Darn car is ticking every morning! I'm wondering if its just the extreme cold right now. If not, I hope I blow the engine up so I can get a new one soon! :D

ok, although this makes more sense in here, I meant to put this under the Mark8 forum.

does it go away when motor warms up? what grade oil are you using?also check oil leval if your low, in the cold you will here the knock. I use 5w-30 and have no knocking at start up evan on coldest mornings!!

Cam tensioners, most likely, if it's for a Mark VIII. They'll rattle around for a few and then get quiet again.

Cam tensioners, most likely, if it's for a Mark VIII. They'll rattle around for a few and then get quiet again.

that's what I'm thinking, I was actually trying to stir stuff up in the MarkVIII forum with the title but I screwed up and posted here :rolleyes: Its too damn cold outside to see if it goes away when the car warms up :p I'm going to change to a lighter weight oil when I change it.

If your in a cold area, 5W-20 or you are killing the engine and building up massive oil pressure til it warms. Keep it under 3k until it warms up too.

A Ford TSB was released long ago to switch to 5W-20, but really only needed in cold climates. The "new" 4.6L has very tight specs and Ford found that the originally recommended 5W-30 was not lubricating the engine right. :(

if you look at the recommendations now, all the 4.6L DOHC engines use 5W-20, not 30. But like I said, its a cold climate thing. I the old days you put the right oil in based on climate and season - no joke, right in my 73 Mark IV manual. But today Ford just want to make it "easier" and recommend one for all areas.

So you may want to try switching to the 5W-20 but I too bet its cam tensioners if it goes away, if not, rocker.

The first number is the cold viscosity. So 5W-20 and 5W-30 should be identical in cold weather, at least in theory.

Did multi-weight oils exist in 1973? If not, that'd explain why different weights were recommended according to the temperature.

Like everyone else has said, a knocking sound that lasts for 1-5 seconds or so after startup is normal and harmless.

When its real cold like this - I get strange noises too Dave - they go away after a few seconds though.. Sounds completely normal to me.

power steering pumps sing, alternator's growl, and the cam tensioners are pressured by the oil up in the heads and loose psi, and leak down in cold weather

should have bought my car...no noises at all... :D

Yup, there was multi-weight oil way back then. Your right in theory 5W (since W means winter) which means all 5W is five weight when cold. The problem is that 5W becomes 30W faster (since its "thicker") than 5W reaches 20 weight. So in basic essence, 5W-20 is thinner even when getting up to temp than 5W-30. Make sense?

Make sense?

Ummm, no.

Hehe Lets say the car reaches operating temp in 10 minutes. With 5W-20 it will have also reached temp and is not 20 weight. But 5W-30 will take five more minutes to reach its 30 weight. So even thought the engine has reached operating temp, the oil is still "thick" and still warming up.

No that is matters since 30 weight is NOT recommended for the 4.6 DOHC anyway, just 20 weight, hence 5W-20, 10W-20 or straight 20 is recommend for proper lubrication. Even my new 4.6L has "5W-20" painted on the oil cap.

should have bought my car...no noises at all... :D

that's cause you live in Cali where its warm and my car has a lot more miles than yours!:rolleyes: Besides, I was just going to turn yours around for some extra cash and some parts :p

When its real cold like this - I get strange noises too Dave - they go away after a few seconds though.. Sounds completely normal to me.

I know, I was actually trying to start trouble with the title but posted it in the wrong forum! :shifty:

Yeah don't sweat it Dave mine makes some funny noises for the first 5 seconds also during this cold snap-I run the motorcraft 5w-30 year round and change it when the car says 45% oil life remaining.:)

Hehe Lets say the car reaches operating temp in 10 minutes. With 5W-20 it will have also reached temp and is not 20 weight. But 5W-30 will take five more minutes to reach its 30 weight. So even thought the engine has reached operating temp, the oil is still "thick" and still warming up.

All multiweight oils are based on the same temperatures (0 & 100 degrees Celsius). Both the 5W20 and 5W30 oils would warm up and hit their hot viscosity ratings at the exact same time.

From what I understand, the switch to 5W20 was purely to improve gas mileage by 1 or 2 tenths. The change happened at the peak of the SUV craze, when Ford needed all the help they could get to meet minimum corporate average fuel economy requirements.

So the people who designed our engines, who were obviously car enthusiasts and damn good engineers, recommended 5W30. The goofballs who practically bankrupted Ford by selling outdated SUVs and rebadged FWD Mazdas suggest 5W20 for fuel economy. Needless to say, I run 5W30. :)

that's cause you live in Cali where its warm and my car has a lot more miles than yours!:rolleyes: Besides, I was just going to turn yours around for some extra cash and some parts :p


No big deal, that is actually what I did with the car... I bought it at an auction for cheap. Only problem is the tranny went out so I didn't make anything when I turned it around. ;)