Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications 3.0L Duratec Check it out..............

This is a video of my conversion motor after it was "timed" by the local Ford dealership.
They now claim the motor has "piston slap" and was bad to start with. I still think the bottom end is fine, but there are obviously some issues with the top end. What do you think? The 2.5L was an early 98. The 3.0L is a 2000 Duratec.
http://www.svtlightnings.com/go_rila/contour/mvc-742w.mpg

I dunno, but that sure doesn't sound good!

-Lance

eek! i agree, don't run that thing any more than you have to!

Did they use the timing marks on the cams?

I WOULD BET MY NEXT PAYCHECK THAT THAT IS THE CHAINS BEING A TOOTH OFF!!!!!

I promise you that I had the exact same sound on my BMW when I timed it wrong 3 years ago. The timing marks on the BMW sprocket is just a little nick that you line up....problem was I had several nicks in the sprocket :rolleyes: and I picked the wrong one.
I fired it up and it made the EXACT same sound. I checked the sprocket and again thought that I had the right timing nick in position. I decided to drive it around the block like a dumbazz and I broke a valve. It broke an intake valve and then when the piston came back up it pushed the broken half of the valve up through the head. It couldn't be welded either. $600 later I had a new head AND a new sprocket.

The other valves in my engine were all hitting the pistons as well, but they did not bend, only one valve broke because the metal is so damn hard. All six pistons had little valve reliefs hammered into the top of them after that. The machine shop checked the valves and they were all straight except the broken one. I reused them all in the new head, and I have been driving it ever since. I learned a lot from that experience.

My advice is to shut the car down, retime the engine yourself or with someone who will TAKE INSTRUCTIONS from you. Count the links as was suggested and then put it back together. It will be cheaper and it will probably run. Worst case scenario you are out some time and a little RTV gasket material because the timing cover gaskets are reusable.

I find it VERY hard to believ that the lower end on a 2000 motor is subject to piston slap. They are full of shiit. These lower ends will go 200K if they are in stock form.
If I lived near you, I'd do the work for you and only charge you if I was right.
I wish I could help more, but hopefully this insight from my own bad experience will be something you can trust.

good luck

warmonger

Cam timing is off from the sound of it... Are you sure they tore it down and "fixed" the timing? Piston slap normally occurs under load or reving of an engine, not at idle... Drain the fuel tank and run some very high octane racing fuel or AV gas in it. Sound goes away, cam timing is off. Sound stays, piston slap or some other major problem.

It is hard to say without being right there to localize the sound, but I would suspect top end as well. Timing, being my first suspect. Piston slap doesn't usually sound like that.

I agree, piston slap doesn't sound that way.

As far as the high octane fuel, how is that going to help get rid of valves kissing the piston domes? Do you think it's pinging we hear? I'm pretty darn sure its metal to metal contact.
Maybe if you have a different interpretation you can explain it?
I'm just curious, not trying to be a Diick by any means.

warmonger

HEY, Listen here Dick!!! :p LOL. The idea was if it was "piston slap" is that it has some type of physical contact with either the valves or loose rings. For the pistons to hit the valves, the cams would be off by more than one tooth (hopefully not the case). With the valves off by one tooth in either direction, the engine will run, but with this condition happening... If the cam is advanced, the valves open and close a little to early. In this case, the intake cam would be the most likely culprit, allowing the fuel mixture to enter the combustion chamber to soon, before the piston is on the down stroke, causing something very similar to a detonation knock or ping. That is what I'm hearing here, though it is hard to know for sure. If the cams are retarded, the engine still runs also, but does not have the ping sound. Rather, it makes a bit more of a farty thud sound (kinda like a valve float noise) and doesn't have any power until much higher in the rev range when it gets back "on" the cam.

Forgot to add, the racing or AV gas would help in the situation of advanced cams since it would slow the burn and not ignite on contact with the hot piston. It still might ping or knock a little bit, but would for sure quiet it down. Hopefully, it's the cams being a little off and ping happening vs. something physically hitting something else... ouch.

Aviation fuel (ie- Jet "A") is kerosene - the same stuff you put in a lantern. It's straw colored and a few people (although I'm sure none of them work with me :rolleyes: ) use it instead of diesel fuel. So would that mean you're saying diesel is the same as petrol?

...or were you referring to 80LL, 100LL, or Jet "B" perhaps?