Piston Slap: Escaping A Duratec Headache?

Sajeev Mehta
by Sajeev Mehta

TTAC Commentator sastexan writes:

Hi Sajeev,

Long time fan, never called in. Here’s my problem hope the TTAC community can help with – my sister’s ’01 Escape 2WD 68k miles with the Duratec 3.0 V6 threw a P0304 (Cylinder 4 misfire) as she was driving up to Dallas from Austin for Thanksgiving (as she was stuck in traffic around Temple). She said car was running fine, so I said no worries keep driving but keep engine speed down. Indeed, the misfire was apparent when the engine hit around 4000 RPM – violent stuttering. Replaced the ignition coil, no effect, and the spark plug was clean. Ford dealer pulled valve cover off and said no springs broken, so did compression test – one of the exhaust valves is leaking, 22%. Rest of the engine is fine. Maintained perfectly.

Mechanic (gotta love a service adviser that you can drag back into the shop to deal with mechanic directly) said that he has seen a number of these Duratec V-6 engines with a number 4 cylinder problem – one or two valve springs but generally exhaust valve leak, probably hot spot (it is the outer edge of the engine, although on the radiator side). They said you need to replace the entire head (and all the gaskets of course associated) to the tune of $3600. My issue is – especially for my sister who just graduated from grad school and is job searching still – is it really worth it? A full reman engine with a full warranty from Ford couldn’t be that much more, could it? I don’t think (operating) the car is worth more than $5k or $6k. Although she really loves the car.

Sajeev replies:

I cannot question the service advisor’s logical diagnosis, not to mention your fair analysis of the situation. Yes, head swaps on the Duratec are not worth the cash. My advice is simple, stemming from my somewhat positive assessment of the 3.0L Duratec on the road and on the Internet: throw a low-mileage junkyard motor (usually sold with everything except the wiring) at the problem instead.

There’s a method to the madness, because the Duratec is a throw away motor. For example, the cost of replacing all the torque to yield bolts for a head swap will be $50 by itself. Add new gaskets, and the insane amount of labor on a transverse-mounted DOHC V6 and you’re deeper than the average $800 asking price for a low-mile take out motor from a reputable automotive recycler like LKQ or Car-Part.com.

I am sure an honest mechanic can perform a junkyard motor swap in a day, including a compression test to verify the motor’s condition. And it will cost about $2000 for everything, including a 6-12 month warranty.

(Send your queries to mehta@ttac.com)

Sajeev Mehta
Sajeev Mehta

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  • FixOrRepairDaily FixOrRepairDaily on Dec 17, 2011

    Came across this discussion while searching the net about my car problem. What problem? Chalk another one up for Ford Escape/Duratec 30 (2006 in this case) with a burned valve on (you guessed it) cylinder #4 at just past 60K miles. A friend of mine also had his Escape Duratec 30 die at 60K a couple of years ago. I grew up in the 1960s one block away from the Brook Park Ford plant (Cleveland Engine Plants 1 & 2) and used to feel some pride when saying that. Yeah, EcoBoost sounds really neat. I'll check back on those in 2017. Looking at the Craigslist Auto Service options now -- rather make an unemployed mechanic happy than give another penny to Ford.

    • Len_A Len_A on Dec 18, 2011

      My wife's 2002 Escape is now approaching 125k miles, 3.0 liter Duratec V-6, & it's been great. Don't know ANYONE with problems you describe.

  • S12_200zx S12_200zx on May 08, 2016

    I own two Mazda MPVs. One is a 2.5 v6 Duratec built in 2001 while the other is the 3.0 v6 built in late 2003. The 2001 2.5 DURATEC has been a dream with only standard maintenance such as oil gasket, plugs, oil change, standard tuneup and brake pads. The AIC needs cleaning every other month or so due to some intake humming/buzzing issue but that is tolerable once you have 15 minutes or so to clean it....BIG DEAL right!?............228K miles and still running like a champ. NOW, the 3.0 MPV has been nothing but a headache since the day I purchased it 6 years ago (2010). The motor was only @ 128k miles but with a slight misfire that coils only partially resolved. Later on, I did a compression test and found cylinder #4 with piss poor compression. This explains the random misfire that jolts the whole van even at highway speeds. For whatever reason, there was some quality control issues at the factory where certain 2.5 and 3.0 duratec motor were assembled. Seems to be a reoccurring theme. Random misfire even though all the plugs are clean and no evidence of misfire due to coils. IMHO, the misfire is due to compression issues with that part of the cylinder head or the piston itself. Funny thing is, the 2.5 has 75K more miles that the 3.0 duratec.

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