ticking, thumping, knocking?

thatsmokinobs

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ok we are in kinda a bad situation right now. my parents and i were on our way to D.C. to help my sister move back home to PA, and dads 6.4 may have killed it self. about 6 months ago or so, i was driving it and noticed it was ticking lightly from the passenger side valve cover and kind of bucking at idle like it was missing. so dad took it to a garage and they couldnt find anything other than 2 "bad" injectors, but $1300 later, that didnt do a thing for it. then i took it to UNOH's open house and halfway there, the bucking stopped but th ticking got louder. it ran fine, no loss of power, no excessive smoke, nothing other than the ticking. about around christmas, we took it to get a couch and i noticed it was blowing a lot of white smoke, which it never did before or since, i dont know if it was a regen cycle or not but i didnt think it was good. we shut it off and turned it back on and it stopped. until today its ran just the same and as strong as ever. 3 hours away from home, dad noticed a thumping sound from under the hood. we pulled over and its blowing through the intake, like a valve is stuck and there is a lot of white smoke coming from the oil cap. we turned around and drove an hour and as soon as we pulled into a rest stop parking lot, it started knocking. we think it threw a rod. has anyone had this happen or know of someone who it did happen to? is it time for a new engine? or time for a 7.3? neither of us have a clue how to work on these fancy new fangled diesels but i guess we are gonna learn.
 

thatsmokinobs

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mileage is about 120k and its completely stock. i know this is about the time that rockers/dpfs/lifters start acting up i think the root of the problem was the rocker keepers but i have no idea
 

02bigstrokin

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The root of the problem is either the hpfp or the emission system. The k16 pumps are junk and start eating themselves if any water is in the fuel. Then it puts metal into the injectors hanging them open and melting down pistons. Seen it over and over again. they are falling apart at the seams left and right. A 6.0 will cost somebody a lot less money in the long run then a 6.4
 

Powerstroke Man 6.4

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ok we are in kinda a bad situation right now. my parents and i were on our way to D.C. to help my sister move back home to PA, and dads 6.4 may have killed it self. about 6 months ago or so, i was driving it and noticed it was ticking lightly from the passenger side valve cover and kind of bucking at idle like it was missing. so dad took it to a garage and they couldnt find anything other than 2 "bad" injectors, but $1300 later, that didnt do a thing for it. then i took it to UNOH's open house and halfway there, the bucking stopped but th ticking got louder. it ran fine, no loss of power, no excessive smoke, nothing other than the ticking. about around christmas, we took it to get a couch and i noticed it was blowing a lot of white smoke, which it never did before or since, i dont know if it was a regen cycle or not but i didnt think it was good. we shut it off and turned it back on and it stopped. until today its ran just the same and as strong as ever. 3 hours away from home, dad noticed a thumping sound from under the hood. we pulled over and its blowing through the intake, like a valve is stuck and there is a lot of white smoke coming from the oil cap. we turned around and drove an hour and as soon as we pulled into a rest stop parking lot, it started knocking. we think it threw a rod. has anyone had this happen or know of someone who it did happen to? is it time for a new engine? or time for a 7.3? neither of us have a clue how to work on these fancy new fangled diesels but i guess we are gonna learn.

I bet the thumping out the intake was a broken rocker arm then it got worse. I would get the truck scanned for codes ASAP and pull the valve covers to see what's going on and get it fixed. Get that fixed and done I would get it tuned and deleted ASAP DPF regen and EGR really kill 6.4's.
 
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fordpsdtech

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Not saying this is what you have but I got one torn apart right now, customer states started making noise, running rough. Found broken rocker, replaced rocker, valve bridge, and push rod, did not see any damage to top of the lifter, put it all back together, ran great but still ticking, rechecked and found too much valve lash, inspected oil filter and found silver metal, pulled cab and head, found lifter lost its roller bearings and ate the cam. Tore apart further and found all cam bearings gritty and mains are scored along with crank, and front cover and pump are toast. I do not think that you are dealing with a fuel issue, the injectors were probably good too. Hopefully its just a rocker issue for you but I would pull and inspect that filter.
 

thatoneguy

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It's a lifter. It's always the lifters. Ive seen a few times when the rocker arm pads get flattened or comes out and cause the rocker arm to fall off but since it was slight at first and the "tech" replaced two injectors and and anyone with eyes can see a bad rocker I'm willing to bet it's a lifter.
 

thatsmokinobs

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Ok dads buddy came and got us and when we pulled it onto the trailer, it was hammering hard enough that it was shakibg his truck too. All three of us are thinking it threw a rod. Like i said before, im pretty sure that the rockers started it all and im sure the emissions crap didnt help. Hes thinkin a new engine and if he does, im deffinatly gonna talk him into getting at least new rockers and keepers and im gonna try to get rid of the emissions but idk if he will. Short block? Long block? Whole new engine?
 

webb06

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Ok dads buddy came and got us and when we pulled it onto the trailer, it was hammering hard enough that it was shakibg his truck too. All three of us are thinking it threw a rod. Like i said before, im pretty sure that the rockers started it all and im sure the emissions crap didnt help. Hes thinkin a new engine and if he does, im deffinatly gonna talk him into getting at least new rockers and keepers and im gonna try to get rid of the emissions but idk if he will. Short block? Long block? Whole new engine?


Pretty positive it didn't "throw a rod." If it did it wouldn't run because there would be a hole in the side of the block.

Sounds like you need to get the truck to someone who knows something About a 6.4 instead of saying "well it needs and engine"
 

thatsmokinobs

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Yeah your right were gonna have a shop do it cause we cant lift the cab to work on it if it does need major work. Well what ever it is, its knocking and hitting hard.
 

DEEZUZ

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You just lost a rocker arm... Now why did the rocker arm come off, theres various reasons... Bent pushrod(from bad valve guide), loss of the tip on rocker, causing a gap inbetween bridge and rocker and under a high RPM fall back it could have slipped out, and of course a lifter issue.

I just pulled one in the shop yesterday that was banging so hard you could watch the intercooler boot explode out every hit. It sucks cause I JUST did the entire valve train last summer. sure enough #6 rocker arm roller was gone and bridge was off... Im pretty sure the pushrod is bent on this one....
 

DEEZUZ

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Yup. That's it.. If you held the upper intercooler boot it would hurt your hand
 

webb06

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You just lost a rocker arm... Now why did the rocker arm come off, theres various reasons... Bent pushrod(from bad valve guide), loss of the tip on rocker, causing a gap inbetween bridge and rocker and under a high RPM fall back it could have slipped out, and of course a lifter issue.

I just pulled one in the shop yesterday that was banging so hard you could watch the intercooler boot explode out every hit. It sucks cause I JUST did the entire valve train last summer. sure enough #6 rocker arm roller was gone and bridge was off... Im pretty sure the pushrod is bent on this one....


So the rocker only lasted a year? Is the truck stock?
 

DEEZUZ

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yes and yes.. I havent gotten the pushrod out yet, but I kind of suspect a failed lifter at this point.. there is no reason for a rocker to only last a year
 

78f100

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I would bet it's a broke rocker arm also. They sound bad when they loose a rocker, usually they have a thump sound through the intake If it's a intake rocker.
 

thatsmokinobs

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Yeah we figured it was a stuck open intake valve when it started thumping but then that hard knock threw us off. I am no mechanic but i dont see how a rocker could cause that hard of a knock
 

DEEZUZ

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No, it's an exhaust rocker... How is it going to thump back through the intake if the intake valves aren't opening...
 

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