Cold start engine racket

Hello all,



I have a 2003 Ford E350 van with the 5.4L engine. The van has 58,000 miles with no other problems besides this… On cold starts in the morning (these days ~50F) the engine makes a lot of racket i.e. rattling after start-up and lessening until the engine is warm. I first thought it was in the valve train, but now I’m reading about “piston slap” and maybe that is the problem. I’m good about oil changes and am using 5W20 non-synthetic. Oil pressure comes right up on start, and there appears to be no excess burning of oil either. Should I be concerned about the noise? I’ve checked the TSBs and didn’t find anything there. I have not taken the van to the dealer because I figure I’ll just get the hunched shoulders and “it’s normal”. Thanks, Ken

How about the exhaust system?

In any case you need to take a good look at all the maintenance that might not have been done, like plugs wires etc.

I’m pretty sure it’s not the exhaust or the spark plug wires. Maybe rattling was’nt the right descriptive word to use in this case. The sound is definately coming from inside the motor and rythmic in nature which is why I first thought it was the valve train.