Chirping noise around serpentine belt

[jhoch]

Hi,

I have a '98 sport, and last week sometime I noticed a very faint chriping noise coming from the engine.

I kinda let it go, it was too quiet to find a source.

Now, its very audible, but it does not happen continously.

It sounds like it is coming from the serpentine belt area...

Any ideas on what this is and how to fix it?

And also should it be happening on a truck 6yrs old w/ 80K?

Thanks!

 

[jimbo74]

my dads ranger chirps..... we think its his tensioner pulley or anotehr pulley or his IAC

 

[jhoch]

Well now its gotten worse,

It now is loud, and constant. Kinda like metal scraping if you didn't put oil in a truck. But the oil level is fine and the oil pressure guage runs right above midway.

Any ideas?

Thanks.

Jon

 

[expo5.0]

my water pump pulley bearing went out and it chirped like that, but it could be the belt itself, the tensioner etc. anything really

 

[joehawk]

Best way I have found to determine if the belt is the cause is to wet it down. Main thing is not to get hit by the fan, so is much safer to start with motor stopped. I usually throw a partial pail of water right on the belt [with the motor stopped]and restart to see if the sound stops. If the serpentine belt is the cause, the sound will stop or at least change dramatically for a few seconds. If no change in the sound, I look to other parts.

 

[jhoch]

Well,

After careful investigation,

the noise is coming from the engine itself, somewhere in the center rear under the FI unit.

Sounds like something is hitting bare metal inside, there is really no tell tale signs from outside what it might be.

Like I said, it SOUNDS like the motor is operating w/ no oil...but its kinda misleading because the severity of the noise is not always the same.

 

[Majisto]

Do you have the 4.0 OHV or SOHC motor? You could be hearing the wrist pins on the OHV, or perhaps the rear timing chain on the SOHC...

 

[jhoch]

I believe that it is just a OHV.

The truck is really puzzling me, because it is not doing it all the time, just supratically.......it was really bad yesterday, and today I've driven it several times w/ no abnormal noise.

 

[nole99]

Did you rule out the serp belt for sure by giving it some moisture of some sort.

I used to get this intermittent chirp from my serp belt much as you describe. It would only happen in winter when I would make long highway trips in the snow and salt, my belt would get dried out from the road salt. I would use Meguirs rubber revitalizer spray on the belt and the chirp would go away. I have since the tensioner replaced and a new belt put on 1.5 yrs ago. I have had to spay the belt a three times since after a sinificant amount of salty road spray driving. When I would look at it you could see the dryness.

 

[crazie1]

the sound you hear is caused from your water pump pullie.i just had a cerpintine belt put in and they put the wrong size on and it ruined the tension arm and one of the other pullies,so they replaced them now i have a cherping noise in the front end and they are saying that ford had a problem with the pullies to the water pumps.now i have to have one put in.....hopefully it works?

 

[jhoch]

Thanks, I'll have to look into that

 

[matt97]

If the noise is coming from the rear of your engine under the intake , it could be your cam position sensor. When it needs replacing it will chirp or squeak loudly , it is a noise that comes and goes.Just had mine replaced. Total cost at a garage was around $130.

 

[V8-X]

I as well have a chirp around or right behind the belt, which comes & goes. This problem occurred a year ago when it was cold, so I replaced the belt and it went away.

Now it has come back and is happening when warm or cold. I was driving for about 1/2hr the other day, and it just started chirping out of no where for a couple seconds and went away.

I am also having a lack of power issue which I'm wondering if it is related to this. Seems as though the engine isn't generating enough power, by the sound of the strain of the engine and the change in fluctuation on the Tach. Tach doesn't rise & drop as it used to or should.

What type of symptoms could occur if you have a bad Cam Position Sensor or Pulley?

Thanks!

 

[matt97]

The cam sensor on the 4.0 OHV is located at the rear of the engine behind the intake, on the 5.0 it is on the top of the engine close to the thermostat, where your distributor would be.i dont believe it will affect the performance of your engine...just makes an annoying noise.

 

[V8-X]

matt97: Thanks for the advice. I may look into it as the culprit of the squeal/chirp.

Any ideas on what would make the tach not fluctuate properly?

Like this morning when coming to work, I was holding down the gas pedal increasing speed in 2nd gear, but the tach was holding steady at 2300 RPM's. Then when it shifted into 3rd, keeping the same pressure on the gas, the tach held steady at 2000 RPM's. All this was while I was increasing speed at about 1/2- 3/4 throttle. Finally when it hit 4th gear, the RPM's dropped to 1200-1300 RPM's and the engine tone dropped to a bogging down type sound and the acceleration power was very little. When this occurs, I have to get the X to shift down before it will start picking up speed at a reasonable rate. All while it's in 4th gear, I get a vibration through the gas pedal.

Hopefully this is understandable. Otherwise it just seems like the X loses more and more power with each up shift. 1st has decent power, but after each shift the engine tone gets deeper like it's bogging down and the acceleration power decreases so bad, to pick up speed I have to make the trans down shift.

Any thoughts or advice on what to check.

 

[crazie1]

just had my pullie replaced?

hey just to let you know i had my pullie replaced on my water pump yesterday and the cherping noise is now gone? so it does work.also had my tranie tore down and replaced a filter and a gasket kit to stop the tranie from slipping! it was something internal that was causeing the problem with it.it runs like a new truck now....

 

[groge69]

I also had a similar problem with my 96 limited. It sounded as if I had a leak in my exhaust near the manifold. It turned out the ballbearing gears on the lower idler pulley melted and fused together. I found this out on my way to the exhaust shop when my belt snapped off. The best test I think would be too remove your belt, and try turning the pulley by hand. If it's stuck, that's your problem. Hope this helps.