2012 Epxy - Start Up

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UrbanCowboy

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Hey, everyone. Thanks for all the great advice lately. I bought a 2012 Epxy XLT with 176K miles on it about a month ago. Great truck, love it so far, got it for a great price and I'm fixing it up properly.

I have a question about when I fire it up when it's a cold start. When I start it from a cold start, it fires up great but is really loud for the first 30 to 45 seconds or so. Definitely hearing the exhaust manifold resonate, however it'll quiet down after about 45 seconds. Sometimes, I'll tap the accelerator and it'll quiet down right away (I don't do this all the time I'm just trying to figure out why its so loud).

I can't smell exhaust in the engine compartment and when I touch the coil packs, they feel solid. I first thought that maybe a spark plug was loose and causing the noise. The previous owner has replaced the plugs and coil pack fairly recently.

My phasers and roller followers seem to be operating just fine and it doesn't sound like valves "ticking", and I can't detect a crack in the exhaust manifold. It defiantly sounds like an exhaust noise, not a valve tick or something along those lines.

I used to have a 1999 Ford E350 van with the 5.4L, but I don't recall hearing it so loud when I started it up, but a van has the engine buried and is insulated for noise because it's basically in between the driver and passenger seats. On that vehicle, I had a plug blow right out of the cylinder, it didn't need a helicoil, but it was when the threading on the plugs was shorter than they are today causing this issue. I'm glad Ford changed the plug design.

So I'm somewhat familiar with the 5.4. I'm not too concerned about this, and it may just be that the noises are "new to me" and I'm not used to it yet.

Any thoughts on this or is this something others experience and is normal?

Thanks again.

Note: I have had a couple different mechanics look at the vehicle already. I had my suspension replaced and had it inspected by my local shop when I bought it. Neither said anything about the start up volume. So maybe I am not used to it, but I just want to be sure.
 
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S20Workstation4

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Even though the exhaust manifold may not be cracked, it can be a broken manifold stud. Broken studs are more common on the 5.4 than cracked manifolds.

Don't know if it's possible, but try and upload a video of a cold start to this post here. That'll give me and other members a better understanding of the noise.

-Joe
 
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UrbanCowboy

UrbanCowboy

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Good idea. I will check the bolts on the manifold. My wife's vehicle had something similar happen. If that doesn't take care of it, I'll record a video and upload it. Thank you!
 
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