A little means, when the engine is dead cold, run it for like 5 minutes and turn it off. Cold water and very hot metal does not mix very well.


EDIT~
Back when I had my 70 302 Fastback, my brother had a 70 Roadrunner 440. I used Valvoline, and he used Penzoil. When we did engine breakdowns, like change an intake manifold, or do a valve adjustment, he ALWAYS had sludge. I NEVER had sludge. Kinda tells me Penzoil sucks.

 

Alright, simple enough.

And that sounds like my dad back in the day. He had a '78 Vette and my uncle had a '71 (I think) Stingray ... they both raced with my other uncle ('79 vette). My dad was vs. his brother ('71 ray) until his engine crapped out and he had to sell the car for scrap ... Good story

And also, I beat my dad's Vette (He sold it to my other uncle) yea I know weird and confusing story and a minute of you're life you will never get back, sorry

Should I just continue to use Castrol GTX then?

 

Castrol is good. I prefer Mobil1

 

The engine seems to be running alot smoother, and transitions better when I get on it to pass cars and maneuver through traffic sometimes. It still has a lag sometimes, is that normal for a 6-banger? It is also still idling roughly, should I bring it to Ford?

And today my friend heard a "clicking" noise coming from the passenger side of the car in the dashboard. We turned the A/C off and the sound stopped, turned the A/C back on and it continued. We kept the A/C on high for the entire ride (1 1/2 hours) and turned it off after that and the clicking had vanished. Could this have been caused by anything and is it a sign that the car needs to be shopped?

 

Well first off....Check your spark plugs an inspect the wires! pull out everyone of them heck if you want go ahead an change them! That ticking could be your AC but my guess is that when your AC is on the sound is just more prominent. Try this take your car in a garage or somewhere dark start it close the hood with you in it...lol of course not all the way stay away from the engine of course look for a spark jumpin around the spark plugs an wires! I had a 99 4.6 F150 That would idle hard an when i would mash the gas it seemed to hesitate well this was the problem damn spark plug! also get some throttle body cleaner, check your air filter for restrictions im assuming you don't have any check engine lights on right? Well thats it for now hopfully this helps you out...definatly cant hurt!

edit--Let me clarify i think the ticking is coming from a arching wire!

 

I ran the car alot today, and I did not hear the ticking noise once ... Should I still do all the things stated above?

 

When it comes to fuel injection cleaners use the best- 44k, it's $20 bucks a can but any other fuel injection is crap, might as well use strong black coffee as to use lucas or STP junk.. They only places I know you can get it is at a parts supply house, not autozone or those cheapy places but the parts houses dealers and repair shops use... Just my 0.02 cents worth... I'm new here to the board but have been on several times as a guest reading and learning still, even though I'm 60!

I kick my self in the *** every time I think about when I traded my '65 289 red mustang in for a Pinto wagon after having a wife with 2 kids... Man that 65 mustang would be worth some bucks today!!

Need to get a new pic of my red toy with the duals on it...

 

Still wouldn't hurt just cause you don't hear the ticking noise doesn't mean your car is fixed! Just check the minor stuff first more than likely it's somethin you can fix yourself! IMO i would just do 1 major check of every piece of equipment like spark plugs, throttle body cleaner, fuel injection cleaner, wire inspections, ect.