ST220 engine noise

[DA220]

Hi, I have recently bought a Mondeo ST220 as spares as repair, the engine runs fine apart from a loud ticking/knocking noise that I think is coming from the rear cylinder bank. I’ve had the valve/rocker cover off and had a look, the cams seem to be in good condition except one or two of the lobes have a slightly pitted area. The timing chain seems to be in good condition and isn’t slack. Below is a link to a video of the noise.

https://youtu.be/rLiWr9RUyE8

Does anyone have any idea what the noise might be? The car did have an oil leak so it may have been run low on oil by a previous owner. The noise is also always there, when the engine is cold and warm and at any revs .
Thanks

Edited by DA220 on Tuesday 14th November 20:43

[GreenV8S]

It sounds muffled enough not to fit an exhaust manifold leak so I suppose that must indicate a mechanical problem. The obvious candidates are the valve train and the reciprocating bits, which I guess you already knew.

[finlo]

Ford issued a TSB for a ticking/knocking that involved undoing the cam bearing caps and retorquing, don't know if thats your issue though.

[DA220]

Yeah it does seeem to be the valvetrain, I have seen the TSB and I have already tried removing the bearing caps and refitting which didn’t make any difference, would it be possible to replace the camshafts, rockers and lifters of that bank with second hand ones? Or is that something that isn’t recommended?

[paintman]

Watched your video & there's a few others on youtube looking at that engine one of which I think sounds rather like yours:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HzsMXz7OUM

The noise is at the start & a stripdown of the engine follows. The apparent cause is around 11.25 & is a big end bearing.

ETA I'd not be inclined to replace cams & followers with used items. Based on my RV8 experience cams & followers need to be replaced as sets - unless you're refitting servicable items & even then they must go into their original positions.

Edited by paintman on Tuesday 14th November 21:35

[E-bmw]

To rule out the obvious & cheap I would be removing & checking injectors, plugs & exhaust manifolds.

Having said that is does sound like valve train, definitely not big ends though.

How much is a replacement head complete?

[DA220]

I’m not sure how much a complete cylinder head would be as there isn’t many for sale. I understand it isn’t a good idea to mix and match used cams, rockers and lifters, but would it be ok to get a complete set from another engine and replace them all in one go? I also removed the oil cap when the engine was running and whilst there was plenty of oil on the cams, there didn’t seem to be much pressure, I was expecting it to squirt out of the filler which if didn’t. Is this normal?
Thanks

[E-bmw]

It won't squirt out of the filler, that would be crank-case pressure migrating up through the engine for you to feel anything coming out of the filler.

On top of that there is normally a baffle under the cam cover to divert any oil spray out of harms way.

[Bomma220]

I had an ST220 with the same problem. Long story short, I sold it to my nephew who's a mechanic.

He stripped the engine and found the cause to be a failed little end. The cost of rebuilding it properly was uneconomical so he put a secondhand engine in, around £600. Plus his time, of course.