Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Rod Knock

My car (98.5 Contour SE, 2.5, mtx)with 92k seems to have developed a rod knock. Im not sure if its a bearing or whatever, but as far as i know, this is fatal. Any suggestions about what to do (one might be sell and run from fords as fast as i can, this is one more thing going wrong that shouldnt, like my syncro on 3) or experience as to what this means and how long i have would be great.

Does it make the noise just on startup or all of the time?

I remember hearing what sounded like a bearing knock with my Mystique on startup for a bit when I used a Fram oil filter. It went away when I switched to the Motorcraft FL-820S.

It seems to be comming from the base of the engine, around the crank, which makes me think its a rod. It always happnens, and varies with rpm.

My car used to have that same noise... a knocking/ticking noise coming from the near base of the engine at the crankshaft pulley... couldn't figure out a dang thang what could be making the noise... til I looked at the serpentine belt. A large 5 inch long strip of the belt was grove-less and was causing a heavy snapping/ticking/knocking noise that was fairly loud and occured mostly when the engine compartment heated up and the belt stretched a little, but sometimes while cold. Check your belt, seems stupid, but it fixed my noise.

to check for a rod knock, kill cylinders one at a time until the noise stops. if the noise doesn't stop after killing all 6 one at a time, the noise may be elsewhere (like a cracked flywheel) if it is a rod knock, you can tear down the engine and replace the crank and bearings. labor intensive, but not all that expensive if you do the work yourself.