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Hello everyone, I need some advice and guidance on a particularly alarming ticking and rattling that has slowly ( about 2-3 months window of time) become more and more pronounced with my 2007 Ford Escape, 4 cylinder, 2.3 liter, automatic, front wheel drive.
I have attached a video where you guys will be able to hear better the tick tick ratty rattling noise that seems to come from the left side of the valve cover or sort of around that area. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, a video must be a million!!!! link to video here: http://youtu.be/vgVG4-xQyY8I have always taken care of my car, done regular oil changes with the recommended 5w-20, use mostly Motorcraft oil filters, top off fluids, added some Marvel Mystery Oil to the oil and gas tank; and now I’m going thru more heavy mileage-long term maintenance such as the brake fluid, transmission fluid, etc etc.
Oh, must important fact, currently my car has 96,459 miles and I am it’s original owner.
The noise is not perceptible at start up but it’s most audible after a drive when the car is parked and time is giving for the cooling fan to come to a stop and the engine come down to idle/low rpms…(hope that makes sense). I drive about 80 miles round trip to work almost daily.What could be causing the noise??? Ford engines seem to always, even when new to make a valve ticking sound… but this sounds to me as if something is worn or about to come loose?… Your help and advice is greatly anticipated and appreciated before I take the car in to a local shop.
Helps to have a little insight info before taking the punch.PS. The oil droplets you see on the valve cover are cause I pull the oil fill plug to see if i could feel the tick rattling noise become louder but there was no difference… except i got some oil splash out and over me!
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Sounds awfully like rockers noise to me.
Escape should be a pretty good car as it’s Mazda. But then we had 08 Mazda that was not only made in Japan, but a total POS same time. Still shaking my head.
Anyhow. I wasted money on MMO. As in – seriously, I had to drain oil and refill with clean one, as all noises went up.
Do you have hydraulic lifters or not? If you have lifters, you need to run can of Seafom via crankcase, for about 500 miles, then drain, refill with cheapest oil you can find, drive around for about 15 miles, drain and refill with one weight heavier oil than recommended, and change filter. You will de-sludge lifters. On large Siverado V8 Vortec I had to do it twice in a row, until noise went away.
If you do NOT have hydraulic lifters and have tappets instead, tough, it’s valve job.Thank you for your input. I don’t know what kind of lifters I have, so i got a picture from when i changed the valve cover gasket a few months ago when i was changing the spark plugs and found one of them (4th cylinder far right) submerged in oil.
I just did an oil change a few moments ago. Changed from Motorcraft blend to Mobil 1 full synthetic with a corresponding Mobil 1 oil filter, and added a can of Restorer to the oil. and now just lets see what happens next…
Could it be something more serious than just the valves??? I mean more serious as at least the engine doesn’t need to be brought out of the car, compare to a rod bearing job… which is what I am afraid it could also be???
The ticking noise sounds like the fuel injectors and is normal but the rattle noise sounds like timing chain noise. Possible worn chain guide or tensioner issue. It would need to be disassembled to verify. I will check for more info and will update if I find anything.
Thank you wysetech for your input. Let me know what ever you find please.
Because of my current mileage I was thinking of getting an estimate for a timing belt & water pump job… but looking at my own pictures i realized my car seem to have a chain not a rubber belt for timing. I failed to check for tension or excess play when i had the valve cover out!!! Could that be what’s causing the rattling noise? And because the oil is thicker at start up the noise only appears after a long drive!
Hey, I did some checking around but didn’t find much. I checked for Ford TSBs on your issue but didn’t find any. I appears like it’s not a common issue. I work on a lot of those engines and have never seen that problem. They are usually a reliable engine.
Yes, it probably is quiet until the oil thins out which would lead me to think that the hydraulic tensioner is part of the problem.
Hi everyone, just an update. I took the car for a good drive to the mall thru highway traffic. Got to my destination and waited for the fans to stop before shutting down the engine as usual, and the rattling noise it’s not as audible as before, it is still there, but you have to really listen for it to sense it. Call me nuts, but it seems as the can of Restore helped somehow… it feels a little more responsive on the acceleration as well..
I cleaned the Mass Air Flow sensor and the Electronic Throttle Position Body Sensor today as well, the TPS sure looked like it needed the cleaning!!!… but as my luck has it I forgot to reconnected before starting the engine!!! I posted it as a new question, but if you guys can help me here? Did I killed it, or is it safe??? My other post is titled Throttle Body Sensor, dead or safe?…
once again guys, thank you for your input and guidance!First, the engine in your Escape is a Mazda engine, not a Ford. I know it really doesn’t make any difference…it still makes noise. I agree with wysetech on the timing chain and tensioner making the noise. …but, do as wysetech suggested… check and verify the timing chain and tensioner for wear.
For some reason some of the 2.3’s will never have timing chain noise and some will start making noise at 40K miles.
I know it really makes you upset since you changed the engine oil and maintained your car on timely bases and still you have an engine issue.
For what it’s worth a friend has a Malibu and they (GM) have the same issue with the timing chain tensioner. I personally replace the chain, gears and tensioner under factory warranty and about 5k miles after the warranty expired the chain noise came back. I felt obligated to help him repair the car again, but he insisted putting in an oil additive in that someone at his work said did miracles. Being an auto tech for 38 years I laughed and called his stuff snake oil. Well it’s been a year and the noise has disappeared.
I still think he took it to someone and had the chain installed….no additive will replace worn metal…just my opinion…..
On the TPS….If you have no SES light on, you’re good to go.
