Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications 3.0L Duratec Another 3L dead

I figured it out after Terry posted up the zircon comment on FCO. Here's the long and short of it and it truly explains a lot when you review the common failures of our motors.

Basically Zircon is part of the casting material they use on these motors and through some flaw in the design process is being left in trace amounts even after cleaning and machining. I'm guessing it's most likely lightly embedded in the surface of the aluminum and stuck in passageways that can't be cleaned by any normal process. Over time the material breaks loose and gets embedded in everything from bearings to lifters causing myriads of problems that on the surface all resemble oiling issues i.e. spun bearings, stuck lifters, etc.

I've personally seen this in a 3L head on my car. I pulled one of the oil feed plugs where the vortech gets it's feed on the head and found almost 1/2 teaspoon of sand pressed up against the drain plug. I was disheartened to see it but until now had dismissed it as a strange anomolly. In any case the sand circulating or lodging in different places would definitely explain a lot about why this is truly a hit or miss type problem.

Rick