Belt or more costly issue?

[TysonB]

alright guys so my family has recently acquired an Explorer Sport (Not trac) with the 4.0 SOHC. It has 105000 miles on it so I'm having a hard time believing it would be a large issue. Anyway there's been a sound for the past year or longer that we've just never had the time or necessity to look into, but I'm going to ask now. It really sounds like a belt, but from what I hear, it could be many different things. Pulleys, harmonic balancer etc. what's pulling me away from thinking its a costly issue is the fact that the person we bought it from said the pulleys had been redone completely prior to giving it to us so we wouldn't have to deal with any loose pulleys, etc. so that's ruled out. For the harmonic balancer, it hasn't been driven hard, and doesn't even have 120k on the clock. So that's out. Now the belt. So it does the characteristic chirp loudly in the morning (65 or so deg f) for the first 10 miles of driving and then it quiets and can last up to 25 mi or so. I think it's he belt because it gets louder in the rpm range (because belt is moving faster) aand immediately quiets down when I let off the gas. It isn't as loud with a warm cold start situation (80+ degrees, not started that day) but it still does it.

So. What's the recommended belt for these fine vehicles? Everyone is saying go with a gator back belt because it supposedly has these "teeth" that can hugely help with small misalignment noises in the belt. What size do I need? One size is 21.94 and the other is almost 30 bucks, difference is in one inch of belt. Thanks for the replies in advance.

TysonB

 

[swshawaii]

For the harmonic balancer, it hasn't been driven hard, and doesn't even have 120k on the clock. So that's out.

Not necessarily. Use the link below to check the harmonic balancer aka crankshaft pulley. If not, remove the
belt and check ALL the pulleys for binding then run the engine for less than ONE minute listening for noises.

4.0 Harmonic Balancer - know when it's going bad & how to fix
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=302068

 

[Green98XLT]

I'd start with replacing the belt, its easy and its cheap! If the noise goes away then you know you solved it! easy as that. Get the belt that is used for your year Ex, with whatever options you have. Odds are the shorter belt was for no A/C or something...