Andy Slingsby

Hi all, hope someone can help me with my little problem.

I have an S reg 1.8 zetec petrol (black top i think, correct me if im wrong lol)

i have owned the car for about a month now, and after about a week i could hear a sort of tapping around the cam pulleys. then a week or so later developed into a much louder noise under heavy load, sounded as if a bearing had gone!

a day later the loud noise went away (even under load and on hills) and the normal ticky noise resumed.

Also since first hearing the tapping, i have noticed the power of the car dropping, so much now it can bearly get up a hill in 2nd gear.

Hope someone in this forum will have some knowledge on mondeos, only ever worked on a Seat Ibiza and a 97 megane sport!

Thanks in Advance, Andy

RichieST

iTrader: (2)

Could be cambelt tensior fooked and its slipped a tooth....

When was the belt/tensioner last replaced? Its very rarely the belt the fails on the zetecs, but the tensioner!

Andy Slingsby

Not too sure, looked through all the paperwork tonight and couldnt find anything related to it, dont think its had a belt change either but its only done 62k but not got a FSH so really unsure haha. Belt does look like it is ok mind

Andy Slingsby

and thankyou haha! forgot the mention that, i shall have a look tomorrow when its not pitch black

botters

iTrader: (2)

cambelt mate mines doing the exact same noise at the mo if you put your hand on cam cover it even feels like the belt is hitting the cover like its starting to shred apart! im leaving mine tho it only has to last one more week then its getting scrapped anyway lol
worst handling car ive ever owned lol!

Andy Slingsby

yeah thats exactly the feeling lol! belt doesnt look like its on its way out like :S but i guess taking the cover off will let me know for sure! Mine doesnt handle too bad at all, better than my 1.6 r reg megane i had, sticks to the road like glue!

RichieST

iTrader: (2)

Its very rarely the belt that fails, nearly always the spring in the tensioner goes, so the belt becomes slack then just falls off. Failiure around the 60k mark is quite common, so I would definately get it looked at!

tabetha

As said nearly alwasy the tensioner that jams, then the rubing belt melts the plastic wheel of the tensioner etc etc till doom!!
If you intend to keep the car and have no history of belt change, and it's worth more than 20p then do the belt and tensioner asap anyway, it's not normal to notice anything out of the normal from belts before they break.
tabetha

dannyblackpool

missis scoobie developed what sounded like cover was touching the pulley/belt. I changed belt and pulleys and one of the toothed pulleys cannot be turned by hand,its that fooked. Proper proper lucky!

burnzy

it could be the cam belt pulley's i'd get them changed including the water pump just for safe sake, esp if you can do it yourself, i'v a 1.8, S reg mondy and i'v got the same noise mine wasn't the cam pulley's though like i thought i changed my belt and it was still there, mine is the aux belt idler pulley, i found this out by spraying the aux belt pulley's with wd40 and the noise stopped, the only difference is my rattle is only on cold start up really and it's quiet under load.

hope this helps a little anyway, and for the record i also think the mondeo's handle well mine usually pisses all over the little boy racers

Rax

iTrader: (1)

This may sound silly but just check the pulley bolt is tight.I had this on a civic gti I had.Started off a bit of a rattle and got louder like a knackered tappet.The bolt had worked loose.

botters

iTrader: (2)

when i was saying worst handling car i didnt realise we were talking about mondeos lol! mines in a mk5 escort!!

Andy Slingsby

thanks for all the replies guys! will hopefully be able to sort this problem! are the cam belt pulleys easy to change? is it do-able without taking off the cylinder head etc?

RichieST

iTrader: (2)

well you change the tensioner when you change the cambelt. If you are not sure if the head has to come off to do it then I suggest you get it to a garage to be done, as it takes special cam alignment tools etc. Get the timing wrong and it'll kill the engine!

Andy Slingsby

aye! thought so! did train as a mech for about a year, but only learned stuff to do with suspension, and cooling systems and the like! did get to strip and re build a CVH mind

burnzy

it don't need a special tool if your careful enough , but fully agree if you think the head needs to come off get someone else to do it, mondeo's are cramped enough to work on when you no what your doing, but like said get the water pump changed at same time as cam belt it'll be false economy as if it goes you'll be paying for the same job to be done again .

Andy Slingsby

Thanks for all the help guys, unfortunately timing belt went this morning as i went to start it up! was going to the garage as well lol, looking about 700 quid to fix! ahhh the fun