- Joined
- Aug 4, 2026
- Messages
- 2
- Points
- 1
- City
- Calgary
- State - Country
- AB - CAN
- Vehicle Year
- 2005
- Vehicle
- Ford Ranger
- Drive
- 2WD
- Engine
- 3.0L
- Transmission
- Automatic
Got a tick, listening with rubber hose it's definitely around spark plug #3 recess. 2005 Ranger 3.0L V6 RWD, about 309,000kms. Curious if anyone had a similar case or diagnostic suggestions/resources before I pull the valve covers.
Injectors all sound okay, I know two of them have hairline cracks in their plastic bodies - believe they're on cylinder 1 and 2, not sure tho - they were under the upper air intake (bank 2) and I moved them to bank 1 when doing the head job to simplify access if they became an issue; injector delivery didn't come in time and the old timer who let me use his shop suggested it wasn't that major a concern. I'm not hearing anything particularly evident at the top of the passenger valve cover around cylinder #3. Tick is very definitely most audible in the spark plug #3 recess. Swapped spark plug #3, replaced spark plug wires (they looked worse for wear) and even got a new ignition coil pack. The tick showed up hour 2 of a 12 hour drive moving from Calgary to Vancouver hauling a 4'x8' trailer; didn't notice any loss of power, and finished the move with no problems. Truck is mostly sitting, while I try and get this sorted. Did get a P0430 (suggesting bank 2 cat is toast, or new O2 sensors are faulty) and a P0340 (CMP circuit malfunction) right before I picked up the U Haul trailer - reset them and a few days later only the P0430 came back. Camshaft syncro was just starting to whine, gears looked fine, replaced it as I had the part handy (had it out a few months ago, definitely didn't make this noise then). Tick seems to go away when I unplug the coil pack (RonD wrote somewhere if you cut power and the sound continues it's mechanical, eliminating the ignition system), but it also seems to reduce in intensity as the vehicle builds pressure / warms up. Can't hear it in the cab when idling, but can above 2,000rpm. My first gut reaction was a lifter tick, making me want to pull the valve covers, until I hear it only around the spark plug 3 well. My dad's old Crown Vic ran for ever with what I could swear was this exact noise.
Wondering if I should swap the old O2 sensors back in and do a test drive watching the downstream O2 sensors and see if the levels become less erratic. I don't see how this could be related, bank 2 is for cylinder 4,5,6.. but that's a whole lot easier than dropping coolant and pulling the valve covers / rockers / lifters and should be done anyway.
I expect I'll pull it into the garage on a Friday night in a couple weekends when the girlfriends out of town, pulling the fan to run it with minimal noise Saturday morning for a minute or so and see if I can hear something more diagnostically useful, before getting into pulling the valve covers to check if a rocker seems off and inspecting the lifters if I can spin the valves and the rockers seem properly preloaded.
Recent work:
May - head job - exhaust valves were recessed, had a shop address that and reinstalled heads, ran better than ever about 5,000km since
August - compression test - all 152.5-165, wanted to decide whether to invest in body work / keep the truck. The next day she died on me suddenly. Turned out to be a MAF sensor, looked like rubber material (gasket material from air filter?) Initial diag had me thinking timing, pulled the timing cover, damaged the oil pan gasket.
Decided I wanted to keep the think, did rocker panels, replaced O2 sensors, and fixed the leaking oil pan gasket with probably too much RTV.
Drove 3,300km - no qualms except lack of AC (on the list).
What has me stymied is why the tick is so much louder in the spark plug #3 recess if it isn't spark/ignition related. The exhaust manifold bolts are recently replaced, manifold seemed solid. Before the head job the bolt on that edge (nearest spark #3 recess) of the manifold had already broken - seems like a common issue when I was looking up head job resources. I've inspected it running at night (under street lights) and don't see any arcing.
What has me worried, is the excessive use of RTV on the oil pan gasket tear, instead of properly replacing the oil pan gasket (read you needed to raise the engine), and whether it made it into the small hydraulic lifter passages. It was Permatex's The Right Stuff, which cures in an hour, think it had about 6 hours cure before a 30 minute test drive and sitting for 24hrs+. The Ranger serves as my girlfriends daily driver, so I want to ensure it's reliable and will last us as it's kitted out to camp with. Will work on cleaning up rust and undercoating it in the coming months when hiding from the winter rains once I get this sorted.
