Awful noise under valve cover

Earlier this week I started my escort and shut it off immediately when I heard a horrible sound coming from the motor. I had my roommate start it while I listened to it. There is an awful clanking noise coming from under the valve cover. I took the cover off today and it looks fine underneath. Theres nothing broken that I can see. Can anyone help me figure out what's wrong?
~Karen :screwy:

I would say that one of your valve lifters aren't pumping up with oil if you just heard a loud clicking noise, but a clanking sounds like something more major. It could be anything from a bad lifter to a condition known as "Dropping a valve seat". Don't drive the car and get to a shop. They should be able to diagnose your problem. I would suggest an independent ma and pa shop rather than the Ford dealer who may charge you just to check it out. If it is just a stuck lifter you can usually get it taken care of by changing your oil and adding a bottle of oil additive for valve lifters.

Most likely the valve seat.
If you are lucky there will be no damage to the head or the pistons and you will be able to get away with some maintenance to the valves and seats.

Absolutely DO NOT start this motor until the head has been removed and inspected.

In short... you probably have some small chunks of metal that fell from the head and are being smashed into the bottom of it by the piston. It seems to be pretty common with these motors when they reach a certain age, or if they have been running hot.

But if it was a valve seat, wouldn't her engine lope, and pretty much not run, I know, something similar to a lifter not pumping up, but if it was a lifter, after about a minute it would go away. The funny thing is that I've never had any Escort drop a valve seat on me...and I've seen all years of 'em, mainly Gen 1, though.

Nope... I have had it happen twice... the engine will keep running if you let it.

FYI- if it is in fact the valve seat, be sure to give your intake manifold a thorough cleaning. You will most certainly have debris up in there that will just get sucked right back in after you repair the head.... had that one happen too..... dammit.

thanks to all who replied! whatever it is is not going to go away by itself.

update: since paying a mechanic is not an option right now, i bought a service manual and my roommate and i ran the car for a few minutes and listened to the valves with the cover off. the sound seemed like it was coming from all of them, so i'm thinking maybe the timing belt is worn out and slipping. does this sound like a maybe?

now that i have the plastic cover over the timing belt loose what else do i need to remove to get it off? it's catching on something near the bottom.

thanks,
~Karen
:banghead:

thanks to all who replied! whatever it is is not going to go away by itself.

update: since paying a mechanic is not an option right now, i bought a service manual and my roommate and i ran the car for a few minutes and listened to the valves with the cover off. the sound seemed like it was coming from all of them, so i'm thinking maybe the timing belt is worn out and slipping. does this sound like a maybe?

now that i have the plastic cover over the timing belt loose what else do i need to remove to get it off? it's catching on something near the bottom.

thanks,
~Karen
:banghead:

I think your belt theory may be a bit "jumping the gun" Did you check and see if the car has compression in each cylinders? Anyhow autozone.com has a good how to guide on how to remove the t/belt. Either way let us know how you make out.

thanks, the directions at autozone are awesome! i love pictures!

i don't have any way to test the compression but it was pretty crappy when we listened to it. we had a hard time keeping it running. so, you think maybe i should just keep going and pull the head off?

i'm about ready to push it onto the lawn and put a sign on it.:rofl:
~Karen

thanks, the directions at autozone are awesome! i love pictures!

i don't have any way to test the compression but it was pretty crappy when we listened to it. we had a hard time keeping it running. so, you think maybe i should just keep going and pull the head off?

i'm about ready to push it onto the lawn and put a sign on it.:rofl:
~Karen

well you allready have the t belt cover off might as welll change it but you can rent a compression tester at autozone.

We had an awful noise under the hood of the 88 Escort we used to have.
It was the engine!:lol: :grinno: :jump3:

That was the biggest POS we ever owned and the last Ford we ever owned.:naughty:

It is so annoying to have to go through all that hassle to remove that little timing belt cover...

On mine, I broke off one of the little plastic tabs that wraps around at the bottom and holds it in place and replaced it with a flexible piece of rubber... that way I can easily put it on/off without messing with engine mounts.

i haven't even looked at it all week. i'm down to removing the motor mount.

Mightymoose, will I be able to see and/or remove the tabs when i take the plastic splash shield off behind the tire and maybe not have to remove the motor mount? :banghead:

Hmm... I am not certain of that... can't quite picture it withoug going out and looking.

All I can say is look and see and decide how you want to proceed.

You should see how the bottom of the cover curves in and wraps around at the bottom... you will need to make a cut (or just break it, but no telling how clean the break will be) on the tab on the firewall side, and do it high enough that the curved piece will no longer catch. With that tab removed the timing cover will lift out easily.

To repair it I used a length of vinyl/rubber (I forget which) long enough that it would not slip inside the belt area and a rivet to hold it in place. You may not really even need to this, but it will help to protect the belt and keep debris out.

All that said... if you don't anticipate a need to remove the cover again any time soon, you may as well just lift the motor mount and get it out normally. I did it this way because I was having some problems and needed to get in there a few times and it was really annoying.

First, thank you all for the awesome advice!

I haven't had much time to fool with it lately, but I bought some tools and finally got the motor mount out. The timing cover still wouldn't come off until I stuck a broomstick under it and wiggled near the bottom. What moron designed this sh*t?

Anyway, I took the sparkplugs out and turned the crankshaft so the mark was straight up and the camshaft mark is tilted slightly (about 2 teeth) toward the windshield.

My question is about the crankshaft sprocket. The mark kinda looks like Ford left a tooth out of it and sprayed the space with white paint. Is the mark on the engine supposed to line up somewhere special, like in the center of the space or one way or the other? The pictures at AutoZone don't show the sprocket I have on mine.

Thanks,
~Karen:dunno: