Warm engine tick, 2003 3.0 Duratec V-6

[addyguy]

No, I'm not starting down the path of ' bought a lemon', but a few minor things are creeping into the pic on my 2003 Tribute purchase.

When you fiorst start the engine, it starts strong, smooth, and quiet - no ticking or unusual noises.

Drive it for about 10 mins, or until it is up to operating temp, and the engine develops a very noticeable, steady tick. Can't hear it inside the vehicle, but if you have the windows down, or are standing outside the vehicle, you can hear it fairly clearly.

I'm going to start with the 'usual' remedies, first adding a can of 'Wynn's engine tune-up' to the engine, to see if it can clean varnish/junk that may be causing this. This is the closest to MMO I can get.

If this doesn't work, or it gets louder, I'll assume it's an issue with the viscosity of the hot oil, and when I do the first oil change, I will most likely use something thicker for the rest of the summer, to see if it helps.

In the meantime, anyone familiar with these engines got any ideas or advice they'd be willing to share?

 

[EricZoom]

I have the 3.0 Duratec in my 04' Mazda6, and I only hear a slight tick coming from the warm engine which I believe is the fuel injectors. Other than that it's a pretty smooth and quiet engine.

 

[JOD]

I'll second the injector noise from the 3.0; mine does it as well (always has). Maybe you could post a clip of what it sounds like? You could be going down the path of trying to fix something that's a normal part of how the engine functions.

 

[addyguy]

I appreciate the responses - I'm guessing that it only does it when the engine is warm possibly because as the metals in the injectors heat up, they expand, and then hit each other?

I'm not trying to analyze this too much - engine runs fine - but I just thought it might be oil-related, b/c the oil would definetly thin from a caold start to operating temps, and become thinner, causing more noise. I didn't think injector noise chaged with engine temp.

 

[morris]

check the oil pressure. you might need thicker oil. please dont flame about thicker oil, i have ran thicker than recomended for ever with no trouble. not a LOT thicker just a little.

 

[addyguy]

Well, the OP light goes out even before the engine fully fires - it's insane how quick it goes out.

Even with the vehicle idling for 30 mins or more after running for a while, I've never even gotten a flicker out of the oil light, and the level is good.

I'm positive OP isn't the problem, so I'm not going to stick 20W-50 in it. I just think maybe the hot oil isn't 'cushioning' enough, and causing a bit of noise.

During the warm summer we will have (I can justr feel it), a 10W-30 might be in order - that might be my next change at the end of May-ish.

I'll let the board know how things go!

 

[JOD]

Originally Posted By: addyguy
I appreciate the responses - I'm guessing that it only does it when the engine is warm possibly because as the metals in the injectors heat up, they expand, and then hit each other?

I'm not trying to analyze this too much - engine runs fine - but I just thought it might be oil-related, b/c the oil would definetly thin from a caold start to operating temps, and become thinner, causing more noise. I didn't think injector noise chaged with engine temp.


I really don't know why, but I noticed the exact same thing. It could just be the harmonic frequency of the injector body being more resonant at a certain temperature. Noises are funny that way. I know that mine has done the same since new (to me, around 18K), and the noise has never changed.

I highly doubt you need thicker oil... The engine seems to run well on thin oil.

 

[meep]

valve lash? mechanical lifters? none of this has been mentioned. if this motor has adjustments, then it's probably due for a check. they are better off loose and tapping than tight and overheating. 103,000 miles? if it starts clicking at that age I would not be disturbed in the least. some cars ship new with valve clatter.

M

 

[addyguy]

To be truthful, I'm not really worried about it. I'll try some 'cheap fixes', and see how it goes. A 10W-30 for the rest of the summer ain't gonna hurt anything......

 

[spasm3]

My 3.0 01 escape never sounded right with 20wt oil. It would sound fine cold but the valvetrain or timing chain was much louder when warm. I have run 5 40 and the best smoothest oil i have run has been the mobil 0w 30, i now use this year round, it will get a uoa at 8k to see if i can go 10k.

 

[Vibe_2007]

I had what I thought was valve tick on a 2006 Corolla. Turned out after bringing it in under warranty that it was a belt tensioner that would begin to rattle after the engine warmed up because the oil in the tensioner leaked out. I could hear it at idle with the windows. Happened at 20,000 miles on the car. Common problem on 1ZZ-FE engines. Check out other things on your engine that might sound like engine tick, but may be something ancillary.

 

[The Critic]

Does the used car lot have a 30 day warranty?

If so, I would just take it back. Otherwise check for TSBs and/or try one of those engine flush products.

 

[OVERKILL]

You could try going up to a 0w30? Petro-Canada makes a good one

 

[bradepb]

I bought my Escape 3.0 with 35000 miles, after the first oil change with 5w-20 YB a tapping started from the top of the engine,it was NOT injectors this was very loud and definately valve train, you could hear it 30 feet away..I took it to a well respected engine shop and he suggested 10w30 Rotella.

This helped just a little, I tried several other oils in 20 and 30 weight and finally took it back to the dealer, they said it was normal,went to pick it up and the noise was still there so i showed them and they finally said ok we will check further. I was pretty insistant they do something because I had a short warranty.

They ended up replacing the left cylinder head and rockers along with hydraulic lash adjusters and filling with MC 5w20. The noise was gone . However it is still there when it is very cold out and the engine is hot. To this day at 80,000 miles it still makes the same noise although it has never been quite as loud. I dont think the work was realy neccessary it is just a trait of some of these engines.
The best oil I have found is the MC5w20 it is very quiet when engine cold and hot ,it only taps when the outside temp is below freezing and the colder it is outside the louder the tapping, pretty strange realy.

 

[bradepb]

Also would like to add that the best 5w30 for my engine anyway seems to be valvoline durablend as far as the noise goes,and I tried a lot of them, so if you want a 30 you might try that, but in a 20 weight your best bet should be the MC

 

[JOD]

here's a video I found on the interwebs which demonstrates the Duratec injector noise. This is a 2.5, though the 3.0 is basically the same engine: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zI7ElaX4gdY

I think part of the reason the injector noise is so pronounced is that the engine itself is really quiet.

If you do have something besides this, say some sort of valvetrain noise, thicker oil will definitely quiet the sound. Thicker oil is always going to be quieter unless it's causing something to malfunction; it's more effective at blocking sound waves and damping various harmonic vibrations. However, sound waves do no cause engine wear...

 

[addyguy]

Originally Posted By: The Critic
Does the used car lot have a 30 day warranty?

If so, I would just take it back. Otherwise check for TSBs and/or try one of those engine flush products.


30 days or 1k km; whatever comes first. Burned through the 1k km in about a week, coming up on 2k km with about 3 weeks on the car!

Added a can of Wynn's to it last night, we'll see how it does - I really don't expect it to do much.

 

[OVERKILL]

For the price of the Petro-Canada 0w30 ($5.34/L) why not buy 5 of 'em and change it?

 

[addyguy]

I can't waste a fill of perfectly good, clean oil. Just can't.

This SUV was a trade-in at a local Mazda dealership, and the lot I bought it from said they definetly didn't do an oil change on it, so, with how clean the oil was, I figure it had to be the Mazda dealership it was done at.

Mazda Canada dealerships, from what I've read, use Petro-Canada oils, so my truck already has PC 5W-20 in it, I'm presuming. It's an excellent oil that I'll use for at least 3-4k before changing it.

 

[punisher]

Ck and see if you have a broken exhaust stud on it.