1999 5.4liter. engine tapping when under load.

[Wuzabug]

Hi guys. I have. 89 Expidition with the 5.4 liter engine.ive had this truck for 3 months. I've driven it around 3,000 miles. This tapping sound came about all of a sudden. It want a gradual thing. The sound is coming from the right bank close to the firewall.it sounds like a bad lifter to me but someone said it could be a loose spark plug. Any thoughts? There is a valve cover leak. I have had to put one chart of oil in the truck in 3,000 miles. Oil pressure is normal. Video here

 

[Wuzabug]

Hi guys. I have. 89 Expidition with the 5.4 liter engine.ive had this truck for 3 months. I've driven it around 3,000 miles. This tapping sound came about all of a sudden. It want a gradual thing. The sound is coming from the right bank close to the firewall.it sounds like a bad lifter to me but someone said it could be a loose spark plug. Any thoughts? There is a valve cover leak. I have had to put one chart of oil in the truck in 3,000 miles. Oil pressure is normal. Video here
View attachment 18856

 

[Wuzabug]

Come on guys. A little help?

 

[1955moose]

First off you need to proof your posting before submitting it. Their is no 89 expedition, I believe you mean 98 expedition, as they started production in 97. First edition Expeditions do have issues with spark plugs loosening, or blowing out completely out of the cylinder head. This is because Ford thought that 5-6 threads for each spark plug hole was enough to secure the eight plugs down. Well guess what it's not. You can get in there, and snug up all the spark plugs to the 14 foot lb torque, and maybe your noise will go away. If that doesn't work, you may have problems with either one or more valve lash adjusters that's not doing its job. How many miles on this engine? You stated oil pressure is normal, what is the pressure? 1 quart of oil every 3k is a dream. I go through a quart every 1200 miles, and I only have 86k miles on mine. By the way it's a quart of oil, not a chart, but we know what you mean. Let us know if tightening plugs make your noise go away.


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[Snag]

Wuzabug,
Moose gave you some good direction. I viewed your post a couple times but couldn't make anything off the video. All of Moose's questions were ones I had when reading. The 89 Expeditions were called Broncos. This was back in the day when Ford actually built good rigs:O)
Being thats a new rig to you it looks like, I would start with the plugs. Pull each one and check to see if they need replaced. And torquing them back is critical on these engines as they tend to spit them out, then you have big problems. I would also look down into each plug hole and look at the threads and see what shape they are in or if already helicoiled. Brian with FordTechMakuLoco has good videos on these engines.
Oiling and lash adjusters (what you are calling lifters, kind of the same) and cam followers are also a problem on these engines. WE don't know the mileage on this rig but the above is places to start.

I am not as familiar with the 1st gen as a lot of the other guys on the Forum are. On the second gen the oil pressure gauge is just a fancy idiot light. It looks like a scale but really isn't. The only way to truly know your oil pressure is by hooking a proper gauge into the oil sending unit hole. Its a prize of a place to get to, behind the power steering pump.