Got the exact same setup on my truck. I think two things come into play here. 1st, a lot of us are not used to aluminum heads. They are noiser than their iron head cousins. 2nd, be sure it's in the heads, you could have cold piston knock. But either way, if the noise is going away within 5 secs or so, I wouldn't worry about it, even if it is cold piston knock. a lot of us have it and the UOA's are showing up great. I believe Ford had fixed the cold piston knock by the 01 models, so you may just have valve noise going on. One thing I do when it's real cold is floor the gas pedal, then crank. On the Fords at least, the engine won't start that way. Turn it over a few times, then lift off of the gas pedal and it will fire up. This way, you are getting some oil circulating and at least getting it moving before that engine cranks and jumps to 2K rpm right off the bat. Mine has been doing that since I've had it. My '90 Cutlass does it and has been doing it for some time. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
I'm using M1 5W-30 and Motorcraft filter, FL820S, which is factory spec. Other members have tried different oil combinations, but the same results. I suppose you could get a pre-oiler that would bring your oil pressure up prior to startup, but you better have some bucks handy. I just feel it's the nature of the beast.
[ March 31, 2004, 12:25 PM: Message edited by: Schmoe ]