Brian, you saved my bacon! Pulled the valve covers off and had three (3) loose bolts! 2006 187,000 miles I can’t believe these 99 thumbs down? What the?
@@banzairx7 Ford had big shares in Mazda long time ago kept them from going bankrupt. But the contour and mystique cars Ford had where Mazda base where horrible we worked on them all the time had ass load of recalls.
2004 Taurus SES Duratec 24v with 295,000 miles. Pulled the valve covers due to leaking oil. Flexible gaskets were hard as a rock and had 1/8" gaps in areas allowing the oil to leak. I saw this video and checked my cam bolts which were fine when torqued to 89-inch lbs. I don't think this loose bolt situation is a design flaw. More like a bad torque value when assembled in some instances but who knows what really caused it in some cases. I do know many people who swear by the Duratec 24v and have driven them over 300,000 miles no problem, and overall the engine is not known for this loose cam-bolt problem, or a service bulletin would have been issued.
There must have been a lot of noise going on in there. Some car owners are so oblivious. It's like that Navigator with chain rattle for at least 100k miles!
My wife & I have a 2005 Escape XLT Sport 3.0 L V-6 that we bought new and now has over 180,000 miles on it and is still running strong except for a small oil leak. I'm giving it to my sister next month. This is one of the best cars I have ever owned.
Just happened to come across this and realized that's the engine in my Ford 500. Needless to say I'm gonna check those bolts now considering I'm coming up on 250k miles. Got the car for free and only have about $500 into it so far. Junkyard near me has a few of these engines in good shape so if I need one I'm set. Thanks for the great information.
That's what's great about these engines. You can take them to 200+ thousand miles, and then get another one for not much and do it again. These cars bodies fail before there engine.
I was just thinking that replacing the bolts and using some thread locker might be a good idea. BTW: I just call oil leaks the "continuous oil change program."
Yeah, the 3.0 Dura-crap engines are like the old BMW's that come through the shop. If they are not leaking oil in your bay floor there is a problem...... the engine is out of oil.
That's a British invention: old British engines, be it car or motorcycle engines, had to leak oil. Thus you were sure of two things: 1. there actually is still oil in the engine 2. there is oil pressure
@@tjroelsma Ah yes, the Brits. Old Brit cars with their oil leaks and Lucas electrical systems. There is a reason why they called Lucas "The Prince of Darkness".
FTM: I have an 05 escape with this engine and the CD4E trans. Currently have 303K original miles on both and neither have ever needed internal work. I've just been diligent about oil/fluid changes and other maintenance. I even had the oil analysis report come back recently and everything passed with flying colors. Runs like a top and its reliability has been remarkable; great car! Only two major issues: I'm in the rust belt and the rust is starting to take over especially in the rear strut towers. The other issues is that somewhere around the exhaust manifolds/maniverter (upstream of the flex pipe) I have a nasty exhaust leak I haven't located specifically. This has reduced its performance and sometimes gives me a code about catalytic converter efficiency. On a cold day you can see the smoke as soon as you start the engine and it is a little stinky. Its hard to see exactly where the leak is because i think its hidden under a heat shield. Unfortunately at this point its hard to justify what a shop would likely charge to fix and while I'm a pretty avid DIY mechanic It looks like I'd be in over my head trying to fix it myself (the catalytic converter/manifolds are pricey and no doubt the rust will make removing them a nightmare.) Any advice would be greatly appreciated, always enjoy your channel! -pete
My 2005 has 365k miles now, runs great. I replaced my rear shock tower in the passenger side two years ago. I used rivets and loctite adhesive and haven't had any issues. I've done all engine gaskets and had the heads off, so I can tell you the front manifold converter is not as hard as you think. Have the right tools and extensions and you'll get it. The rear manifold converter, I took off with the head. And had to drill out a previously broken stud and install another one.
Thanks, about to do vc gaskets on our 2003 Mazda mpv that uses this engine. 210k miles and going strong. I think I'll replace those bolts as a precaution
a steinman - I’ll bet it’s the same A-hole who put the alternator between the rear of the engine and the firewall. There’s a special place in hell for that guy.
@@chucknoob7041 alternator replacement on a Duratec Taurus/Sable (3rd gen at least) is not terrible if you put a jack stand under the uni-body, jack under the sub frame, loosen the passenger side sub-frame bolts and lower the sub-frame just enough, you can get the alternator out quite easily. It's not 3.8L mustang easy, but its not really all that difficult.
My 2001 Escape had an engine failure at around 96,000, it dropped a cylinder (valve or head gasket we suspected) replaced it with a low mileage used engine and I drove it until around 220,000 when the trans failed. I replaced it with a 2008 Escape and I drove it up to 275,000 on the original engine and trans. It still ran good when I traded it in. It did leak oil around the water pump pulley, but I checked the oil often and kept it filled.
