealer who had his shop out in an unheated barn and we did a pour test of the various oils in mid winter. I was impressed with the product.

I may use Royal Purple from time to time but in a lighter weight oil 10w-30. Their 20w-50 weight oil is like all the rest on the thick side at room temperature.

[Carnage]

I have stated this in other posts, but I never had the tick until I let a local shop "Fletcher's"... or is it "Felcher's". Either way, I think that they put in a different Weight/grade of oil, I have had the tick since I drove it home. Night a day difference from when I drove it in and drove it out. I went with a synthetic/ conventional mix, Quaker State. There are alot of moving parts on that engine, maybe the valve train is getting starved for oil.
I barely drive the car so I haven't change the oil yet. Maybe they just started it without oil. @$#$. The bottom end isn't making any noise though.

[Evanscobra]

I dont know if anyone had ever tried Lucal Synthic Oil Stabalizer, but it might be worth a try if you have the tick. I've heard Lucas products are really good. I use their Fuel treatment and my car loves that stuff. The fuel treatment is thick like oil, unlike most other additives... who knows...but alot of people swear by it... No, I don't have any association with Lucas, lucky for me, I have an 03 Cobra and no tick, but if I ever get one, I am going to try that Lucas oil stab. and see what happens. I currenlty use mobile 1 synth 5w 30, but I have also heard that Amsoil is really good. Knock on wood, no tick:)

[XFIRECHIEF]

I use AMSOIL 0W-20 Series 2000. Have used Amsoil since 1979 & NEVER a problem. I have been getting it directly from Amsoil as I registered as a dealer years ago.
If anyone wants products suggest that is the way to go. When u go to their website u can purchase at a discount, click on "preferred customer zone", then click on "new registration" on the bottom, then use "customer number 66180" your email & your on your way to saving $$.

[venomousgirl]

The ticking noise just started in mine. I had the new Bassani mid-length headers installed, but the gaskets provided for the primaries were terrible and didn't seal properly. So, they had to use metal gaskets instead. Before taking the headers back off to replace the gaskets, they ran it through a heat cycle and went ahead and tuned it on the dyno. That's when I first heard the ticking noise and assumed it was from the exhaust leak. After, getting the headers back on with the new metal gaskets, I took my Cobra for a drive, and sure enough the ticking came back and hasn't stopped since.

I'm taking her back in today to have everything checked over, so we'll see what develops...

Well, it turns out I did have another exhaust leak, this time in another area. So they're changing over the rest of the stock gaskets to metal gaskets. I haven't gotten her back yet, but I think the ticking is from the leak, so once it's sealed the noise should be gone, I hope.

(** TIP - Anyone purchasing and installing the new Bassani mid-length headers, immediately trash the stock gaskets that are provided and use metal gaskets instead. The ones they send are a joke! )