Piston Slap 5.4 ???

[Guest]

I have a 1999 Expedition 5.4 engine that has developed a tapping on cold day start ups. It has 86k on it with all the regular check ups and oil changes preformed by Ford. Dealer is beating me around the bush on this one. Noise is louder when the engine is very cold in the mornings,but it will quieten down as the engine warms, usually around 3-4 miles it is gone. Engine is smooth as glass after warm up. Enigine does have a diesel sound on start up for about 45 seconds then it easies away. When you first drive it you can hear the hard tapping when you put a little torque on the motor. I have heard of this 5.4 piston slap problem before but thought nothing of it until NOW. Is it recommended to tear into the engine? What has to be done to fix this and is it worth the cost? Thanks to replies !

 

[Smiggs]

I'm also on an F-150 forum and there are tons of posts about piston slap in the 5.4L. My motor luckily hasn't developed this yet. I've heard of guys putting in new motors but basically for the most part the majority of owners with this problem live with it. I've heard of motors lasting just as long as motors without this problem.

 

[rwinch]

This is a very common issue listed on the forums. Mine does it, but only seems to last as long as it takes to develope oil pressure in the system, so only for a short amount of time.

Here is a question for all the forum members:
Years ago I was looking at a system that was basically an electric pump that was mounted onto the motor oil system, and operated only when the keys where in the "on" position, and the motor was not running. What this was for was to get the system oil pressure up PRIOR to starting the engine. This was to drastically reduce wear and tear on the engine, since it starts up without lube pressure. I would think that this may also help with the famous piston slap issue. Any thoughts?

 

[rwinch]

Actually, I just found another type of system that does not needed a pump, it uses a pressurized reciever to push the oil back in to bring oil pressure up before starting the engine.

Looks easy to install....Hmmmm.

Check it out:
http://www.masterlube.net/features.asp

 

[Smiggs]

Sounds like a great idea. Especially up here in Canada when we have so start our vehicles in sub-zero temperatures.

 

[3 NAILS 1 CROSS]

summit racing also sells a pre-luber, that gives a nice oil bath before start-up, it claims to double life of engine. but dont know anyone who has actually tried this, i do know that most of an engines wear is upon start-up so it seems to be a pretty good idea.
'it should come factory !'