Tick, tick, tick: The infamous front of engine sound | Page 3 | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Tick, tick, tick: The infamous front of engine sound

Latest update ....

I spent an hour and a half this afternoon diagnosing the phantom tick, tick, tick to no avail ( once again ).

I probed everything ( with the exception of my six ) with the stethoscope and simply cannot find the source of the loathsome sound.

My best “guess” now centers on the serpentine belt. I am currently using a 5060845 belt ( due to the fact that I have an underdrive crank pulley/balancer and an overdrive alternator pulley ). This belt size has served me well.

I am going to replace this belt with a 5060840, a ½ inch shorter. After scurrying up to the parts house to get the new belt, I was informed it was out of stock but would be available at 0730 tomorrow.

I shall swap belts and see what happens.

Stay tuned ….
 



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I certainly will be!
 






Injectors...

Hello, newbie to the forum...

Has anyone checked the fuel injectors to see if they are the culprit making the ticking noise(s)? On a 32v Porsche 928, their injectors tick like a *****, and is perfectly normal.
 






Latest update ....

I spent an hour and a half this afternoon diagnosing the phantom tick, tick, tick to no avail ( once again ).

I probed everything ( with the exception of my six ) with the stethoscope and simply cannot find the source of the loathsome sound.

My best “guess” now centers on the serpentine belt. I am currently using a 5060845 belt ( due to the fact that I have an underdrive crank pulley/balancer and an overdrive alternator pulley ). This belt size has served me well.

I am going to replace this belt with a 5060840, a ½ inch shorter. After scurrying up to the parts house to get the new belt, I was informed it was out of stock but would be available at 0730 tomorrow.

I shall swap belts and see what happens.

Stay tuned ….

Before you get the new belt you could just run it for a short time without a belt and see if it still makes the ticking noise.
 






Have you ruled out your timing chain guides? Once the plastic wears down they start to tap on the metal behind. I have seen these go from a slight tick to sound like a box of rocks in less than 5K.
 












Have you ruled out your timing chain guides? Once the plastic wears down they start to tap on the metal behind. I have seen these go from a slight tick to sound like a box of rocks in less than 5K.

Don't think that is the problem. The sound is different ( I have heard that sound on another person's truck ). The sound does not seem to originate there as isolated by stethoscope.

Thanks for the suggestion.
 






It's 9am...plenty of time to get that new belt installed! :)

Please tell us that it worked...
 






Oh what 1/2" means ...

The new 5060840 belt went on without any problems ( remember it is 1/2: shorter ). The truck was fired up and …. the sound of silence. The infamous and obtrusive tick was gone.

A brief road test confirmed the tick has vanished ( at least for now ).

I shall keep an ear out of any reoccurrence.
 






Al given that the 1/2" shorter belt most likely resulted in a higher belt tension, it is probably likely to assume that the tick sound is due to a bearing or other load bearing related device within the drivebelt path. I know this sounds obvious but by working with the tensioner you might be able to make the sound come and go therfore helping to diagnose it.

--Joe Funk
 






I wonder about the tensioner, that's the different between belt lengths. Mine is a 84.25" belt with an idler that is 1/4" smaller.
 






Sweet deal Al! :)
 






Are you still "squeak" free?
 






Its back ....

The damn tick has resurfaced. This time it is louder at startup ( especially a cold start ) and "sometimes" goes away after driving ( the time varrys and sometimes the tick doesn't stop at all ).

Back to the drawing board. Any more ideas?

Thanks ...
 






Try varying the tension on the belt and report back please.
 












Well take apart the tensioner and change the spring of course.
 












I don't think he knows how the belt tension is made. I wish I knew the answer for you, but my PS pump noise would keep me from hearing much else. I wasn't impressed with my first Advance Auto belt tensioner when it was new. I bought another from O'Reilly's when I swapped balancer and alt pulley. This one is better(doesn't flutter as much), but they aren't well made in appearance.

How sure are you that the pulleys all line up perfectly? Regards,
 



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