My Dads 1996 Ford Taurus GL had this same engine as well as his 2001 Mercury Sable LS Premium, never had an issue with either of them and they were some of the best most powerful engines we've ever had in our cars. His 2010 Fusion Sport has the 3.5 Duratec which is the more updated version of this engine and that runs like a high performance V8, very very fast car.
This actually happened to me on my 3v. It was my fault though as I was the one who tightened the cam caps. I caught it early thankfully and used ARP studs afterwards.
Good tip and awesome information! Thank you for sharing! I have seen so many of these engines with over 300k running perfectly! Now I know to check on these cam bolts!
I love you ! Thank you for that info and all the work you put into production of your video clips. I learned a lot and it saved me tonns of money. My car is Ford Escape 2002, 278k miles with exact engine 3l, 6v. Runs smooth😊.
Thank you for the info. I have an 03 with 135K. Stillborn as screwing machine. I plan changing out the injectors and plugs. Now I will add this to my to do list. Thanks again.
I bought a Contour SVT new, great car, gave it to my son at 150,000 miles, he put another 75,000 on it before the body and suspension rotted away. Not one engine problem, just oil and filter every 5000 miles. That 2.5 L duratec was a fantastic motor.
I had a 96 contour with a 2.0 automatic. I drove it until 2011. I bought it used in 99. Brakes and alternator and a/c compressor. Only sold it because it needed struts and wouldn't pass emissions in Maryland. I really liked it overall.
I have a 98 SVT Contour. 2.5L Engine is clean and runs great at 247,000Km. My transmission is pooched. Having a hard time finding a replacent that the bellhousing matches. Fun car to drive
Got a 2001 sable w a dohc engine and I have 217600 and it sounds like a new car still. It seems to beat up motor mounts which have been replaced twice in 18 months and trans mount. Other than that she runs like a champ!! Very good engine
When you removed the covers the first thing I saw was the lack of oil, the caps on both banks must be shot. How was the oil pressure in this engine, and how is the bottom end?
Haven't seen that on the Mazda side. I have seen a few cams seize due to lack of oil change resulting in jumped timing and then on to bent valves. I did have my father-in-law drive in one day. He had just come from about a hundred mile road trip.he said when he had started the car up that morning that it had a misfire. He found that it would run better if he put it in a lower gear. So he drove it almost a hundred miles with a misfire. I told him that if he had just stopped and parked it I could have fixed it for under $100. I informed him that I guarantee that he destroyed a catalytic converter and now it was going to cost him over a grand. He learned his lesson that day.
I have a ford freestyle 06 and my 3.0 has been so reliable it’s mind blowing I’ve have had zero issues with the vehicle other then the throttle body recall that causes a weird idle. the 3.5 is derived from the duratec 3.0 which is an amazing motor so thank Porsche as they had a major hand in helping ford design the later 06 and up 3.0 duratec 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾. 178k trouble free miles.
The 3.0 on my escape is up to 230k ! Got 193k out of the original transmission too. Going for 300- your right on the oil leaks - holy cow ! Everywhere !
the early 2000's 3.0 had the blown out spark plug issue. helicoiled mine and drove it over 200K miles. good little motors and the AWD escape it was in was really good in the snow.
Thank you sir!, great info to know, I had a Vulcan 3.0 6 Cylinder had great performance out of it. But I've look at the Duratec 3.0 6 Cylinder engines. Thanks for you're shared info again.
The 3.0 Vulcan is a great engine. Had one go over 300k in an 03 Taurus wagon. Only one transmission replacement, so I think that car owes me nothing. 3k oil and 25k trans fluid changes.
@@jamesplotkin4674 yeah mine was '2003' also James, a sedan, ses model, I drove from '2006' to December '2017', when I hit. Black ice. It only had 140,000 miles on it. It had 66,000 miles when I got the car, I miss that car. I was ill for 11 years and didn't drive much, had chronic pain. Great automobile to me
great info ,, thanks !!!! hey any info on the 5.0l coyote in the f150s ??? i just bought a 16 f150 xlt with 50k on it . anything i should look out for ???
Those bolts were improperly tightened at the engine factory. The ones that are broken were either stretched beyond their yield point or backed out and the slop from the cam cap slopping around was enough to fatigue them. It is also possible that somewhere during assembly, there was too much oil in the threads which resulted in a hydrolocking condition and the torque specs didn't correspond with clamping force and it just took a long time for it to become a problem. This cam/follower setup isn't unique to this engine by a long shot. And normally, when cam cap bolts are removed from any engine, they take a good amount of force to loosen them and it is accompanied by a "crack" noise when they finally budge.
How convenient they engineered the valve covers with a dedicated recess for your lifters to wedge into when the cam cap goes..good thing the rocker isnt done..ha ha brilliant
I find it ironic that Ford takes engineering precautions such as this, yet completely miss the mark intentionally on simple things like bolt grades/torque, etc. All makes are guilty of it. 90% of vehicles are factory lemons.
