Guys
I've got a good one for you all that have experienced this issue in your v8's.
I own a 5.4 Ghia sedan and it had 22,000 ks on it when purchased. I did the 30k service to it and about a week after this it started this rattle. I had it to the Herrod performance dealer in Adelaide and had the "DUD" tensioners changed under warranty and again a week after this it rattled again, especially on cold mornings.This is when I went looking and this is what i found.
This problem is with the oil filter, nothing more,nothing less. Yes i agree that the tensioners are a problem with the early units but heaps of guys i have spoken to and had them contact me have said theirs also do this even after the "new" units have been fitted. Once they have changed these filters over to the better units the problem is gone, fullstop.
The filters originally supplied on these engines, and supplied to Ford were an American filter made in the States. It is a Motorcraft FL820S. The "s" part is really important here.
I changed my filter at the 30k service with a Ryco unit. I have used heaps of these on different vehicles without a problem. I also bought a couple of Ford filters from the local dealer and these are Motorcraft AFL 73MC's.
I was so annoyed that this rattle was not going away and that lots of others were seeing this as well i dragged the Ryco unit off the engine and compared them all together.
The original filter has an "orange" anti drain back valve (adbv) in it. the Ryco unit has a "black" nitrile ADBV in it. So to has the AFL 73MC. When i hit the Ryco website it shows the ryco unit as a picture with a silicone unit in it. When I rand Ryco about this and got onto one of their technical guys about this and asked why this had been changed they were stumped that i had found this and confirmed it had indeed been changed. When i rang Ford about the same thing i was also told "this is all we are using". When i checked some of the U.S website they are having similar isues with a Motorcraft filter being made in Mexico and this also has a black rubber in it, surprise surprise.
In shear desperation i drained the old original filter out, fitted it up and noise gone!!!.
Since thiis i have purchased a number of the original U.S fIlters and i'm set. A number of different brands can be bought and as long as they have the SILICONE ORANGE adbv in them they appear to be ok.
I know this all sounds too good to be true but try this before you do anything else. My theory is that the damage is done to the tensioners even after the changes are done due to dry start ups and that as the filter lys on its side it eventually drains enough down to create this issue and by fitting a better quality filter with the right material cures this.
I got my filters from Supa F Spares in Melbourne but im sure others can be souced from other outlets.
So far mine has now done 60k with these filters and not one rattle ever. Proofs in the usage.
I thought i would let as many of the owners of these engines know this tip as it saved me pulling this thing apart, under warranty or not.
Hope it helps and im curious if anyone has done this or not and if it "fixes" some of the more persistant rattlers.
Regards

Very interesting, my Boss rattles roughly every fifth time I start it & its got a Ryco Oil Filter on it, I'm going to try & find one of these Oil Filters hopefully next weekend

Excellent find! I have also had the exact same problem. Cheers

I find your theory interesting except for one thing! I have a 3v manual with 93K on the clock. I change my oil every 5K with castrol 10W30 and have never had any rattle on startup. I have used Motorcraft FL820S ($30) in the begining and then AFL 73MC ($30) when Ford changed the available stock, then I used RYCO ($25) until I found they were made in China and now I use Cooper ($8). I still beleive that RYCO and Cooper come out of the same factory in China and I am not paying for the RYCO name.

Are you sure it is not your oil?

no its not the oil as the previous owner had the vehicle seviced at the same dealership where I had the upgraded tensioners fitted and I have continued to use the same 10w 30 oil for the duration of the vehicle to its last service at 60k and not a sign of this rattle. Just a better filter used and no probs!!

Last edited by jkon on Tue Jun 23, 2009 12:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I can confirm that the AFL, RYCO and Cooper filters that I use all have black rubber in them.

Ford filters or motorcraft are made by purolator.