I heard about this issue from some DB9 owners. If anybody is interested, here is a link to BamfordRose video.

 

Thanks for sharing. I wonder what the oil pressure spring was set to on the original DB9 oil pumps, vs. the later models. I put an oil pressure/oil temperature sensor on mine as part of the rebuild. I'm also using a "channelized" little end bearing that is common in Ford products now (the updated design). One only hopes that both of those, and maintaining viscosity of the oil, and not thrashing it when it's cold will keep the engine happy. Hopefully I'll know after 100K miles...

 

Since I suffer from this issue, I asked what would happen if this goes unfixed. Here's their insight from the Facebook:

I know of a few cases where the owner carried on driving. In all cases the point of repair was when the tick became too embarrassing!

What I normally see when driven for a long time with the condition is the liner wears oval, it drops / sinks in the block casting a little, enough for the head gasket to eventually leak and allow combustion gas into the water system and a pressurisation of the water system expelling coolant into the expansion bottle.

I’m sure nursing the engine along, it’ll go for quite some time, but do a few laps at race pace and the issue will turn into something more serious.

 

Even though this supposedly only affected pre 2009 cars, my 2009 MY DB9 had its engine replaced in late 2010 with a 2011 MY engine due to a knocking sound. I do not know the exact details but I'm going to guess that it was due to low oil as the first oil change was recorded at 14k miles.

 

Although the earlier cars had the dipstick and associated low oil issue, the tick issue does not appear to be related but probably didn't make the situation any better.

 

If you watch his first video on the subject he specifically states its the early cars and provides VIN numbers.

 

Right, I’m saying the low oil and tick are not necessarily related.

 

Piston skirt slap is not uncommon and is make/model independent. The video shows a worn small end which is consistent with insufficient lubrication. Low oil doesn't necessarily mean insufficient lubrication but duratec cylinder heads are well known for pooling oil in the heads due to small oil passages back to the sump. Additionally low oil implies a greater percentage of dilution and older oil. Those are signs of decreased lubrication. Sustained g forces cause the oil to pool in the heads starving the oil pump causing low oil pressure during potentially high HP events (long sweeper where you are throttling hard) . Low oil levels are killers on duratec blocks which is why the ford guys will run 1/2qt over the full line on the track...

Of course, YMMV!

 

I should add that there was a TSB for mid 2000 duratec engines that had a tick from the rear pistons. The repair involved loosening and then retorqing the camshaft journal caps. Seemed they were loosening which caused the camshaft to move up and down causing a tick...