Rattling/clicking sound from engine bay...

[wangmauler]

Hey all. I have a new sound comming from somewhere towards the front of my engine bay!

It is not something that I can touch, pinpoint, or stop just by moving parts...

when idle in drive or reverse, there is a rattleing/clicking sound that seems a bit random (about 4-12 'rattles' per second). I noticed that the rattling sound is louder and happens much more frequently (more RPS(rattles per second)) when more electronics are on.
This issue does not happen when i'm driving or give the truck some gas (at around 1150 rpms it goes away).

Example 1: At night time, if i have the car in drive, and nothing cept the car on(no lights or heat or defroster etc), The rattling sound is softer(only slightly), and does about 2-5 RPS.

Example 2: When I have my driving lights on, heat on, and rear defroster on, it does the rattling sound much much more ,and a bit louder(about 9-14 RPS).

I will take a video of it today and post it up here today so you can hear the audio if that will help.

Also, I noticed that when I have my 5channel 1200w 30a amplifiyer on, or off, it does not effect the rattling in ANY way, no matter how loud or soft I have the system (bumping).

My sub is a 15" kicker comp vr(500w@2 ohms), and 4 6" infinity speakers(powered by the same amp).

My alternator has about 29000 miles on it, I replaced it right when I bought the vehicle, about 29000 miles ago.

Anyways, thanks for any help you can give.

 

[Turdle]

Remove the serpentine belt-run the engine for a short time and tell us if the rattling went away.

 

[wangmauler]

yeah, the rattleing sound DID stop after I just did that. I can now pinpoint it to the alternator, i beleive. i can FEEL it too if i hold the alt.(while its on). Everytime it makes the noise, i can feel almost a 'click.' If thats the right way of describing it.

 

[1996FordExp4x4]

yeah, the rattleing sound DID stop after I just did that. I can now pinpoint it to the alternator, i beleive. i can FEEL it too if i hold the alt.(while its on). Everytime it makes the noise, i can feel almost a 'click.' If thats the right way of describing it.

I am having the same issue, anybody have any ideas? Is the alternator going bad or perhaps the tensioner? There are no electrical issues, starts right up, never any battery lights. The alternator is original and has 125,000 miles on it.

 

[1996FordExp4x4]

bump

 

[ecclez]

Same here, 02 ford explorer sport. 48k miles and the alternator clicks randomly a couple of times in a minute and you can see the pully wheel mechanism kick out and kick in while it makes a click noise. No other symptoms, car runs fine.

 

[wangmauler]

Hey, I forgot I had this thread open. I figured out what my issue was - there is a part right below the alternator(that the belt rests on) that is movable - its the part that you loosen to take the belt of. That actual part was making all this noise. I replaced it, and presto! no more noise! If anyone could help me with the NAME of the part, that would be awesome! (been months since I replaced/fixed that part lol).

 

[chapsdeva]

That would be your belt tensioner. Glad to hear it's fixed.