Ford Mondeo Estate 2001 - Mondeo Mk3 diesel ticking

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Fri 15 Jul 2016 19:27
Ford Mondeo Estate 2001 - Mondeo Mk3 diesel ticking - cubeflake

Hi folks,

After browsing around on this forum for some time, thought I'd make an account for myself to ask about a problem I have.

We've bought a Mondeo Mk3 from 2001 with the 2.0 116hp duratorq diesel engine to make a roadtrip through Eastern Europe. After driving about 2000km, the engine has developed a ticking noise. It doesn't sound particularly alarming but because we still have at least 3000km ahead of us I'd like to know if it's dangerous and what might be the cause of it.

What I know:

  • ticking noise from the engine, not terribly loud but easy to hear from inside the car
  • it seems to come from somewhere on the drivers side of the engine
  • when you lift the gas, the sound remains equally loud
  • the ticking only occurs when engine is at normal temperature, not when it's cold
  • the engine runs perfectly fine, normal amount of power and torque

To me it sounds like ticking cams, but I've had only one car before so I could be wrong. We checked the oil level, it was only just enough so we filled it until right under the 'max' indicator. This didn't help unfortunately.

We went to a dealer, but I'm not sure if he understood what sound we were referring to. When you open the bonnet to listen, the engine makes so much noise by itself that the ticking is hard to pick out. He told us the injectors make the sound and that there's nothing to worry about. Afterwards I realised this didn't make a lot of sense because the sound stays if you lift the gas. I think we'll go to another dealer and ask the guy to come along for a small ride because it's easier to hear when driving.

Any insights would be greatly appreciated!

Jim

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Fri 15 Jul 2016 21:36
Ford Mondeo Estate 2001 - Mondeo Mk3 diesel ticking - MrEckerslikefromRamsbottom

Could be the crankshaft damper pulley ready to give up on you. They all seem to make a different noise as the rubber starts to deteriorate, but often start with a ticking noise as the rubber starts to break away at one point on the circumference. If it is that, it's not serious and you can change the pulley when it goes altogether.

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Sun 17 Jul 2016 19:02
Ford Mondeo Estate 2001 - Mondeo Mk3 diesel ticking - cubeflake

Thanks a lot mate, what would happen if the pulley breaks? Will the engine just vibrate a bit more and that's it? And could we still drive anouther few thousand km's without the pully? We're about to enter into Russia so getting a garage to understand us will become tricky haha.

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Sun 17 Jul 2016 19:24
Ford Mondeo Estate 2001 - Mondeo Mk3 diesel ticking - cubeflake

I just realised it probably won't be the pully itself that breaks, just the rubber that's on it. I guess we should be fine if we don't push the engine too much, right?

Edited by cubeflake on 17/07/2016 at 19:25

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Sun 17 Jul 2016 23:36
Ford Mondeo Estate 2001 - Mondeo Mk3 diesel ticking - galileo

I just realised it probably won't be the pully itself that breaks, just the rubber that's on it. I guess we should be fine if we don't push the engine too much, right?

The pulley has rubber on it becuse it is calculated and designed to damp out crankshaft vibrations which could lead to fatigue failure of the crankshaft.

I would not personally feel happy driving thousands of miles with a dud crankshaft pulley. There will be some rpm ranges when crank harmonics are worse than others (but unless someone knows which they are you won't be able to avoid them) but keeping the revs down is probably a good idea if you can't get a new pulley fitted.

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Tue 19 Jul 2016 21:54
Ford Mondeo Estate 2001 - Mondeo Mk3 diesel ticking - MrEckerslikefromRamsbottom
And if the drive belt turns the alternator and power steering pump, as it does on my Fiesta, you have the half of the pulley fastened to the crankshaft turning, and a heck of a lot of rattling as it tries to pull the disconnected outer half around. I got back from Southport to Ramsbottom with mine broken, but the headlights were getting dimmer by the mile. The pulley was turning enough to keep the steering pump pressurised though.
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Tue 19 Jul 2016 22:49
Ford Mondeo Estate 2001 - Mondeo Mk3 diesel ticking - focussed
Crankshaft rubber damper pulleys don't usually tick - if the outer becomes unbonded from the inner they usually squeal when trying to drive the auxilliaries like alternator and PS pump. The detached outer can do a lot of damage to the front end of the engine cam belt covers etc .
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Wed 20 Jul 2016 11:22
Ford Mondeo Estate 2001 - Mondeo Mk3 diesel ticking - cubeflake

Thanks a lot for all the replies guys. Driving with a (almost) broken damper pulley is clearly a no-go. We brought it to a garage here (in Helsinki), the guy seemed to understand the problem. He said the damper pulley looked fine, he also checked most of the other pulleys and said they looked fine as well. He also checked the exhaust although it's not a plausible source of the sound in my opinion.

At this moment they have not found the problem yet. Because we know the damper pulley is not the problem and the sound didn't sound particularly worrying we will pick up the car later today and drive a few hundred km's into Russia. I'm guessing if we don't drive it too fast it should hold. I'll keep you posted, any suggestions are still greatly appreciated :)

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Wed 20 Jul 2016 13:19
Ford Mondeo Estate 2001 - Mondeo Mk3 diesel ticking - Peter D

Did the garage check the injectors a cracked or failed injector seal can tick every time it fires. Regards Peter

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Thu 28 Jul 2016 18:31
Ford Mondeo Estate 2001 - Mondeo Mk3 diesel ticking - cubeflake
Quick update, the garage in Helsinki checked all the pulleys, everything looked fine. The guy said it might be the injectors, but when I asked how it's possible that the sound is still there if you lift the throttle the man said he didn't know.
Anyway we drove another 1000km's with it and it still sounds exactly the same, seems to be alright.. He said it might also be a timing issue but then the engine should performance worse and I don't think that's the case. I have noticed some very slight irregularities when idling but they are so mild that they very well might have been there already before the ticking sound started.
What do you guys think, is something with the injectors a plausible explanation given that the sounds stays the same when the throttle is lifted?
Can't it be something with the cams? A bent tappet or something like that?

Edited by cubeflake on 28/07/2016 at 18:32

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Thu 28 Jul 2016 19:43
Ford Mondeo Estate 2001 - Mondeo Mk3 diesel ticking - elekie&a/c doctor
Is this a TDi injection system or a Tdci common rail?
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