BBQ Tick After Oil Change...

[ultrahax]

Dealership was blaming tick on the valve in my AWE switchpath exhaust, so I put an FRPP Touring catback on there. Still ticks, heh. Going back to the dealership as soon as schedule allows.

Sponsored

 

[kluke15]

ive been thru about every page regarding the bbq tick. i am by no means a mechanic but i was on another thread reading about spark plugs and it seems common for factory plugs to have gaps ranging all over the place. i dont remember reading if anyone anywhere checked and regapped or replaced spark plugs. i have no idea if that would make a difference but im going to check mine out and see if mine are gapped correctly but just throwing it out there if anyone wants to check that and report back if it makes any difference.

 

[GT Pony]

ive been thru about every page regarding the bbq tick. i am by no means a mechanic but i was on another thread reading about spark plugs and it seems common for factory plugs to have gaps ranging all over the place. i dont remember reading if anyone anywhere checked and regapped or replaced spark plugs. i have no idea if that would make a difference but im going to check mine out and see if mine are gapped correctly but just throwing it out there if anyone wants to check that and report back if it makes any difference.

Can't hurt to check the plugs. Also look for color differences between them. Please post up what you find.

 

[GregO]

ive been thru about every page regarding the bbq tick. i am by no means a mechanic but i was on another thread reading about spark plugs and it seems common for factory plugs to have gaps ranging all over the place. i dont remember reading if anyone anywhere checked and regapped or replaced spark plugs. i have no idea if that would make a difference but im going to check mine out and see if mine are gapped correctly but just throwing it out there if anyone wants to check that and report back if it makes any difference.

Set mine @ .036/.038 and honestly the idle is much smoother, very crisp response. Yeah I know the factory setting, Coils take a beating from baking under the covers and wide plug gaps. Tightening up the factory gap lessens the load on the coils and what I mentioned above.
Tic related........ not sure, I run Castrol Pro 0W-20 and she’s as quiet as a Movado Watch.

 

[GT Pony]

Set mine @ .036/.038 and honestly the idle is much smoother, very crisp response. Yeah I know the factory setting, Coils take a beating from baking under the covers and wide plug gaps.

What's the factory spec for the spark plug gap?

 

[GregO]

What's the factory spec for the spark plug gap?

PM’ed you.

 

[GT Pony]

Got it. thanks. I noticed the spark plug gap is also listed in the Owner's Manual. Didn't think it was, but just looked and it's there.

 

[kluke15]

so i got around to checking all the plugs they were indeed a little wide but not too crazy. regapped them a little tighter, color all looked even and good. 15K miles and they were a tiny bit grey. car runs a little bit quieter and smoother than before, im currently running 5w-20 with ceratec. i have only heard the tick probably once since adding the ceratec so no change in the tick department for me for now.

 

[MasterCylinder]

So I just wanna bring this up.

I took my '17 GT to the dealership in back at the beginning of October. I am running 5w20 full synthetic Valvoline. Ticking was strongly present and easy to replicate. Even replicated it for the service adviser when dropping it off.

A month later, after fixing a leaky windshield, they called back saying they could not replicate it. They did replace a driveshaft u-joint though. I get the car back and test drive it twice. I could not replicate it before or after driving it. Took it back to the master tech and could not replicate it at the time but did find a failed radiator line. Leave it and come back after being fixed. Still could not replicate it. I was confused by this so I took it with me. Fast forward to last week when I changed the oil, again to 5w-20 full synthetic with motorcraft FL500s filter, and magically the tick is back.

Based on this happening more than once (2 times so far) that I have taken my car into this same dealership I am starting to believe they are adding ceratec or some sort of oil thickener to my oil while the car is there without noting it. Possibly so they don't have to fix this issue. Going to be taking it back a third time next week.

 

[accel]

So I just wanna bring this up.

I took my '17 GT to the dealership in back at the beginning of October. I am running 5w20 full synthetic Valvoline. Ticking was strongly present and easy to replicate. Even replicated it for the service adviser when dropping it off.

A month later, after fixing a leaky windshield, they called back saying they could not replicate it. They did replace a driveshaft u-joint though. I get the car back and test drive it twice. I could not replicate it before or after driving it. Took it back to the master tech and could not replicate it at the time but did find a failed radiator line. Leave it and come back after being fixed. Still could not replicate it. I was confused by this so I took it with me. Fast forward to last week when I changed the oil, again to 5w-20 full synthetic with motorcraft FL500s filter, and magically the tick is back.

Based on this happening more than once (2 times so far) that I have taken my car into this same dealership I am starting to believe they are adding ceratec or some sort of oil thickener to my oil while the car is there without noting it. Possibly so they don't have to fix this issue. Going to be taking it back a third time next week.

