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Timing chain or rod bearing????

S

STPVIPER

CEG'er
Joined
Sep 9, 2005
Messages
33
Location
Langley, B.C., Canada
Hey all, got me a 1998 Contour SE 2.5l Duratec. 157,xxxkm's. Driving on wednesday, went around a corner(right hander) and had some knocking, didn't see an o/p light or anything, but I checked the oil and I was down 1-3/4 liters. Topped it off, and it was still a little noisy over 4000rpms. So i was just cruising until the weekend so I could get some fresh oil, and go back to a conventional, because its a little old to be running the royal purple 10W30 anymore. But last night it went to crap. I was drivign for about 10 mins, went through an intersection and had a misfire(or so I thought), probably half a second of silence and no power. Then, 150ft further up the road, she starts knocking, and I mean it sounds like I have gravel in my oil pan. Before I take the oil pan off, is there anyone that has changed the timing chain in the vehicle? I'm hoping that it's not a "pull the motor" type of job, but i have not a clue what it is yet. Thanks in advance, and yes I did search.
 
AliasJerk said:
sounds like you had a rod bearing go.
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Alias is right, If you have searched earlier you would have known that making right turns fast will increase the chance of starving the 6th cyl. Resulting in a rod knock. If you were low on oil to begin with and did this right turn. Then you created the problem.

Also we have posted many times, that we recommend that 1 extra quart needs to be added so a total of 6.7 quarts of oil every oil change.
 
Lt_hailBob said:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but shouldn't you be running 5W30?
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In cold areas 5w30 is recomended for sure. Our car is listed for 5w30 all year round.


In warm areas 10w30 is fine.

the weight difference is there to only help reduce excessive wear during start ups.
 
Yea, I was already aware of the starvation problem beforehand, and I do run 6.5L of oil at a change. 10w30 because its older, and I hate 5w30. But, this doesen't sound like a rod letting go. If its a rod, then it must be broken in half and getting tossed around. I'm thinking its the T/C just because it sounds like a chain hittting the case (maybe a tensioner went?) but again, can you do the T/C in the vehicle? Rods are easy to fix, depending on how catastrofic.
 
STPVIPER said:
Hey all, got me a 1998 Contour SE 2.5l Duratec. 157,xxxkm's. Driving on wednesday, went around a corner(right hander) and had some knocking, didn't see an o/p light or anything, but I checked the oil and I was down 1-3/4 liters. Topped it off, and it was still a little noisy over 4000rpms. So i was just cruising until the weekend so I could get some fresh oil, and go back to a conventional, because its a little old to be running the royal purple 10W30 anymore. But last night it went to crap. I was drivign for about 10 mins, went through an intersection and had a misfire(or so I thought), probably half a second of silence and no power. Then, 150ft further up the road, she starts knocking, and I mean it sounds like I have gravel in my oil pan. Before I take the oil pan off, is there anyone that has changed the timing chain in the vehicle? I'm hoping that it's not a "pull the motor" type of job, but i have not a clue what it is yet. Thanks in advance, and yes I did search.
Click to expand...
MTX or ATX? I wouldn't jump the gun on rod bearings if you have an ATX unless you were manually holding the tranny in a lower gear when you made that "right hander." Even less so with either tranny if it wasn't something more like a freeway on or off ramp.
Karl
 
STPVIPER said:
Yea, I was already aware of the starvation problem beforehand, and I do run 6.5L of oil at a change. 10w30 because its older, and I hate 5w30. But, this doesen't sound like a rod letting go. If its a rod, then it must be broken in half and getting tossed around. I'm thinking its the T/C just because it sounds like a chain hittting the case (maybe a tensioner went?) but again, can you do the T/C in the vehicle? Rods are easy to fix, depending on how catastrofic.
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what people are saying is it is not an actual rod breaking, but a spun rod bearing. Sounds like that is what it is to me as well. A failed tensioner does not seem like a common problem.
 
It is so ridiculously uncommon for the Duratec to have timing problems that I DOUBT that is your case (unless we are talking about 3L swaps, but that is a different can of worms)
 
Okay, I pulled the rear valve cover off and there's nothing wrong up there, all the followers we're fine a few tiny scratches on a few of the lobes. Oil pan was next, and guess what, #6 rod bearing. Now, do I drop in a new motor, or just change the bearing and cross my fingers? I'm hoping it can be done cheap, but this car is soooo tight to work on the side. so new motor? or re+re the old one? either way it'll be expenssive, and no 3.0L's, the second its fixed, i'm selling it!
 
You *can* fix the bearing, but the motor has seen too much oil-less driving so something else is bound to go wrong...it is safer to do a 3L, but it is possible you could have success if you just tried to fix your current motor.
 
If you are going to try replacing the bearing make sure you inspect the crank for any damage. It's common that when a bearing goes it usually scores the crank.
 
STPVIPER said:
Okay, I pulled the rear valve cover off and there's nothing wrong up there, all the followers we're fine a few tiny scratches on a few of the lobes. Oil pan was next, and guess what, #6 rod bearing. Now, do I drop in a new motor, or just change the bearing and cross my fingers? I'm hoping it can be done cheap, but this car is soooo tight to work on the side. so new motor? or re+re the old one? either way it'll be expenssive, and no 3.0L's, the second its fixed, i'm selling it!
Click to expand...
If you are going to sell it, do the job right or sell it as is because the next owner will suffer the consequences. You shouldn't slap new bearings in without grinding the crank, no matter what people say. So unless you're going to sell the car with a warranty, you need to replace that engine with a known good one.
Karl
 
zorrex said:
You *can* fix the bearing, but the motor has seen too much oil-less driving so something else is bound to go wrong...it is safer to do a 3L, but it is possible you could have success if you just tried to fix your current motor.
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probably will spin the same bearing again in 5-10K miles.

if the crank is scored the tolerances between the rod bearings and the crank shaft have been compromised, there will be more movement between the bearings and crankshaft, more movement = more heat = faster wear = spun rod bearing again.

however, there have been people who have gotten lucky and ran their motors another 30-40K before spinning another bearing.

but with the way you drive, not long.
 
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