Valve tappet noise can be caused by any of the following:

• excessive valve tappet gap (collapsed)
• incorrectly functioning valve tappet
• air in lubrication system
• excessive valve guide wear
• low oil pressure

 

houtex mentioned possibly loose exhaust bolts and that really has me thinking. it would certainly explain why the noise is intermittent and in no way dependant on driving style. it could be just that its wiggled loose some times and is propped up better other times. i really need to go and look..

 

doesn't hurt to check that either. maybe failed exhaust manifold gasket?

 

in sudden weather changes like how we went from hot to cold in a few days, there will be some condensation inside the motor itself. My GT had the same thing when I did an oil change last week. A blown head gasket would be noticable, loss of coolant, oil in the coolant, running hot. Modular motors have alot of strange noises themselves, one thing I've noticed is that they all develop some sort of tick from their valvetrain later in life.

I live in the Bay Area now, I commute from San Jose to a Ford dealer in the north bay. I can take a look at the Bullitt one day after work or on a weekend if you want.

 

San Jose, huh? You should swing by and hang out sometime. I'd love to see your car.

Where in San Jose do you live? I'm in Willow Glen.

 

That would be awesome man. I'm pretty free tomorrow afternoon if you are. I'd love to meet and hang out. I could meet you (and pete too :P) in SJ if you want

 

I'm in Santa Clara (but if you mention that, people will go "Santa wha???" so I say San Jose). I'll definitely bring the GT by sometime

 

Finally another person in the area who likes Mustangs.

Let me know if you two work something out for tomorrow and I'll meet you guys.

 

I'm available late afternoon/early evening, got a lunch/movie thing with a lady friend occupying the earlier part of the day

 

hehe sounds good to me. I'm watching the niners game with my dad in the earlier part of the day anyway. I'll PM you my cell, gimme a call sometime tomorrow so we can work out the details

 

it's valvetrain for sure, to me it sounds like a tappet is going bad.

 

Hey Arin, could be an exhaust leak too. My header bolts get loose every few months. I've been told they should be checked every month, but on aftermarket. I know you have your stock manifolds. Could be a crack in one of those. That's why I got headers...one of my stock ones cracked. It took a long time to build up from an intermittent tick, to a full blown TICK-TICK-TICK. When it first started it would come and go with heat/cold. Just more food for thought. Btw I work in San Carlos now, we should all meet up some time too!

 

hell yeah dude, we should defiitely hang out.

and i had no idea the stock ones could break. The noise has all but disappeared though. its hardly ever present anymore, and when it is it's very quiet..

I think it ma have been the valve tappet not getting enough oil. this last oil change was long overdue. when i got it changed and started driving it harder (thanks in part to those seats) it may have flushed out whatever cloggings there were in the oil passages going to that tappet.

this is all just a theory of course, but maybe i need headers

 

Sigh... Thanks for feeding the fire laser red... -_-




We should have a cruise sometime for the guys around here. I didn't realize there were so many of us.

 

Fremont in the house! Wow Bay Area is a Mustang haven! What do you guys think about BLTSTNG (or BULSTNG). . . . for my new Bullitt California plate?

 

BLTSTNG

 

My 05 GT S197 had a "cold weather" startup tick . . . . . It went away after the motor warmed up (I rarely hear it in the summer time . . . .. . I always thought it was a loose exhaust heat shield . . .. . . When it was under warranty, I had 3 different dealers look at it (Sunnyvale Ford, Fremont Ford, and a Michigan dealer) . . .. . . nobody could figure it out???? Now I am out of warranty, I just live with it . . . .. . it has been like that since I bought it new in 05. I haven't heard any ticks on my 01 Bullitt . . . . . . what do you guys think of "BULLIT U" for a plate . . . .. . . I am ordering this morning at the DMV!