2020 Ford F-250 SD: engine knocking or ticking

Filed Oct 28, 2026 · Engine · AR

Mechanical Failure Description: The vehicle suffered a sudden, severe engine knock and rattling under load at approximately 87,594 miles due to a catastrophic valvetrain failure. Dealership diagnostics at Randall Ford confirmed a loss of compression on cylinder 4 and extensive metal shaving contamination throughout the engine oil filter assembly. This severe internal damage resulted from an apparent mechanical failure of the hydraulic lifters and camshaft lobes, requiring a mandatory and complete replacement of the longblock engine assembly. This failure mirrors the exact lubrication and valvetrain degradation mechanisms currently being evaluated under active the federal safety agency Defect Petition DP26011, demonstrating that the structural defect impacts the initial 2020 model year production run of the 7.3L Godzilla platform.

Filed Jan 7, 2026 · Fuel system · 76,000 miles · FL

The contact owns a 2020 Ford F-250. The contact received notification of the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 24V957000 (FUEL SYSTEM, DIESEL); however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The local dealer was contacted, and it was confirmed that the part was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact stated that while driving, there was a ticking sound coming from the engine compartment. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The failure mileage was 76,000.

Filed Dec 22, 2025 · Fuel system · 45,000 miles · KS

The contact owns a 2020 Ford F-250. The contact stated that while driving 75 MPH, the vehicle made an abnormal knocking sound, and there was excessive smoke coming from the exhaust pipes, before the vehicle shut off. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact was able to pull over to the side of the road. The vehicle failed to restart and was towed to an independent mechanic, where the entire fuel system was replaced due to metal shavings contamination from the high-pressure fuel pump(HPFP). The vehicle was repaired at the owner’s expense. The contact later received notification of the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 24V957000 (Fuel System, Diesel), which the contact related to the failure. The manufacturer was contacted for reimbursement; however, the manufacturer informed the contact that reimbursement could only be provided once the recall remedy was available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The failure mileage was approximately 45,000.

Filed Aug 13, 2025 · Engine · CA

Engine making heavy ticking noise from front of engine because of a cracked oil pump gear and the front main seal is now weeping oil. Ford is aware of this known issue as a TSB. Afraid to drive truck because I normally haul a large travel trailer into the mountains and the technician said the oil pressure could drop causing the motor to seize up.

Filed Feb 27, 2025 · Fuel system · TN

Driving down freeway truck started to shutter knock and sqaul making noise and wouldn’t accept any throttle , truck died and coasted to shoulder , hauled to shop on wrecker had mechanic diagnose issue resulting in several fuel system codes all stating correlating cylinder imbalance Low fuel pressure on all circuits etc , pics were to large to upload below but could send via email if needed

Filed Jan 2, 2025 · Engine · 175,000 miles · AR

The contact called on behalf of her husband who owns a 2020 Ford F-250. The contact stated that while her husband was driving on the highway at 70 MPH, the vehicle stalled, with the “Low Power Mode” message displayed, and within 3-5 seconds there was a large cloud of smoke coming from the front end of the engine bay, and the vehicle proceeded to slow down. The driver pulled over onto the side of the highway. The vehicle was not able to be restarted; however, while attempting to restart the vehicle there was an abnormal knocking sound coming from the engine. The vehicle was towed to a local dealer where the vehicle was diagnosed. The contact was advised that the high-pressure fuel pump was faulty and had exploded, causing metal shards to enter the engine. The contact was informed that the engine and the fuel pump needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 175,000.

Filed Nov 9, 2022 · Engine · MO

Engine developed ticking noise. After doing research many 250 7.3 owners are describing same ticking noise with their vehicles

Filed Apr 23, 2021 · Engine, Fuel system · 150 miles · TX

Motor has a nkocking tapping sound like and old school type writer and gets loud at times when ideling and some time really loud anfter driving it fo rw whlle, (diesel engine doesn't sound like that),ford engineering at factory knows what the problem is but refuses to allow dealership to repair it and replace the parts. Transmission had snecor and valve body go out caused transmission to lock up in 10th gear and stalling out. Dealership replaced the parts with new ones, bu tdid not correct the problem and now stalles and slippes when shifting gears, or sometimes shifts so hard it shakes the truck (f250 diesel). Has a grinding noise when down shifting from 5,4,3 gears. When drivining the truck and go to pass around another vehicle is slips gears are stalles down until it can catch its gear to go happened several times. Vehicle only has 6,500 miles on it and was purchased august 26, 2020 and should not have these issues and problems. Most of all the factory engineers should not deny the dealership to fix and replace what is wrong and cauusing the lound and upnogchis knocking ticking sound even after doing a black box flight recorder to determine where the problem is coming from. They said to keep driving until enough complaints com in to have a recall sent our are until it brakes and goes out. This is a safety hazard to everyone on the road and could possibly cause harm to inisant people, such as myself, my family, and others out on the road. Please have this looked into and help get it taken care of.