I doubt they use ceratec. But it might indeed be some other additive.

 

[TheLion]

I'm going to try switching from MC 5w20 to PUP 5w30 next oil change based on the responses from those who have switched. I'll first try it without adding the Ceratec to see if the tick returns - Will be interesting to see.

Follow up on my Ceratec journey - Been in the car since Aug 31st, now approaching 2 months in the sump and about 4500km - the car is still quiet as can be. Ticking has not returned. It has also started getting very cold here in the mornings - near freezing some days - we've also had a few abnormally warm days too... Still quiet.

I ran PUP 5W-20 and noticed a bit more top end noise than with MC Semi-Syn. MC Semi-Syn has a nearly identical viscosity at 100C and supposedly resists shearing down pretty well. 8.7 CSt (MC) vs. 8.8 CSt (PUP). However MC Full Syn is very thin...8.3 CSt @ 100C. Explains who so many get a much more pronounced ticking and more top end noise (even ecoboost owners noticed more "clank" with MC Full Syn).

RedLine performed very poorly in AMSOIL's "comparison tests" at deposits, yet it has the best NOACK of all the oils tested. Interestingly it performed very well in actual UOA's listed by GT Pony, especially at shear resistance. I have a hard time believing an Ester base oil is going to form a lot of deposits nor would they still be in business if their street car formulas were clogging up passage ways. While AMSOIL performs well, I think they over hype their products. Interestingly enough one of the "tickers" on this forum ran AMSOIL for 40k miles at 5k change intervals then suddenly developed a severe ticking...I think he ended up with a new short block.

Could it have been a Ford defect? Maybe. Could he have modded his car and covered up a failure? Maybe. Could AMSOIL not have performed as well as they claimed? Maybe. But if we go by the ASTM tests for viscosity published by the actual mfg's, RedLine's 5W-20 performs about as good as most 5W-30's and certainly will help quiet top end noise without actually going to a 5W-30. HTHS @ 150C is 3.0 which is darn good for a 20 weight. UOA's on two different S197's showed either 0 shearing or a mild thickening over about 5k miles based on the Blackstone results in GT Pony's table. So for tickers, RedLine might be a good oil to try. I'm going to give it a try in this next change in my own car and see how it goes.

Interestingly enough one of the OP's on my list of 51 tickers said they walked to a technical rep from Driven, who also makes an Ester based 5W-20 that is very similar to RedLine's (but they do not publish any specs on it for some reason so I"m not sure how the two compare). The Driven rep suggested many of these ticking sounds or knocking sounds are more a result of the oil's formula and base stock rather than just plain viscosity.

I know RedLine users often report substantially less mechanical noise by using their oil. Perhaps it's because Ester base oils are rather tenacious and tend to adhere well to metal surfaces. Enhance that with a porous DLC coating like TriboTEX or CeraTec / Archoil and you have a nice thick film with good adhesion that should provide some sound dampening and more optimal working pressures even at a low RPM idle where pressure is quite low.

My only reservation is AMSOIL's supposed "independent" tests where the RedLine performed very poorly in the deposits and was just a hair above the limit. I have a hard time believing all of the stellar reviews, even of long time customers with hundreds of thousands of miles on some cars, that it has issues with severe deposits. UOA's GT Pony posted certainly did not seem to indicate those types of issues either. So not sure how AMSOIL's "independent" test facility managed that. Thus far it is my only reservation about using their oil.

 

[kluke15]

well my plugs were a little uneven across the board but nothing too terrible. what i did notice tho the other day is i let my car idle a bit longer than normal on a really cold morning and driving thru my parking garage noticed it was ticking a little bit. this is after having ceratec in for about 1000 miles so far. i normally let it warm up a little and then cruise easy until it comes fully up to temp and since the ceratec have not heard the tick until the other day. anyways since that one day i dont let it warm up as long and tick has not come back at all.

 

[88lx50]

I'm about to do my first oil change at 4800 miles. MC semi synthetic 5w30. I fully expect to have my engine sounding like a trash can after I do it.

I am running the same oil and have no tick, although I did throw the ceratec in.

 

[GT Pony]

I'm about to do my first oil change at 4800 miles. MC semi synthetic 5w30. I fully expect to have my engine sounding like a trash can after I do it.

If it hasn't started ticking after 4800 miles then it probably won't start after an oil change.

 

[Condor1970]

If it hasn't started ticking after 4800 miles then it probably won't start after an oil change.

Murphy's Law.

Dude, you just jinxed the poor guy!!! LOL

Sponsored