A strange problem has been plaguing 2018/19 Ford Mustang GTs—when the engine is running, a strange non-rhythmic ticking sound can be heard coming from the engine. We want you to help us figure out what it is.
We recently got a tip from a fella named Dave who is looking for help. After discovering a ticking noise in his two-day-old Mustang—which Ford calls a “Typewriter Tick”—he tried to figure out what it was. Nothing has been particularly helpful. We’ll let him tell you his story in his own words:
I recently bought a new 2018 Mustang GT (build date 4/18) in December of 2018. The second day I had my car (12/22/18) I noticed a non-rhythmic knocking/ticking sound coming from under the engine, loud enough I could hear it from 10 ft away. Very similar sound to a mechanical Typewriter. At the time, the car had maybe 100 miles on the odometer and I had the car since 72 mile mark. After ignoring the sound for a week, I eventually did a YouTube search and found tons of other 2018 owners with this same exact issue. Many have had engine components like CAM phasers, CAMS, lifters, and rockers replaced, which has not eliminated the noise. Ford has also been replacing short block and long blocks, which does apparently fix the issue but diminishes the car value greatly due to it showing on a CarFax as an engine replacement. Ford knows about the issue and references it under “Typewriter Tick”.
My car has been at the dealer for several days. I was told they hear the noise and are waiting on Ford to step in.
Here’s his video:
You can check out the abundance of YouTube videos for yourselves—there are plenty of folks out there trying to figure out what’s wrong and some who even claim to have solved the issue, but nothing has been officially established by Ford. Folks are hoping that the tick will, at the very least, be acknowledged by the company—some are even asking for recalls.
We’ve reached out to Ford for comment, but at this time haven’t heard back. We’ll keep you updated if we hear anything.
So, we’re calling in extra hands: What the hell is that noise?