Marbles in a can noise comming from engine bay

[Juan Alvarez]

I have a 1999 ford expedition 5.4 eddie bauer and there is a marbles in a can noise coming from my engine bay. The truck has the original 109,000 miles on the engine and has not had any major repairs. The marbles in a can sound comes on when I start it up and continues on whether the vehicle is idling or in motion and does not increase when revving the engine. I have heard many things such as a timing built, vacuum leak, torque converter, and heatshields being the culprits. I am on here looking to see if anyone has had this experience before.

I am also asking about a separate issue I was having with this vehicle. At around 35-45MPH the whole vehicle would shudder and then continue on normally. I added something call shudder fix to the trans stick and it completely removed the shudder. I know this is a temporary fix, so what could it be?

 

[Habbibie]

I bet you the rattle noise disappears after a couple minutes, once the engine builds up enough oil pressure and can send more volume of oil than what your chain guide tensioners are leaking out it'll quite back down to normal, the gasket on the chain guide tensioners is a very thin piece of rubber that eventually bursts open and causes this issue (95% of the time it's the driver side that fails) you're describing. I & many many people on this forum & f150 forums have experienced this and it involves a decent amount of work to make the repairs if doing it yourself, gets kinda expensive going through the mechanic shop route

The rattle in a can noise is called chain slap, very common among 1st 97-02, 2nd 03-06 and early 3rd gens.

Search "5.4L chain slap" or "5.4L chain tensioner" on YouTube and compare sounds, if it sounds the same then bingo, if it doesnt then please come back and describe it differently and more accurately

 

[Juan Alvarez]

The can’t hear the rattle when I’m driving for obvious reasons but as soon as I am at a complete stop and idling I can hear the rattling sound against the sound is there whether it’s at cold start or after the truck has warmed up, it doesn’t go away. I watched the videos you suggested and it is similar and honestly I’m usually good under the hood but I don’t think I can tackle this project alone. How much do you think I can expect to pay for something like this at a shop?

 

[1955moose]

Depending on the shop, and the area of the country you live, count on at least 8 hours labor, plus parts. If you go the shop route have them pull the pan as well, that will add 2 more hours or so. The plastic tensioners wear and get debris down into the pan, in particular on top of the oil pump screen. Your probably looking at anywhere from $1000.00 to $1800.00, depending on what's changed, and labor rates. Like Habbibie said it's a relatively large job.

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[Juan Alvarez]

Yikes! I bought the truck for $2000 and i have been debating on whether to invest that much money into it. I also have to change out the heater core and at the torque converter so I'm looking at quite a bit of money. It is a solid SUV and I love it so i may just put the money into it but dang thats a lot. Thank you both for your advice.

 

[highlandre]

If it makes you feel any better I've put over 10k into the '98 that I bought 3 years ago for 3.7k. It only had 72k miles but now I have a great truck that runs like a champ.

I too put in a TqC, new rear axle housing/LSD, exhaust manifolds, fuel pump, plugs, belt, alternator, starter, tires, speakers/sub/amp...you get the idea. It loses a bit of oil thru the valve covers but the bottom of the motor is clean and can tow my 20 ft car hauler.

I'd still prefer an occasional repair than having a car payment.

If you love the vehicle and then it's your money, spend it how you want to. I don't plan on ever getting rid of mine unless it's a donation to a niece when they're driving age.

 

[JExpedition07]

Doesn’t sound like a chain tensioners or chain issue to me at least. Normally the rattle will go away within a few seconds if tensioners the issue, and it will increase with rpm if the chain is rattling. If it stays the same at any rpm I’m not sure that’s your issue.

 

[1955moose]

No J, it's probably the gaskets like Habbibie said. Problem is you don't want to tear into it without swapping in new chains and guides. That's a gamble tearing into without changing all. That damn Pandora's box thing you know. He's only got 109k on the motor so it's possible, but I'd never take a chance reusing old parts. It's not like he's changing a valve cover gasket or something simple. Besides I don't think any shop worth their wrenches would change just those gaskets only. Too much chance of a comeback.

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[Juan Alvarez]

Thanks for the advice everyone and I’m definitely going to put some money into my truck because I honestly don’t miss car payments.

 

[Trainmaster]

Before you put a lot into it, check the head gasket for an oil or anti freeze leak above the starter and check the rear suspension parts and brake lines/trans lines for rust. Those were the problems on my 2000, but it was a New York truck...

I'm sure you changed the oil and put a Motorcraft filter on it too before tearing it apart...