@@JesusSaves86AB It's completely intentional... Engineered failure to force you to have to take it in to repair the engine or better yet just buy a new vehicle.
There's no way Ford is going to design valve covers with extra space for cam cap or lifter failure- isn't going to happen; good and proper bolt fastening specs should be correct in the first place.
As a mechanic I’ve realized most problems come from abuse. Wether you know you did it or not. My engine has over 400,000 and has been dead reliable. Because I don’t overheat it. I don’t skip oil maint.
Awesome video excellent lighting. Shame to see an engine ruined by a pair of loose bolts. For me it shows the value of finding a great mechanic like you & keeping the car maintained.
I just bought a 2009 Escape with a 3.0 V6. I know it needs valve cover gaskets as there is a leak. Would an 09 V6 need these bolts or am I safe just to make sure they are torqued down? Great video. Thanks!
I've owned (and worked on) a number of these Escapes with this engine and years ago remember you had mentioned this in in your video, "Ford Quick Tips #61". Every valve cover change these cam-cap bolts get re-torqued (or any time those valve covers come off). I've seen them loose but never broken like this and am sure the two minutes it takes to re-torque has saved a couple engines. Yes, we're watching and appreciate all the tips!
@@kerry1111111 I don't think they're designing them to be bullet proof but if there's only a very small percentage of this problem occurring then it's not practical for Ford to redesign.
Thank you for this video, its very informative! Ive been wanting to drop one of these into my svt contour and ive been researching these engines alot, so thank you!
Sounds like a sweet project. Just fyi, the Lincoln LS version has about 280hp, but since it's a rwd car may be a tough swap. My Escape has 240hp and a really low 1st gear. Makes for a suprisingly quick 4000lb grocery getter. I always thought it would be great fun to have one with a MT. Good luck.
Thanks for the video Brian - definitely food for thought! Luckily for me the 3.0 in my 2005 Five Hundred is still quiet and smooth with 120K on it. As for oil leaks - my driveway will agree with you! Cheers!
Excellent video... the same thing happened to me it sounded and in the end the pieces of the head came out 1 they bent 8 valves and broke the crankshaft gear very attentive to those sounds of the engine ...
I had two 08 3.0 fwd fusions, one with a magna flow exhaust, and the other with a large cold air intake. Drove both of them hard all the time, never had any major problems !
GREAT info. I have a 2010 Fusion with the 3.0V6 now at 205,000 miles. It does make a bit of startup top end noise that goes away as soon as oil pressure is up. So I assume its a lash adjuster. Other than that it has been great, still averages 27mpg, smooth and quiet. Any issues to be concerned?
I have 2008 Mazda 6 3.0. does this problem carry over to this duretech too? I'm at 175k and think I need to change valve cover for gaskets soon as I'm getting some oil leaks
I'm curious if you have any idea what this may sound like and when it's too late to do something about it. I've got an '06 Fusion with the 3.0 and I just crossed 350,000 miles on the original engine. It still seems to run fine but I've noticed a slight hollow yet dull knock that seems to be coming from the top end. No sure misfires, no oil consumption, although it does leak at the chain cover and pan gasket. I've never had a CEL for misfire although...given past experience, it doesn't mean it's not happening. After long drives, it feels like I have a dead cylinder (not sure that could be caused by this but thought I'd mention it). Thanks again for the videos...very helpful!
I can vouch for the durability of the Duratec 3.0. I put over 326K miles on my Mazda 6 with the usual oil leaks, bad ignition coils and even overheating from failed plastic cooling pipe. Looking at the inside of that valve cover, it looks like the oil was not changed very often which could have been the cause of the failure.
I had a 2.5 duratec SVT Contour. It was a fun engine to drive when you pair it with a 5 speed manual. Mine had a steady diet of Castrol full synthetic. These engines as the miles pick up, the valve train is super noisy on start up. Mine did not make it past the 200k mile mark. Shot a rod at 171k.
Can it produce knock similar to destroyed crankshaft or crank bearings? I have a similar sound form a 3.0 Mondeo ST Duratec it can be heard when engine is loaded, but vanishes on idle... and it appared only 600 km after I had head gaskets replaced.