Not that I knmow what I am talking about, but he does not have GDI or any other kind of direct injection engine. To justify noise being injectors noise. And unfortunately I happened to have a GDI engine in our garage, on Mazdaspeed, and am very familiar with THOSE injectors and high fuel pressure pump noise.
It appears hydraulic lifters are only on V6 for the model, and 4 cyl has valve tappets.
http://www.bluespringsfordparts.com/parts/2007/FORD/Escape/Hybrid?siteid=214944&vehicleid=188268&diagram=T145025I am still voting for rockers noise.
OP, if whatever you used (Restore?) in oil helped, Seafoam will do your engine a great favor. It’s safe and well spent $8.
Respects to all other posters.Wanted to add something. Injectors noise will be irrelevant to engine temperature, correct? I believe, OP indicated that noise changes as engine temperature does. That’s clear indication towards metal heat expansion.
Thank you JTF for your input and advice.
Just to clarify something, I was not complaining about Ford or their choice of engines, just stating something that any Ford owner would relate to, and that is that most of their engines (whether Mazda, Ford or Lincoln) , even when new, do have some tick noise. Which its a shame as we do pay good money for these cars and show our commitment to stay with a national brand instead of choosing a foreign one.
I am not upset, but simply concern that I could be facing a more catastrophic and expensive problem down the road which is why I came seeking the advice from Ericthecarguy and all the good folks here in the forum.
The Restore is just a bandage, not a solution. And as you pointed, I do plan on following wysetech advice since it makes sense taking the area where the noise seems to come from, and as well since I also was thinking on having the water pump replaced before it went kaput.I hope you don’t take my answer as a personal matter, as it sure is not my intention. I did felt you defensive of the brand name. I personally have own several models from Ford, starting with my 1994 Ford Escort Station Wagon, two Ford Focus, and now my Escape 2007. I will sleep better now knowing that I didn’t kill my TPS!
It is nevertheless a shame that if you say Ford to someone, the first thing out of their mouth is: Ford? Fix Or Repair Daily.I drove my old 94 Escort thru a storm that hit Miami several years ago which flooded pretty much every street in the county. A block away from my building, I made a right turn into a completely flooded street, water came splashing up past my windshield, and my car felt more like a ship out to sea than a car. That car kept going till I reached my parking space. I disconnected the battery terminals and when into the safety of my apt. When the storm cleared, I dry my car, ventilated all the wet seats, dry all the computers i could reach with compressed air, replaced the oil which come out looking more like Mocka Frappe than oil; changed the oil filter, air filter and added Marvel Mystery Oil down each cylinder spark plug hole. Connected the battery and started it up! Changed the oil two more times within a few hours and then drove it as I regularly did for another 5 years! Good car, good engine, good old Ford!
Thank you krkoz,
I was going to use Seafoam originally, but since the can didn’t specify exactly how to use it, or I just didn’t understand how to use it, I went for the Engine Restore. The noise is still there, but very low, one has to listen very carefully to notice it above the other regular engine operating sounds.
I am leaning more towards wysetech opinion that it could be the timing chain tensioner since the original rattling noise was more audible toward the left side of the valve cover.
Could it be that just one set of valve rockers have gone bad ?Just add, the 2.3 is more prone to engine noise than the 3.0. One of the more common issues I see in those is leaking chain tensioners, but if it does it more often I would be looking into chain guides. I do hear the injectors but the chain noise in evident.
eandresb2 stated: I hope you don’t take my answer as a personal matter, as it sure is not my intention. I did felt you defensive of the brand name.
Don’t ever be concerned about personally attacking me about any car manufacture. After being an auto tech for 38 years,working on mostly GM and some Fords, the last thing I will ever do is defend Ford or GM.
I just wanted to let you know what type of engine was in your car…for educational purpose only. As you can see, my lack of education of expressing my thinking in writing, my writing skills are very weak. I should have spent more time in Composition class instead under a hood of a car….. 😆
As a suggestion, one thing you can do if you’re in the fighting mood is; call Ford motor company and ask them why your Escape engine timing chain is making noise with the mileage it has on it. Tell them you use their oil filters and serviced the car per their recommendations. When they come back with were sorry we can’t help you, ask them how can they advertise quality in their vehicles.
You spent a lot of your hard earned money for the purchase and upkeep of your vehicle to start giving you engine trouble at that mileage. ….just my opinion…
Hey JTF, dont worry about a thing, and I wouldn’t attack anyone for giving me their opinion or suggestion, just like to clear things up at once. And your writing skills are great!
Calling Ford would be a worthless battle, since after the 3 year 36K mile warranty, it’s everyone by themselves.
It is a shame that although we say we are buying an American brand cause it was manufactured at home, when looked up close, if it has 30% pure made in the good old USA components it would be too much! At the same time, we seem to have lost a hand on quality and reliability for quick money and residual gains (parts and repairs)
But as weekend-hobby, and true mechanics, we like a car with a bit of a challenge, otherwise, where is the fun of having a car??!!! 🙂Thank you SamG, and everyone who has helped with their insights, I will be going to my local Pepboys here and get an estimate for a timing chain tensioner repair/change and a new water pump (just to be safe)… and will keep you all posted on the outcome.
Listening to the noise I was thinking timing chain. Perhaps the tensioner is failing. That sucks because by the pictures and your description it looks like you’ve taken care of that engine. Honestly I can’t say for sure what the noise is but I’d be checking for timing chain slack. More info on engine noises here.
http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/diagnosing-noises-in-your-car
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