97 contour knocking

[bo14san]

I have a 97 24 vlv ohc engine that is knocking. it sounds like its coming from the top-left side of the motor. The car stalls now too. I just bought this car a month ago and the guy I got it from took very good care of this car. he gave me the carfax report and just about every reciept he had. He changed the oil in it every 3000 miles. He always took it to a ford dealer to get inspections done to it. It dont leak oil, nor does it burn it. Anyways, the car ran great for me the other night. I let someone use it that night. When I started it the next morning, it was knocking. I drove it about 3 miles and it stalled. The knocking is really bad. Does anyone have an idea what happened?

[beyondloadedSE]

You've spun a rod bearing. A 'somewhat' common problem with the 2.5L duratec. Most people run about 6.5 qts of oil in this motor to compensate for the oil starvation.

If you want to fix it, you can replace the 2.5L block with a used one or do what most people do and swap in a 3.0L. Both are about the same price.

[rhandwor]

You can also buy a rebuilt short block and get a valve job.

[pre98zetec]

Originally Posted by rhandwor

You can also buy a rebuilt short block and get a valve job.

All that would probbaly be twice as much as swapping in a 3.0L

My guess is the person you let drive your car took a hard right hand turn for an extended period of time, at a high RPM. Unless you run 6.5q of oil you rick of blowing it due to lack of lubrication

[beyondloadedSE]

Originally Posted by rhandwor

You can also buy a rebuilt short block and get a valve job.

You might as well buy a 3.0L that makes more hp than a 2.5L even with a valve job, is cheaper, and fixes the oil starvation problem since it has an extra oil drain in the head.