so.. i got the infamous 4G63 ticking sound a couple of months ago, or at least i think i got it. i let a couple of mechanics check the car and both told me my lifters need changing, so.. i ordered a set of uprated lifters.. installed them, and the tick is still there! i know its not serious since ive been driving the car normally for the past 2 month with no issues at all.. just slight power loss around 3K RPM which could be caused by phantom knock

What could it possibly be?

 

I don't know but there is a "rattle" coming from the valvetrain on my car that subsides above ~3K rpm, but anywhere below this, there is the rattle and the frequency of the rattle directly corresponds to engine rpm, and listening under the hood points directly to something in the valvetrain.

 

How loud is the ticking? Could it be the fuel injectors? Buy a mechanics stethoscope and listen around. It could be a spun bearing (not good).

 

What clutch are you running? I changed out my lifters and still had the ticking/rattling noise. I couldn't for the life of me figure out what it was. One day I was sitting in traffic and noticed everytime I pushed in my clutch pedal, the noise went away. I'm running the act street disc with only about 4000 miles on it.

 

might be bad gas too

 

my engine has ticked from day one...
is it normal?

 

Alot of the "ticking" you guys are hearing from the engine bay is most likely the injectors opening and closing. They are pretty noisy on our cars.

 

I heard boost solenoid does that

 

its not the injectors, the ticking started 2 months ago!

 

cant be.. a spun bearing wont last 2 months of driving!

 

thats exactly how id describe my ticking as well, the ticks dont change.. its just the frequency correspondes directly to my RPM.

now if its something in the valvetrain, what could it be?? i changed all my lifters myself and took the rocker arms out and installed them once again, so.. take those out of the equation and im left with cams, valves, springs and retainers.. so, which one would "tick"??

 

My car makes a type of rattle noise as well... someone had suggested to me that it was a pulley... or a similar part that often went bad on the '03's......

I havent looked into it any further yet...... it seems to do it most ( or i can hear it the most ) when i am in neutral ..at a light or parked ......

 

As sugested, get a scope and try to narrow it down to a specific area. The Timing Belt area will make noises as well, Tensioner, Idler or Belt it self.
The only noise I get around the Valve Train, are typical Lifter and Injectors, which are normal. You should hear Injectors on a Ford.

 

hit it with a sledgehammer. should take care of your problem.

 

I am on 2 evo and both of them had ticking from day one