2002 taurus chirping in engine vulcan v6 - Ford Forums

Shogun2 · 11-26-2008, 12:22

Hi,

we took our work vehiclet 2002 taurus in for a chirping in the engine. its the 3.0 vulcan V6. its got about 70,000 on it. I thought it was the tensioner. they replaced it at Ford and the sound did not go away. its very loud at idle and gets progressive with stepping on the gas. Its worse when cold and will taper off when it heats up.

Can anybody help me with this? could it be an idler pulley or alternator pulley, water pump or something??? its getting worse and I hope something does not just go bang!!!!!!!!!!!

Ford tech's were no help.

Thanks
Chris cedroste@yahoo.com

**jwko** · 11-26-2008, 12:29

Probably the synchronizer assembly. It's a common problem I don't know why Ford didn't diagnose it correctly.

Start your car & while cold & you can touch the assembly with your fingers and feel it grinding as it chirps.

Get it fixed before it seizes up.

**jwko** · 11-26-2008, 12:38

Here's another thread on this issue 2003 Ford Taurus

Shogun2 · 12-04-2008, 07:00

Thanks,

I think that is it. my office is going to call Ford and see what it costs to replace that syncronizer. What will happen if the thing seizes? I have never heard of a cam syncronizer? what the heck does that do? is this for the distributorless ignition? Since this is a work vehicle, I am not sure about this engine at all. All I know is this car is a lemon. so many things have gone wrong with it.

Thanks for all your help!!! I thought someone on the forums would know what I am talking about and before we keep dumping money into this car for nothing. we now have a (new tensioner) that was no diagnosed correctly!

Thanks
Chris
Greensburg, PA

chipset · 12-04-2008, 13:43

That syncronizer Times the injectors. The motor will run just fine when it gernades.
I drove mine for 3 months without it. Mind you you will notice a little surging and high idle
from time to time and the M.I.L. will never go out. The motor will run on R.O.M. from the
E.C.M. until the syncronizer is replaced. The part is NOT cheap and unless you have the
timing tool to install the syncronizer or have done this before i don't recommend replacing
it yourself. If you get it out of time you can ruin the motor. You could take the tops of the pistons out. It can be done by yourself but go slow and be carefull. Good Luck.

**jwko** · 12-04-2008, 14:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by chipset

That syncronizer Times the injectors. The motor will run just fine when it gernades.
I drove mine for 3 months without it. Mind you you will notice a little surging and high idle
from time to time and the M.I.L. will never go out. The motor will run on R.O.M. from the
E.C.M. until the syncronizer is replaced. The part is NOT cheap and unless you have the
timing tool to install the syncronizer or have done this before i don't recommend replacing
it yourself. If you get it out of time you can ruin the motor. You could take the tops of the pistons out. It can be done by yourself but go slow and be carefull. Good Luck.

Now break that down....The motor will run with a seized synchronizer??? The motor will run on R.O.M. from the E.C.M until the synchronizer is replaced???

Shogun2 · 12-04-2008, 14:20

We are taking it to the garage because its a work vehicle. my office will have it fixed, but since I work on all of mine they asked me to investigate this.

any other problems with the taurus in the 2002-03 year range that you had issues with? We have the heather dial issue with the flapper sticking in the heater box. that is a big pain. steering Rack just replaced, axels, balljoints. I never had so many issues with one car. it has 68,000 on it!!! Oh well, its a work car, I didn';t buy it, so its up to them to fix it!!!

Thanks for your help! greatly appreciate it. If you ever have issues with Nissans, I work on those.

Chris

**jwko** · 12-04-2008, 14:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shogun2

We are taking it to the garage because its a work vehicle. my office will have it fixed, but since I work on all of mine they asked me to investigate this.

any other problems with the taurus in the 2002-03 year range that you had issues with? We have the heather dial issue with the flapper sticking in the heater box. that is a big pain. steering Rack just replaced, axels, balljoints. I never had so many issues with one car. it has 68,000 on it!!! Oh well, its a work car, I didn';t buy it, so its up to them to fix it!!!

Thanks for your help! greatly appreciate it. If you ever have issues with Nissans, I work on those.

Chris

I think you've pretty much covered the usual issues. Your plastic coolant tank is due to develop a leak soon..lol..

chipset · 12-04-2008, 17:36

JWKO. To answer your 2 questions about the siezed syncronizer. YES to both questions.
The motor runs just fine. The syncronizer doesn't actually sieze. The magnet falls out and trashes the half moon eclips. All the parts fall into and down the shaft. This is usually what siezes the shaft. As i said before my wife has living proof. Her car ran just fine with a busted syncronizer. the magnet and eclips were gone. Just a bunch of powdered metel where everything should have been and there was a hole in the top of the pick up sensor big enough to put my pinky finger in. Ford wanted $287.78 for the
shaft assembly and you didn't get the sensor. The car ran on " limp mode ".

**jwko** · 12-04-2008, 17:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by chipset

JWKO. To answer your 2 questions about the siezed syncronizer. YES to both questions.
The motor runs just fine. The syncronizer doesn't actually sieze. The magnet falls out and trashes the half moon eclips. All the parts fall into and down the shaft. This is usually what siezes the shaft. As i said before my wife has living proof. Her car ran just fine with a busted syncronizer. the magnet and eclips were gone. Just a bunch of powdered metel where everything should have been and there was a hole in the top of the pick up sensor big enough to put my pinky finger in. Ford wanted $287.78 for the
shaft assembly and you didn't get the sensor. The car ran on " limp mode ".

The synchronizer assembly fits down into the block like a distributor & has a gear on the end that is driven by the camshaft. This shaft also drives the oil pump.....The chirping is caused by bearing failure in that assembly due to a lack of lubrication. If this totally seizes up it will cause engine damage and the engine will not run!