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Thunderbird Club

#255,701
dagrev said:
Timing chain/cam phaser rattle on start up if it sets 3 days ('12 f-150 3.5 Ecoboost). I have a warranty on it from the car lot for a few more months and thought I might get it addressed, but I understand that Ford says that some amount of rattle is "normal." I was asking to see if anybody had run into that from a dealer. I took it to the guy that does things I can do and he said to take it to a Ford dealer. But he said they may say it's normal. It's also normal for some Toyotas as well. Only rattles for a second or two until the oil gets around the phasers. I found what it does, but didn't want to drive to a Ford dealer and spend money. If they were just gonna tell me it's normal. Not uncommon with that design.
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when you next start it, hold the accelerator to the floor and crank it. It won't start but the oil pump will run and pre-lube the timing chain. Then start normally. See if this cures the initial rattle.
 
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#255,702
Chucky Stiletti said:
12AX7 vs. 12DW7 : Tone, Reliability.
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Interesting. If I understand it correctly, a 12DW7 would plug in just fine, but would probably reduce the amp's output and make it break up sooner. It doesn't seem like it would cause any problems. Plugging in a 12AU7 in place of the 12AX7 has a similar effect based on my unauthorized experiments. A Valve Junior breaks up almost immediately and drives into crunch way too fast as it is.
 
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#255,704
GBassNorth said:
There’s a lot of awesome amps out there, this is just one of them. Still have my Musicman HD150 and it sounds great as does my GK combo. My old SVT was awesome, as was an Aguilar DB750 and an Ashdown Mag500 I used to own. I also love the Mesa, Eden and Trace Elliot amps I’ve played through. I’ve only found a couple of amps I just wasn’t fond of - Hartke, SWR, Phil Jones and Line 6 just didn’t do it for me at all.

The big concern with Thunderfunk these days is they’ve gone out of business. It was pretty much a one man show Botique type builder. It’s been rock solid to date but it’s about 20 years old, so probably about time for things to start getting iffy. If I had to replace it I’d probably look towards Bergantino for SS or Mesa, Ampeg, Aguilar for hybrid or tube.
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These sure seem cool. But way too much extra stuff for my taste.
Bergantino Audio Systems Unveils the forté HP2 Amplifier
 
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#255,706
dagrev said:
Timing chain/cam phaser rattle on start up if it sets 3 days ('12 f-150 3.5 Ecoboost). I have a warranty on it from the car lot for a few more months and thought I might get it addressed, but I understand that Ford says that some amount of rattle is "normal." I was asking to see if anybody had run into that from a dealer. I took it to the guy that does things I can do and he said to take it to a Ford dealer. But he said they may say it's normal. It's also normal for some Toyotas as well. Only rattles for a second or two until the oil gets around the phasers. I found what it does, but didn't want to drive to a Ford dealer and spend money. If they were just gonna tell me it's normal. Not uncommon with that design.
Click to expand...
If it’s still under warranty get the phasers replaced. They are a known defective part and warranties have been extended on the 3.5 because of them. It’s not a typical DIY job, pretty involved. Here’s some YouTube clips you may have already seen talking about it…



bandaid approach, solves noise but doesn’t really fix the phaser issue…
 
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#255,708
heatheroo1 said:
when you next start it, hold the accelerator to the floor and crank it. It won't start but the oil pump will run and pre-lube the timing chain. Then start normally. See if this cures the initial rattle.
Click to expand...
Yes, thank you for the suggestion. I've tried that once didn't notice it helping much. Could have been me not doing something right, but didn't want to keep cranking.
 
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#255,709
Interesting, looks like they were copping @ChuckyStiletti :D

MjbBg5u.jpg
 
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#255,712
GBassNorth said:
If it’s still under warranty get the phasers replaced. They are a known defective part and warranties have been extended on the 3.5 because of them. It’s not a typical DIY job, pretty involved. Here’s some YouTube clips you may have already seen talking about it…



bandaid approach, solves noise but doesn’t really fix the phaser issue…
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info, George. I've seen all but the last one, but saw another one about pre-oilers. Those are about $400 from what I saw, and like you said, buys you some time. What I saw was that the warranty Ford put out was up to 90k and I'm well over that, so unless that has changed it would be on me or the ASC warranty supplied by the seller to resolve it. If I had to pay for it I likely would. The rest of the truck is great. Literally not a ding on the body. Must have been garaged when not on the highway.

It's such a big job the guy I go to won't even do it. Small shop and would take up a lot of their time. (You also need special tool to hold the phasers in place.)

I'm just going to have to break down and go a dealer and see what they say. If I can't get them to fix it (because they consider my amount of noise normal), I'll treat the engine (much of that junk I know is snake oil), and it will still likely last as long as I want it to. Some people have said their's does it every day and has done if for years with no problems other than the noise on a cold start. If it progresses there is a ticking sound that continues after the rattle. That can actually be adjusted out with the proper computer, but is not a fix.
 
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#255,714
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