Engine rattle/noise at start up

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smurfslayer

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I forgot to even mention the ratchet system. ****

The common issue on these is that they do tension correctly after start up but that ratchet system simply doesn’t adjust. There’s a way to compel a ratchet advance with the engine not running if the ratchet is woking and it “needs” to adjust. This is not foolproof and if the ratchet sticks or just stops working, you only have proper cam chain tension once full oil pressure reaches the tensioner.

I lost a tensioner on my ’97 Cobra; it just freaking broke, was basically flopping around, but hadn’t broken off. The car ran like cr@p for about the 1st 2000 rpms, then was smooth as silk and seemingly full power and it took my Ford Master Tech literally months to diagnose. The failed part was laying in front of him for weeks and he couldn’t determine the passenger side tensioner wasn’t doing anything. He did eventually get it, and replace it. Very frustrating.
 

03'Darin

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We have one in the shop now. Just did cam phazers and gears. Not sure if it fixed it yet since it's not completely back together yet.

The truck has 52k miles on it.
 

ieatv8s

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I’m having this same problem. My truck is an 18’ that was bought in August of 17’. I believe it was one of the first 18’s around where we live. It’s completely stock and used as a daily driver.

I started hearing the rattle at on cold startups when it had 16k miles. The rattle on mine happens after the truck had been sitting for more than 6 hours. When I took it into the dealership for the 20k service they were able to hear the rattle and diagnosed it after having it for 3 days. They are saying timing chain and phasers. At this point they’ve ordered the parts and I’m waiting to get it back. Luckily they did give me a rental car (Ford Edge).

Is anyone else considering getting rid of their truck over this? I can’t imagine how much this would cost to fix if it was out of warranty. I love the truck, but don’t want to be stuck paying for the repair myself next time!
 

TigerRaptor

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I’m having this same problem. My truck is an 18’ that was bought in August of 17’. I believe it was one of the first 18’s around where we live. It’s completely stock and used as a daily driver.

I started hearing the rattle at on cold startups when it had 16k miles. The rattle on mine happens after the truck had been sitting for more than 6 hours. When I took it into the dealership for the 20k service they were able to hear the rattle and diagnosed it after having it for 3 days. They are saying timing chain and phasers. At this point they’ve ordered the parts and I’m waiting to get it back. Luckily they did give me a rental car (Ford Edge).

Is anyone else considering getting rid of their truck over this? I can’t imagine how much this would cost to fix if it was out of warranty. I love the truck, but don’t want to be stuck paying for the repair myself next time!

Same build week as yours. I never could get the dealership to diagnose my rattle. Sounds just like OptPrime's. Mysteriously it has gotten much better after my oil change. It is now faint or non existant on startup. I am far from convinced that Ford knows how to fix this as there are reports of the rattle going away and coming back after the parts were changed. I bought the extended warranty for piece of mind.

OptPrime also pointed out that the part numbers changed on the Engine after February of 2018. He was doing some research on this and has not posted his findings. This might explain why the parts are on backorder. I am waiting for an official TSB from Ford to address this or the check engine light before I do anything.

Buy the warranty and keep your truck.
 

srt42b

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I had the startup rattle. I thought it was wastegates at first. Started having odd shifting behavior and finally turned into a CEL for misfires and then timing that would come and go. Ford now has a TSB to replace the timing components (phasers, chain, tensioner, etc).

Got mine back after a month due to backorder parts and sound is gone along with slightly rough cold idle and shifting problems. Mine had a stretched chain according to the tech .
 

smurfslayer

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All chains stretch when they’re new, it’s kind of to be expected. It’s good that they have a TSB, do you have any info on it; TSB # or other info?
 

OPT PRIME

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I just got my 18 back after about 23 days in the shop for timing belt tensioner failure. Good stuff.

Did the reference a TSB in the paperwork? Dealerships seem to be a lot more cooperative when you roll in with your stuff together, a TSB# would be huge.


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DrippinRaptor

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Did the reference a TSB in the paperwork? Dealerships seem to be a lot more cooperative when you roll in with your stuff together, a TSB# would be huge.


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I'll check tonight, but I don't recall them saying there was a TSB, and definitely no recall.
 
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