Injectors all sound okay, I know two of them have hairline cracks in their plastic bodies - believe they're on cylinder 1 and 2, not sure tho - they were under the upper air intake (bank 2) and I moved them to bank 1 when doing the head job to simplify access if they became an issue; injector delivery didn't come in time and the old timer who let me use his shop suggested it wasn't that major a concern. I'm not hearing anything particularly evident at the top of the passenger valve cover around cylinder #3. Tick is very definitely most audible in the spark plug #3 recess. Swapped spark plug #3, replaced spark plug wires (they looked worse for wear) and even got a new ignition coil pack. The tick showed up hour 2 of a 12 hour drive moving from Calgary to Vancouver hauling a 4'x8' trailer; didn't notice any loss of power, and finished the move with no problems. Truck is mostly sitting, while I try and get this sorted. Did get a P0430 (suggesting bank 2 cat is toast, or new O2 sensors are faulty) and a P0340 (CMP circuit malfunction) right before I picked up the U Haul trailer - reset them and a few days later only the P0430 came back. Camshaft syncro was just starting to whine, gears looked fine, replaced it as I had the part handy (had it out a few months ago, definitely didn't make this noise then). Tick seems to go away when I unplug the coil pack (RonD wrote somewhere if you cut power and the sound continues it's mechanical, eliminating the ignition system), but it also seems to reduce in intensity as the vehicle builds pressure / warms up. Can't hear it in the cab when idling, but can above 2,000rpm. My first gut reaction was a lifter tick, making me want to pull the valve covers, until I hear it only around the spark plug 3 well. My dad's old Crown Vic ran for ever with what I could swear was this exact noise.
Wondering if I should swap the old O2 sensors back in and do a test drive watching the downstream O2 sensors and see if the levels become less erratic. I don't see how this could be related, bank 2 is for cylinder 4,5,6.. but that's a whole lot easier than dropping coolant and pulling the valve covers / rockers / lifters and should be done anyway.
I expect I'll pull it into the garage on a Friday night in a couple weekends when the girlfriends out of town, pulling the fan to run it with minimal noise Saturday morning for a minute or so and see if I can hear something more diagnostically useful, before getting into pulling the valve covers to check if a rocker seems off and inspecting the lifters if I can spin the valves and the rockers seem properly preloaded.
Recent work:
May - head job - exhaust valves were recessed, had a shop address that and reinstalled heads, ran better than ever about 5,000km since
August - compression test - all 152.5-165, wanted to decide whether to invest in body work / keep the truck. The next day she died on me suddenly. Turned out to be a MAF sensor, looked like rubber material (gasket material from air filter?) Initial diag had me thinking timing, pulled the timing cover, damaged the oil pan gasket.
Decided I wanted to keep the think, did rocker panels, replaced O2 sensors, and fixed the leaking oil pan gasket with probably too much RTV.
Drove 3,300km - no qualms except lack of AC (on the list).
What has me stymied is why the tick is so much louder in the spark plug #3 recess if it isn't spark/ignition related. The exhaust manifold bolts are recently replaced, manifold seemed solid. Before the head job the bolt on that edge (nearest spark #3 recess) of the manifold had already broken - seems like a common issue when I was looking up head job resources. I've inspected it running at night (under street lights) and don't see any arcing.
What has me worried, is the excessive use of RTV on the oil pan gasket tear, instead of properly replacing the oil pan gasket (read you needed to raise the engine), and whether it made it into the small hydraulic lifter passages. It was Permatex's The Right Stuff, which cures in an hour, think it had about 6 hours cure before a 30 minute test drive and sitting for 24hrs+. The Ranger serves as my girlfriends daily driver, so I want to ensure it's reliable and will last us as it's kitted out to camp with. Will work on cleaning up rust and undercoating it in the coming months when hiding from the winter rains once I get this sorted.
