Good morning,
My Ranger has a '91 5.0, carbed and relatively unmolested. It recently began making noise at startup. When I start it, especially when cold, oil pressure is zero and lifters rattle for maybe 4 seconds. Oil pressure immediately comes up, lifters go silent and it sounds and runs great. No smoking, oil consumption or any noises at all otherwise and yes, oil level is fine. I've heard that some filters (Fram on it now) do not have back-flow preventers and let the lifters drain down when the engine is not running. Could it be as simple as that? Thanks!