strange "rattle-like" noise sometimes. any ideas?

[tbomb]

my trucks making this strange noise sometimes - as usual, it doesnt do it all the time, but itll only do it when im sitting idle in drive or reverse (i dont think itll do it in park.) its tough to explain the sound, but it kinda sounds like the cooling fan brushing against something for a second, then it stops, then it does it again (but i dont think thats it because at idle the fan doesnt spin fast enough to produce the noise im hearing. to make the noise im trying to describe, i think the fan would have to spin pretty fast) - and itll do it for a series of intervals like that. i dont know what it could be. this thursday night, when i plan on fixing my rear end sag issue, ill try to find the noise a lil better, but im not too optomistic.

is it me, or do explorers make more goddamn noises than anything else? theres always some strange noise coming from somewhere, and itll never do it all the time, making it impossible to diagnose, and as soon as one goes away, or you fix it, another one pops up.

anybody else have something like this?

this is actually more frustrating to me than my truck getting rear ended last week. at least i know thatll be fixed - all these friggen noises the truck makes will likely never be fixed.

thanks.

 

[section525]

Hell yeah. Mine has a noise a week. If it's not exhaust, it's bearings. Not bearings, it's ball joints. My exhaust was the worst. Right after I installed my headers, I had this rattling noise. I thought for sure it was my dipstick hitting against the header (becuase it had to be rerouted and bent into shape) cause it only happened at certain RPMs. Blah Blah Blah.. so it ended up being heat shields came loose somehow the exact same day I did headers.

 

[tbomb]

Originally posted by section525
Hell yeah. Mine has a noise a week. If it's not exhaust, it's bearings. Not bearings, it's ball joints. My exhaust was the worst. Right after I installed my headers, I had this rattling noise. I thought for sure it was my dipstick hitting against the header (becuase it had to be rerouted and bent into shape) cause it only happened at certain RPMs. Blah Blah Blah.. so it ended up being heat shields came loose somehow the exact same day I did headers.

hrmm, interesting. that didnt occur to me. it could be my heat shields coming loose. ill check it out.

thanks.

 

[victorysail]

tbomb, it could be the problem with the tensioner on the timing chain. Does it sound like a clickling sound ? (Is yours the SOHC ?) Look at recall number OOM12.

 

[Mike 92 XLT]

I had an intermittant rattle at the front of my engine that just about drove me nuts trying to figure it out! Turned out to be a bearing in the alternator going bad. Heat shield rattles are easy to tell (I've had a couple of those too): it's a high-pitched tinny metallic sound that's fairly constant. The alternator bearing was lower in pitch and more intermittant. Good luck!

Mike

 

[tbomb]

Originally posted by victorysail
tbomb, it could be the problem with the tensioner on the timing chain. Does it sound like a clickling sound ? (Is yours the SOHC ?) Look at recall number OOM12.

nah, i already had this taken care of.

mike 92 xlt, during my drive home from work today, i think i narrowed it down to somewhere around the rear of the truck. im gonna check the heat shields thursday night, and another thing im wondering is that maybe my exhaust system is f*cked up from the accident i was in last week; i havent had a chance to climb under and look around, but i will this thursday night.

thanks though, i think another noise my truck is making might be that alternator bearing you mentioned - i guess the only way to fix that is to get a new alternator, right?

 

[punkbek3886]

do first generation explorers with the ohv 4.0 have a heat shield? my car seems to make the exact noise your talking about

 

[section525]

Yes. Your exhaust has heat shields all throught it. Crawl under there and you'll see em. The exhaust guy just put mine on the lift and tapped the exhaust pipes with a rubber mallot. It rattled like crazy. Give that a try.

 

[Tekeman]

My exhaust (i think) rattles but it is only at cold start up. I'm thinking something expands and doesn't rattle after driving it for a while. It's hard to have it diagnosed because when i take it to the garage, the exhaust isn't cold anymore and its not rattling. Isn't that the way it always seems - you have a problem but it doesn't act up in front of a mechanic. Dropping it off just isn't convenient, but it's getting worse. I'll check out the heat shields.

 

[Mike 92 XLT]

tbomb

Yeah, the only way to fix the bearing in the alternator is to replace it.

Mike

 

[Bronco_bill]

anybody have any good ideas on how to get the heat shields back on without welding it? Tried using a big hose clamp this worked for awhile but started making noise again.

 

[Jason_25]

Originally posted by Bronco_bill
anybody have any good ideas on how to get the heat shields back on without welding it? Tried using a big hose clamp this worked for awhile but started making noise again.

A hose clamp should do it. Try to retighten it, and if that doesn't work, stick a hose clamp on both sides of the heat shield.

 

[Bronco_bill]

all of the welds are rusted through on my shields and I have a manual tranny so everything moves a bit more so the clamps don't work any more. Guess i have to add welding the shields to my never ending list.

 

[tbomb]

well, i found it! my entire exhaust system is rattling against the frame and my rear passenger side shock, from my accident 2 weeks ago. im gonna get a whole new system in the next month.

 

[section525]

Nice! What are you going to get?? Stock?

 

[tbomb]

Originally posted by section525
Nice! What are you going to get?? Stock?

well, in the summer of 2001, i played with exhaust systems, and after about $700 in systems that i didnt like, i went back to stock. im considering going with the system i liked the best of my old ones, which was a "high flow, low noise" muffler with 2.5" pipes, but this time i might go with 2.25" pipes. if not, then im going with stock. not sure yet. ill prolly go with the "high flow low noise" setup. i got much better MPG, and with the 2.25" pipes, it should be a lil bit quieter.