Are they supposed to tick really loudly? I have a 2003 2.3L XLT. I noticed that the injectors are kinda noisy. What is normal for these?

 

Fuel Injectors do make a ticking noise. How loud they are depends on the engine. my friends mazda sounded like a sewing machine, and if you get close enough you can here mine tick on my 3.0l ranger. They are generally not very audible though.

 

my 2001 2.3 ticks pretty loud.

 

Just how do you know it is the injectors ? Did you purchase a mechanic's stethoscope and listen to them ?
You must have EXTREMELY sensitive hearing to determine it is injector noise.

 

Actually you dont always need a stethscope. I took automotive technology for 2 years at a trade school, but you are right you can get a ticking noise from other things like an exhaust manifold leak.

Its hard to do a paper test on rangers though because of the cooling fan you may try but be careful to feel for one of these leks but again you get a lot of warm air flow under the hood of a ranger, at least you do on mine.

 

A ticking noise would generally be from the lifters or a mechanical part. An injector tick would be extremely hard to hear while the engine is running. Just my 2 cents though.

 

I have had a similar issue with my 4 cylinder ranger.
My cam shaft went bad, and there was a very loud very audibal clanging that sounded like you where tapping your keys on the table,

When I replaced the cam, lifters, and all those goodies, I also replaced the injectors. After replacing them I started to hear another ticking like noise. It wasn't as harsh as the cam tick was, it was like some one said earyler, a sewing machine.

Now my buddy's got a 2002 ranger, and his injectors are pretty loud, but with out hearing it it would be hard to tell.