Please Help...advice needed

[SolidSnake84]

I have a 2006 Ranger X-cab 4X4, that has the 4.0SOHC engine. I've only had the truck since July 17th. I gave it its first oil change two days ago, and put in what the owners manual reccommended - 5W30 Motorcraft premium synthetic. The truck has 61,000 miles.

Upon a few moments after startup, i noticed a slight, but very audible ticking/tapping sound from the lower part of the motor. upon laying on the ground, it seems to be coming from the oil pan. It doesn't have the shrill metallic sound of a rod bearing, but it's not quite like the ticking from lifters. And weirder yet, the sound will dissappear after the engine gets completley warm.

I've had multiple rangers, and done all the maintenance on each of them myself. never had anything this baffling.

My question to you all is this; do you think that the previous owner ran a thicker oil? would that help switching to 10W30? I was just figuring because when everything is hot and expanded, there is no sound at all...just a quiet, smooth running engine.

What about Lucas oil stabilizer?

Any help is needed. I've been a long time lurker here, but never posted until today

 

[rangerrager]

when a motor is cold it is very common to heara ticking sounds,but once it warms up it goes way.thats ok then.a motor is made to heat up and then expand when it gets hot.

 

[Ranger44]

Using a different oil than what the engine is "used" to, often leads to a soft tick.

I always had used the motorcraft 5W-30, then short of money and in a hurry bought the cheap supertech shit from Wal-mart. It ticked especially in the mornings, etc. Changed back to the motorcraft and all is good again.

 

[Ranger5.0]

If your oil pressure is normal then its nothing. I've never heard of an engine being used to a type of oil. Its a bunch of moving parts..not a living being lol.

 

[SolidSnake84]

Thanks guys for everybody who responded. I was about to give up hope.

The sound is not heard at startup, only about 2 mins or so after the clutch fan goes off. The ticking starts and is most audible from the passenger side. Crawling under the truck, the sound seems to be towards the back of the oil pan, closest to the tranny. And then strangely enough, the sound will dissappear completley after a few minutes. After that the truck runs perfectly smooth and quiet, as it should with only 60,000 miles.

My step dad suggested to try 10W30, and the weird thing is, my F150 with the 4.6 completley quieted after switching to it after about 180,000 miles. I used to hear some valve noise before the change, but after it purred like a new one.

I am going to try 10W30 later this week and i'll let everybody know what happens. Thanks again for your answers.