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OBD P0011, loud ticking under valve cover, and coolant in the oil! please help


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cjkimberly83
Novice

Aug 19, 2014, 8:55 AM

Post #1 of 15 (2765 views)
OBD P0011, loud ticking under valve cover, and coolant in the oil! please help Sign In

Ok guys, I'm workin on grandma's 08 Taurus V6. The first symptom was the check engine light, flagging P0011 camshaft adv timing bank 1. When I popped the hood there was a bad rattling/ticking noise from the valve covers. Upon checking the oil, I found coolant in it and the coolant reservoir empty. I figured it would be the head gasket so I topped off the coolant and started the car. No bubbles from the reservoir and compression check was good. Please help I'm stumped.


Hammer Time
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Aug 19, 2014, 9:38 AM

Post #2 of 15 (2755 views)
Re: OBD P0011, loud ticking under valve cover, and coolant in the oil! please help Sign In


Quote
Upon checking the oil, I found coolant in it and the coolant reservoir empty. I figured it would be the head gasket so I topped off the coolant and started the car.



That wasn't very smart. You probably ruined the rest of the engine that way. Coolant doesn't work very well for lubrication.



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We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.



kev2
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Aug 19, 2014, 9:52 AM

Post #3 of 15 (2751 views)
Re: OBD P0011, loud ticking under valve cover, and coolant in the oil! please help Sign In

 a hail mary to try and save engine- don't know extent of problem lets not make it worse

without spending alot of money-
do not run engine- fill coolant system then use a cooling system pressure tester and try to determine where the coolant is leaking.... maybe removing the spark plugs will yeild a clue.
Also remove the valve cover on the side of engine that is making noise... observe if anything broken, missing, metal pieces etc.


Hammer Time
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Aug 19, 2014, 10:00 AM

Post #4 of 15 (2749 views)
Re: OBD P0011, loud ticking under valve cover, and coolant in the oil! please help Sign In

Has it got an engine oil cooler? I don't see a pressure test exposing much if it's leaking into engine oil.



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We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.



kev2
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Aug 19, 2014, 10:09 AM

Post #5 of 15 (2746 views)
Re: OBD P0011, loud ticking under valve cover, and coolant in the oil! please help Sign In

 I am an optimist :) hoping it is not a ruined engine- thinking is - locate leak then access feasible repair costs, do NOT make it worse by running eng,


Tom Greenleaf
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Aug 19, 2014, 10:13 AM

Post #6 of 15 (2746 views)
Re: OBD P0011, loud ticking under valve cover, and coolant in the oil! please help Sign In

3 cents to add to this coming disaster: Don't let even lousy mix be too high on oil dipstick to even crank it or idle for a second or two. It may have been like this for a while so no telling just yet if broken parts AND a head gasket. I tend to doubt this has an engine oil cooler in radiator but who knows on that either - trans yes, engine oil is doubtful IMO inside radiator,


T



cjkimberly83
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Aug 19, 2014, 11:38 AM

Post #7 of 15 (2737 views)
Re: OBD P0011, loud ticking under valve cover, and coolant in the oil! please help Sign In

I see your point. It was really a couple seconds before we turned it off, I figured they drove it to me like that so I couldn't hurt it any with the short time I ran it. What I'm wondering now though is if the head gasket could allow coolant into the oil but not through the top of the cylinder...


cjkimberly83
Novice

Aug 19, 2014, 11:41 AM

Post #8 of 15 (2736 views)
Re: OBD P0011, loud ticking under valve cover, and coolant in the oil! please help Sign In

Valve covers came off last night and all looks good, nothing obvious anyway. I will see if O'Reillys has that pressure tester, thanks


cjkimberly83
Novice

Aug 19, 2014, 11:43 AM

Post #9 of 15 (2734 views)
Re: OBD P0011, loud ticking under valve cover, and coolant in the oil! please help Sign In

With the valve covers off, maybe I could hear the air bleeding thru? Wishful thinking maybe, but worth a try


kev2
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Aug 19, 2014, 11:58 AM

Post #10 of 15 (2731 views)
Re: OBD P0011, loud ticking under valve cover, and coolant in the oil! please help Sign In

I mentioned removing the spark plugs- might help localize the leak- a clue I was hoping


Tom Greenleaf
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Aug 19, 2014, 12:35 PM

Post #11 of 15 (2727 views)
Re: OBD P0011, loud ticking under valve cover, and coolant in the oil! please help Sign In

Arggh! Test as much and see as much as you can while it's intact. Again, either change out oil for testing and remove pressure cap for running a bit if needed.


I just sense this both overheated and ignored AND oil level despite mixed was way too high alone could be breaking things and mixed up not drawing up that gucky stuff for any lubrication or very little for way longer than perhaps some people would allow if your grandparents just didn't know but could be anyone at any age.


You have a mystery IMO and can only start looking for what got or took the hit to make the noise. So far I'm not coming up with much for why it seems you hear it up top and I would figure lower first.


Be ready and best to know before you go wild both work and bucks if it happens to be a lost cause and too late for that engine??


T



Hammer Time
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Aug 19, 2014, 12:48 PM

Post #12 of 15 (2723 views)
Re: OBD P0011, loud ticking under valve cover, and coolant in the oil! please help Sign In

With coolant getting into oil there aren't very many places accessible to see to be able to diagnose anything unless it's a cracked head and the pressure test shows it with the valve cover off.. Other than that you can't see anything.

We don't know which engine you have but if it's the "U" OHV, it could be a timing cover leaking.



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We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.



(This post was edited by Hammer Time on Aug 19, 2014, 12:50 PM)


cjkimberly83
Novice

Sep 1, 2014, 1:07 AM

Post #13 of 15 (2669 views)
Re: OBD P0011, loud ticking under valve cover, and coolant in the oil! please help Sign In

I finally got back to working this vehicle tonight. The engine is a Duratec 3.5 V6. Once I realized the water pump was behind the front cover, driven by the timing chain, I went for that first. With the front cover off, I was able to pressurize the coolant system to 5psi and I could hear the water pump leaking past the bearing seal. New pump is on order and hopefully the rest of the engine is ok... Camshaft / lifter ticking was probably from water in the system instead of oil, hopefully it goes away. Thanks for the good advice guys.


Tom Greenleaf
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Sep 1, 2014, 4:02 AM

Post #14 of 15 (2667 views)
Re: OBD P0011, loud ticking under valve cover, and coolant in the oil! please help Sign In

OK - there's the source I guess. Duh - change out oil well and warm up and recheck or waste first oil and change again filter and all and cross fingers that noise was just weird pressures for parts of the mix of coolant and oil and will not be damage. Not so sure you'll know for sure right away but soon after it's back to pure oil only and oil pressure isn't off by something like clogged up pick-up screen with goo which kinda suggests it was run a long time all mixed up if so,


T



Hammer Time
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Sep 1, 2014, 4:21 AM

Post #15 of 15 (2663 views)
Re: OBD P0011, loud ticking under valve cover, and coolant in the oil! please help Sign In

You want to be very careful here. You are venturing into an area that requires extensive understanding and some special tools.



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We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.







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