[citruspilot]

My 2005 Mustang GT has had an intermittent valve tapping noise since new. Just before the 3,000 mile oil change I took it to the dealer and asked if they had heard of this problem. They said no. But that I should change the oil drive it awhile and see if the noise stopped. I guess their idea was that a lifter had a piece of trash in it. I changed the oil as suggested and the noise stopped for a short time.

Well it has been doing it more often now and the car has just over 7,000 miles. I took it back yesterday to the dealer and they actually heard the valve noise this time. I comes and goes at idle, left bank. The tech that listened told me that they have been replacing the lifters on the side suspected of making the noise. He said to bring it in one day and leave it. They will order the lifters have them overnighted and fix it the next day. The job will take about one day to do.

Has anybody else in here had this problem? It seems that Ford may now realize they have a lifter problem on the three valve heads and are fixing them no questions asked........

Thanks.

Jeff

 

[tw0scoops123]

Ford dealers don't know a lot of things. Mine didn't even know about the gas tank problem which was prevelent to every mustang practically. You're not using premium gas are you? Cuz that can cause engine pinging if your engine isnt tuned for a higher octane.

 

[ford4v429]

personally, I'm a bit of a worry wart, and wouldnt fully trust anyone to tear into it- I'd ask to be there when opened up to take a peek on my own- specifically looking for any shavings near the drainback holes(in case a cam bearing might have spun in the head, or roller lifter might have locked up) looking at the cam lobes(even bumping over to see all the peaks, in case a lifter roller failed and started wearing in), if anything 'bad' might have happened some scoring/discoloration/metal filings ought to show up somewhere inside. If its just a sticky hydraulic adjuster, everything ought to still look minty shiny with only 7k on it.
My worry would be they dont want to fix the same problem twice, and might just throw the easiest parts at it first- say a roller lifter locked and cut into the cam a bit- replacing it might let it run fine for years- but the worn lobe might not ever fully open that valve again. then if it continues to wear under warranty, they can replace the cam next time...
Personally the other thing I'd opt for is if ONE lifter is bad, only replace it. Even rolling parts will 'seat in' and replacing all of them would just restart unnecessary break in wear again on a bunch of parts that are already as good as they will get. I've pulled ticky lifters from old motors and taken them apart to ungunk the little metering parts/pistons inside rather than simply dropping in a new cheap lifter- more work, yes, but a new one wont 'match' the cam and would rather not risk wiping a lobe...true not much risk with roller cam lifters, but still...
anyway, hope they get you fixed up quickly.

 

[2k5GTC]

There is a TSB out for this. :wavey

 

[citruspilot]

Thanks 2K5GTC for the TSB. And for those of you that responded my noise is exactly described in the bulletin. Its an actual valve tap at idle. It comes and goes gets louder and softer only when the engine is at normal temp. When I took it back a week or so ago the tech heard the sound and knew exactly what it was. He said they will install the lifters on the side of the engine that makes the noise. In my case the left bank.

Hope this doesnt turn into a larger problem with other GT owners. I was always afraid to buy a "first year" vehicle. There always seems to be problems that appear after a year or so. Still love the car though! :eyepoppin

Jeff