Thank you so very much for your videos. They’re a godsend. I’m certainly not a mechanic, but with a wife undergoing cancer treatment, I have little choice but to do my own repairs wherever possible. I’m waiting on my parts to arrive, within the next couple days, to completely replace the front brakes. While I’m doing that, I’m also going cup pull the intake manifold to replace the coil packs and plugs. (Stellar design!!)Hopefully, this will help cure a misfire on cylinder #6. I just need clarification on something: I drive a 2009 Escape XLT W/3.0 V-6. You mentioned that this was an issue on 2001-2007. Did Ford take steps to correct this between 2007 and 2008? Has this been a problem common on the 2009 model year versions. I really would like clarification, so if necessary, I can also tackle this issue while I have the Intake off. If much rather address everything I need to at once, then have to continue to fight it. It’s really frustrating for me, and obviously not healthy for the motor to have ongoing issues not addressed. Please help clarify this for me. And again, Thank You for your videos. Your helping and enabling me more than you may realize, at a time when we really do need a break. God Bless.
@Mark Barnfield- I just finished reading your comment from a year ago. I see you didn't get an answer which is frustrating. I was hoping to read the answer as well. Sorry to hear about your wife having cancer. I really hope she is doing ok.
Is it difficult to diy replace the rack and pinion on a '10 ford edge awd?Any suggestions, tips, or resources? No leaks and works ok, left side rack moves a bit and is causing additional problems. Thank you and stay safe.
Thanks for the heads up, I'll keep an eye on it next time one of my rear bank ignition coils die or valve cover starts leaking. The leaky timing cover will stay like that until the day it dies. Not messing with that demon. No space to work and have to remove a bunch of shit out of the way.
not going to happen, nobody uses safety wire or loktite on these parts, we have a Toyota engine plant near us my brother worked at, the entire valve/cam train is assembled and torqued by machine, no human hands at all, so if one is wrong, a bunch are wrong, they have scraped entire shifts of engines because of an assembly machine not running the prelube assembly grease correctly, and its not worth the time to rework after assembly-wild
Does the 2008 have this issue? Every once in a while when I start it in the morning it makes a metal on metal for a second like it has no oil wondering if this could be issue.
Dose this also happen on pre 01 duratecs? I'm having a strange miss under load on my 99 taurus. Changed plugs and wires with oem parts also replaced coil with ngk unit. With No changes.
Here In the UK I drive a mondeo st220 with the v6, I think I'm right in saying that Ford released a service builtin recommending that those cam cap bolts were loosened 90degree and re torqued. If the oil is changed regularly and engine is not overheated they are bombproof but even a perfect engine will loosen these bolts, USUALLY it starts with the ones nearest the water pump, theory being that the water pump belt tension makes the cam flap around.
I hear the noise towards the water pump on mine on cold start only I believe. I’ll check them but can ya tell me if that noise would be from them being loose?? Or were they already ejected or something else?
That's what I was thinking through the whole video, the Vulcan was far more reliable than duratec, duratec has all the plastic cooling system bs that gets brittle and blows out, timing guides that are an absolute pita compared to Vulcan and just simply alot more parts to break, now in comparison to gm 3.6 the duratec is the greatest thing ever but compared to 3.0 vulcan...nah ,just more power at the cost of simplicity and reliability like the modulars going from 2v to 3v...don't get me wrong it's not junk but Ford has done better, unfortunately those engineers from a time when men knew they were men from birth and preferred women are long gone and the poor confused folks stepping up to the plate nowdays arnt really sure where ANYTHING goes,lol I know this because I just changed a fuel pump driver module that was mounted on a rear differential, makes me wonder how they piss
glad i found this video. i have a 2006 Escape 2wd V6. i have currently 77K miles and it runs smooth at idle but in 4 gear going up a hill at 60mph and barely giving it gas it is missing a lot until i let off the foot feed and feather it.
Could you please help me with some tech support? Do all 3.0 Duratec engines use the same flex plate? Having some issues from an engine swap and starter engagement. Nocked off teeth from the flex plate in one location but the rest of the teeth seem okay. The engine came from a junkyard. I am trying to decide if the flex plate is slightly bent in the bad spot or if it is a different plate. Please help?
Thanks for posting this excellent video. I have this engine in an '04 Mazda Tribute that so far has needed absolutely nothing other than proper routine maintenance. It only has 99k miles on it, but when the valve cover gaskets need to be replaced (which is inevitable), I will now know to at least check the torque on the camshaft bearing caps, if not replace these bolts with new ones.
I had a customer with this exact cam cap issue happen on a 1.5l EcoBoost, 2017 escape, 73,xxx miles. Intake cam caps stated loosening from the end of the cam to the front. All but the front cap. (Phaser cap) loosened. Took out the vacuum pump, lots of fine metal sludge in the head and Engine. Replaced the head, timing belt, vacuum pump, intake cam, spark plugs, gaskets/ seals bolts etc. Changed the oil about 3 times in 1000miles. It's at 90k now. I still perform the oil changes for the customer personally, just to do check ups on it. Going strong.
Any issues with the DOHC V6 in a 1997 Taurus LX? Other than the guaranteed oil pan gasket leak at around 93,000 miles, or the really stupid rubber isolated crankshaft pulley that lets go around 107,000 miles. Got one of these, fixed both of those.
