Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Ticking noise

As of lately I have been noticing a ticking noise coming from the front passanger side of my engine bay. Initially i ignored it, as there was no noticible difference in the driveability of the car. Yesterday I noticed that my car was smoking and smelled of burnt rubber (no not my tires). When I got under the car I couldn't see what could possible be causeing the noise and the smoke. i thought it was the high speed fan, but since that it not always on that cannot be the case (the ticking is always present). My only other thought is that it could be the drive belt possibly slipping, although it is not noticible when driving, (and this still does not explain the ticking). Any ideas/suggestions as to what the problem could be?

If its the serp belt, its likely that one of the pullies seized. My first guess would be the idler pulley, as there's a TSB about it. Both of my Duratecs had the problem within the last year, and each of them had some ticking or scraping noises, but I caught it before anything seized each time. You can buy an updated pulley with better bearings from Ford. The repair is pretty straightforward.

about 6 months ago my 98 SVT had that same pass. side ticking and it ended up needing a new engine-- $4000!! The 6th cylinder gummed up and had lost compresion and it ended up blowing a rod!
I'd get it in and looked at ASAP

Kellis, not to bust on you, but not all ticking leads to a blown motor. Also I don't know how 1 cylinder gets "gummed" up and bends/breaks a rod, but sounds like a maintenance issue....