Engine tick after synthetic oil and RPM whine.

[overst33r]

Put synthetic oil into my 07 Focus. Pretty sure the PO ran conventional for the life of the car, 70k miles.

Would synthetic oil cause this tick?

It's coming from the front of the valve cover, sounds like a lifter.

This is a separate issue, but I've also got a high pitched, RPM dependent whine coming from the back/side of engine compartment near the alternator. It sounds like a supercharger. Quite loud.

I bought the car like this thinking it's a pulley, but all of them seem to be tight and the belt is properly tensioned.

Also does anyone know what a dealer might charge for an airbag light diagnosis?

Don't worry I bought the car heavily discounted due to all of the problems.:sneaky:

 

[SparkyJJO]

Synthetic, if nothing else, should reduce the tick - my sister in law's 95 Isuzu had bad lifter noise and the way to keep that at bay is using synthetic. (It isn't worth putting new lifters in that car). How loud is the ticking? Is it only at startup, or all the time? My engine has a little ticking in it but has since I got it.

The pulleys may seem tight but that doesn't matter much... take the belt off, and spin the idler/tensioner pulleys by hand. They should spin freely without making any weird noises. I'd guess one of those small pulleys has a bad bearing.

 

[radioouman]

I think that it could be due to synthetic. The thinner synthetic could easily have loosen dirt that is now caught in the lifter. It will probably go away after a while. If it doesn't go away in a couple thousand miles, put dino oil back in it. No reason to run synthetic in a Focus anyway.

 

[overst33r]

Synthetic, if nothing else, should reduce the tick - my sister in law's 95 Isuzu had bad lifter noise and the way to keep that at bay is using synthetic. (It isn't worth putting new lifters in that car). How loud is the ticking? Is it only at startup, or all the time? My engine has a little ticking in it but has since I got it.

The pulleys may seem tight but that doesn't matter much... take the belt off, and spin the idler/tensioner pulleys by hand. They should spin freely without making any weird noises. I'd guess one of those small pulleys has a bad bearing.

Only on cold start can I hear it easily, it goes away mostly when it warms up. I will try the belt removal and see how the pulleys spin.

I think that it could be due to synthetic. The thinner synthetic could easily have loosen dirt that is now caught in the lifter. It will probably go away after a while. If it doesn't go away in a couple thousand miles, put dino oil back in it. No reason to run synthetic in a Focus anyway.

Yeah that's my plan. Only got the synthetic because of the extended drain interval and because it was on sale.

 

[CraigRT]

I think that it could be due to synthetic. The thinner synthetic could easily have loosen dirt that is now caught in the lifter. It will probably go away after a while. If it doesn't go away in a couple thousand miles, put dino oil back in it. No reason to run synthetic in a Focus anyway.

While I agree with your logic, sometimes it's a good idea to use syn for at least a few oil changes to clean the engine, if anything else. A good quality syn will have good cleaning abilities. nothing wrong with running syn for a year, then switching back to a good quality dino.. Just as an example.

Makes most sense when you don't know past maintenance history.... And this car apparently has problems, only 3 years old.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Why would you bother putting synthetic in a Focus with 70k miles on it?

 

[overst33r]

Why would you bother putting synthetic in a Focus with 70k miles on it?

Because it was $20? Offers a long OCI, gives better mileage, etc.?

Why should I change the oil more often if I don't have to?