[shorod]

I'd suggest starting by pulling the dipstick and looking for signs of metal such as actual filings or the oil having a grey appearance to it. If the oil looks fine, and is at the proper level, try removing the serpentine belt and starting the engine to see if the noise is still present. Don't run it for long this way, just long enough to know if the noise is there or not. If not, then the noise may be due to one of the accessories being driven by the belt rather than the engine. Also, I'm not sure if the 2004 Duratech drives the water pump off of the camshaft, but if it does, try removing the water pump belt and see if the noise goes away then. It would be a real shame to scrap an engine due to a bad water pump or power steering pump....

-Rod