About 8 months ago I bought an 89 bronco 351w 130k miles. The owner told me he'd always used castrol syntec in the truck, but I didn't find out what weight (owner's manual says 10w-30). It looks to me like he was one of those guys who since he had synthetic never changed the oil. As there was crusty stuff all over the dipstick (can't look through the oil fill hole on this engine). Any way he changed it before I bought it and its been doing fine. After 3k I changed it and put in QS 10w-40 with a PureOne since that's what I run in my other truck. Now after the truck sits for more than a couple hours I get at least 30sec of ticking when I start the engine and the oil pressure gauge rarely makes it up to the 'n' in normal. What do you all think? Do I have a bad pureone? Or could have it got stopped up with stuff in less than 1k miles? What should I do..
Engine tick at startup
- Thread starter nwjones18
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The ticking could be from dirt in the lifters. First things first. The OP gauge is nothing more than a glorified idiot light. The best way to tell what the oil pressure is would be to get a mechanical oil pressure gauge. Hook it up and get actual readings: cold, then hot at lets say 2000 rpm, then hot at idle and post them.
As a side note dirt/sludge can cause those Ford OP gauges to give false readings as well.
Since the engine is probably dirty, "crusty stuff all over the dipstick". I'd drain a qt of the oil and add a qt of MMO and run a 3000 mile OCI to clean it up. The easiest way to get a qt of oil out would be to remove the filter empty it, and put it back on. Then start the engine up shut it down and check the oil. Remove the filter again if needed. Or if you get close to a qt out being a tiny bit over the full mark won't hurt anything.
As a side note dirt/sludge can cause those Ford OP gauges to give false readings as well.
Since the engine is probably dirty, "crusty stuff all over the dipstick". I'd drain a qt of the oil and add a qt of MMO and run a 3000 mile OCI to clean it up. The easiest way to get a qt of oil out would be to remove the filter empty it, and put it back on. Then start the engine up shut it down and check the oil. Remove the filter again if needed. Or if you get close to a qt out being a tiny bit over the full mark won't hurt anything.
OP I would change the filter and see what happens its the cheapest course of action.If nothing improves the pick up screen may be getting plugged,this will require a pan drop to check.
Try some kreen down it,the stuff works wonders in this kind of situation.
IIRC in 89 the gauges were pre on/off type and indicated actual pressure.
http://www.kanolabs.com/
Try some kreen down it,the stuff works wonders in this kind of situation.
IIRC in 89 the gauges were pre on/off type and indicated actual pressure.
http://www.kanolabs.com/
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I agree with Demarpaint's suggestion. I would try that same thing.
This is the perfect situation to use the Amsoil Engine Cleaner. It just takes 10 minutes and then you dump it with the old oil and change the filter. Replace the oil and filter and go from there. It will get the majority of the [censored] out of the engine without any harm.
Depending on how things look after that, you may want to add one quart of MMO and run it for 500 miles or so and then dump that as well.
Depending on how things look after that, you may want to add one quart of MMO and run it for 500 miles or so and then dump that as well.
I had the same issue. After changing the oil in one of my vehicles with a gasoline engine, it started to sound like a diesel engine. I had been using Mobil-1 0W30 for the 5K oil changes for easily the last 20K or 25K miles. Adding 8 oz of MMO almost immediately got rid of the diesel-like clattering noise. The noise never returned. Now the vehicle has been driven about 500 miles since then and I'm debating whether to change the oil again prematurely or not; I'm leaning toward keeping the 5 quarts of M1 0W30 plus 8 oz of MMO in until the next oil change is due in approximately 4.5K miles.
Originally Posted By: David S.
I had the same issue. After changing the oil in one of my vehicles with a gasoline engine, it started to sound like a diesel engine. I had been using Mobil-1 0W30 for the 5K oil changes for easily the last 20K or 25K miles. Adding 8 oz of MMO almost immediately got rid of the diesel-like clattering noise. The noise never returned. Now the vehicle has been driven about 500 miles since then and I'm debating whether to change the oil again prematurely or not; I'm leaning toward keeping the 5 quarts of M1 0W30 plus 8 oz of MMO in until the next oil change is due in approximately 4.5K miles.
8 ounces of MMO is 1/4 the recommended dose, and it worked for you! Awesome! I'd leave it in for the remaining 4,500 miles of your OCI, no point in wasting good oil. I would suggest adding another 8 ounces of MMO 4,000 miles from now and run it the last 500 miles of the OCI. JMO
I had the same issue. After changing the oil in one of my vehicles with a gasoline engine, it started to sound like a diesel engine. I had been using Mobil-1 0W30 for the 5K oil changes for easily the last 20K or 25K miles. Adding 8 oz of MMO almost immediately got rid of the diesel-like clattering noise. The noise never returned. Now the vehicle has been driven about 500 miles since then and I'm debating whether to change the oil again prematurely or not; I'm leaning toward keeping the 5 quarts of M1 0W30 plus 8 oz of MMO in until the next oil change is due in approximately 4.5K miles.
8 ounces of MMO is 1/4 the recommended dose, and it worked for you! Awesome! I'd leave it in for the remaining 4,500 miles of your OCI, no point in wasting good oil. I would suggest adding another 8 ounces of MMO 4,000 miles from now and run it the last 500 miles of the OCI. JMO
If it goes away when warm/hot, the initial oil is too thick.
Try a 5-30 or 5-40.
An oil filter can indeed be faulty with it's anti drainback valving. Some engines are picky.
Then, there is the 'low' oil pressure reading. Probably the sending unit. BTW, the whole OP gauge system is not NASA certified , even when perfect!
You can do tests and pressure readings, or simply throw a little money at it and get a new sending unit. It likely will fix it, but if it does not, you now have good information to continue.
Try a 5-30 or 5-40.
An oil filter can indeed be faulty with it's anti drainback valving. Some engines are picky.
Then, there is the 'low' oil pressure reading. Probably the sending unit. BTW, the whole OP gauge system is not NASA certified , even when perfect!
You can do tests and pressure readings, or simply throw a little money at it and get a new sending unit. It likely will fix it, but if it does not, you now have good information to continue.
I forgot to mention that when I had this issue the first thing I did to try fixing it was changing the new oil filter with another new oil filter, but it didn't work. I saved the new oil filter that I swapped out and will use it at the next oil change. The noise happened regardless of the engine temperature.
Also my plan was to add 8 oz of MMO and then see if it helped. If not then I was going to add another 8 oz of MMO, see if that helped, and if not then repeat until the fourth try when there would be 32 oz of MMO in there. And if that didn't work then I try other things such as posting at BITOG or (gasp) going in to the dealer with a few credit cards. Luckily the first shot of 8 oz of MMO did the trick.
After I added the 8 oz of MMO I started the engine, turned the radio off, and opened the windows. The noise was there. I began driving. The noise was still there. After driving maybe 100 feet the ticking/diesel-like noise totally stopped. My wife was in the car and witnessed this too. We just looked at each other and were afraid to say anything, expecting to jinx ourselves by saying "Well the noise is gone" to have it return a few seconds later. But it didn't. I swear I am not making any of this up.
For whatever it is worth, this happened in my 2004 Saturn VUE with the Ecotec engine. I wrote about it at another forum:
Changed 4-cylinder engine oil, now have ticking noise
Also my plan was to add 8 oz of MMO and then see if it helped. If not then I was going to add another 8 oz of MMO, see if that helped, and if not then repeat until the fourth try when there would be 32 oz of MMO in there. And if that didn't work then I try other things such as posting at BITOG or (gasp) going in to the dealer with a few credit cards. Luckily the first shot of 8 oz of MMO did the trick.
After I added the 8 oz of MMO I started the engine, turned the radio off, and opened the windows. The noise was there. I began driving. The noise was still there. After driving maybe 100 feet the ticking/diesel-like noise totally stopped. My wife was in the car and witnessed this too. We just looked at each other and were afraid to say anything, expecting to jinx ourselves by saying "Well the noise is gone" to have it return a few seconds later. But it didn't. I swear I am not making any of this up.
For whatever it is worth, this happened in my 2004 Saturn VUE with the Ecotec engine. I wrote about it at another forum:
Changed 4-cylinder engine oil, now have ticking noise
My noise is just when I first start the engine after its been sitting. And it is the same ticking you here after you change the oil and start the engine for the first time. In other words it is the 'dry engine' sound. I have changed the oil pressure sending unit and that didn't affect the reading. I think I have a combo of oil that is to thick and a faulty anti-drain back valve. For some reason I just have a hard time accepting that 10w40 is too thick for this old engine though.
Take an actual OP reading with a gauge if you replaced the sending unit, and post the actual readings [cold, hot @2,000 rpm, and hot idle]. A shop manual will tell you the acceptable readings, and specific rpms to take them at. That info will help in solving your problem.
If the pump is not operating properly that could be your problem. You can try a different brand of filter but that isn't going to help if the oil pump or bearings are bad. You also mentioned changing filters w/o improvement which makes me doubt the filter is to blame.
If the lifters are ticking because of dirt MMO will resolve the issue. If the oil pump is out to lunch, or the cam or lifters are bad nothing in a can is going to help.
If the pump is not operating properly that could be your problem. You can try a different brand of filter but that isn't going to help if the oil pump or bearings are bad. You also mentioned changing filters w/o improvement which makes me doubt the filter is to blame.
If the lifters are ticking because of dirt MMO will resolve the issue. If the oil pump is out to lunch, or the cam or lifters are bad nothing in a can is going to help.
Ticking when cold is not the same as ticking when hot.
Way different reasons.
Way different reasons.
Well I added a quart of MMO today. I've never used it in the oil before, but since it has 10w-40 in it I didn't figure it would hurt to give it a shot. I'll post if it changes anything.
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I know I'm digging this one back up, but I have an update. I ran the oil with a quart of MMO for about 500 miles and the ticking at start up remained the same (just as loud as ever), so i changed the oil and used Motorcraft 10w-30 and a FL1A. The ticking kept up just the same, so I took the truck to my favorite mechanic. He said he added transmission fluid to the oil. Since then it has been nice and quiet so I assumed the problem was solved. I ran the oil with trans fluid in it for 1k and changed it today with 10w-30 and a FL1A as before. The ticking came back immediately. I'm at a loss. The truck was quiet as a mouse at start up with the oil + trans fluid and now is instantly as loud as it was before. Any ideas or recommendations?
I wish you did not report success with adding trans fluid to the engine oil.
There is no reason for it to help, and lots of reasons for it to hurt.
Now people may be encouraged to try it, to the detriment of their engines.
So what happened? Possibly the thinning helped flow .
There is no reason for it to help, and lots of reasons for it to hurt.
Now people may be encouraged to try it, to the detriment of their engines.
So what happened? Possibly the thinning helped flow .
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