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Knocking in Cylinder 3

bdawg4snow

Be Gentle I'm New Here
Joined
Jan 18, 2008
Messages
2
I have a '99 mystique 2.0 with 136k. I have this knocking sound which seems to slowly get louder as time goes on.
It sounds exactly like a engine running without oil- the same knocking sound, mildly loud, and noticable when the car is idiling. I checked my oil pressure, gaskets, lines, oil level, and seals. Its not the oil system.
The next thing I did was remove the plug wires one by one to try to further diagnose the problem. I found that cylinder three was the culprit. When I took the wire off the plug, the knocking stopped. There is no knock when there is no load on that cylinder.
I also sea-foamed the crankcase in hopes of freeing a stuck lifter. I had no luck.

What does this mean when the knocking stops when the wire is pulled from the cylinder? :confused: What am I looking at here? I just would like to get some input from the experts before I rip the covers off and begin surgery.
Is it time for a serious overhaul, or a simple replacement of some parts?

Let me know what you guys think, any input whatsoever will definitely be appreciated!!!!
 
Try replacing your wires and spark plugs before resorting to bigger, more expensive repairs. Be sure you're getting adequate, steady voltage pulses from the distributor too.
 
He said disabling the ignition to that cylinder eliminates the knock. Therefore its not an ignition problem, so I wouldn't bother with the plugs and wires. It sounds to me like a good old bottom end knock! Like you said, they will get progressively worse as time goes on. Put your head under the car and your hands on the oil pan and see if you can "feel' the knock coming from the lower end. My guess is you will be able to, and that it's a main or rod bearing on its way out. And no, you can't just swap out the bearings- once you hear a knock it's too late for that. However, rockauto.com has a crankshaft/bearing kit for around $300. This, of course, means the engine has to come out.

For about the same price, though, you can grab a junkyard engine and drop it in.

Good luck! This is actually rare in a zetec, they typically have very well built bottom ends.
 
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