Engine Noise

[millhouse913]

I have a 94 ATX with about 120k miles. I've put a pretty penny into her over the past 2 years, Timing Belt, Water Pump, CPS, and most recently a rebuilt tranny in May. Over the past month I've had a pretty bad engine knock, almost sounds like Jiffy Pop, it started low but has gotten pretty bad. Performance doesn't seem to be affected other than some worse gas mileage than usual. I'm thinking probably "crank cancer" but not sure. Are there any tests i can do to narrow this down without ripping everything apart? Thanks.

 

[93rev2sev]

Timing belt tensioner

 

[rubydist]

My experience w/ a timing belt tensioner being bad is that it will sound like a knock at idle, but will go away or mostly away at higher engine speeds. Is that what you have?

 

[millhouse913]

Thats what it was originally. It seems to have gotten worse now, but i'll check the belt tensioner. I hate to sound like a noob, but is there any way to check if its bad or just replace it? Thanks for the quick responses...

 

[CademiaX]

rod bearings? Well, if you bog the engine a lot, then 120K might be it, if not, doubt it.

 

[geomarathoner]

Can't tell a thing from what you've described.....if I were you I'd be inclined to get a big screwdriver, small prybar with a handle, or even a stethoscope with probe.......and listen to it in different locations. You can hear verrrry different sounds from different locations. You might just have one bad shim, which will sound much different from a chain tensioner or a rod bearing knock. OBTW....whatever listening tool, keep it out of the belts!!!! Heard of one guy who got a screwdriver yanked out of his hand and then slung up into the hood, just missed his face.

 

[rubydist]

Thats what it was originally. It seems to have gotten worse now, but i'll check the belt tensioner. I hate to sound like a noob, but is there any way to check if its bad or just replace it? Thanks for the quick responses...

Yes, if you pull off one of the timing belt covers, and if the belt is anything besides tight, the tensioner is bad. The belt should be very tight.

 

[millhouse913]

OK, so today i was able to finally take a look. I didnt get the belt cover off, i confirmed that the sound went away as I rev'ed the engine. So now the question is where do i find one? I read on a couple of posts that Ford doesnt make this part anymore. Any ideas? Thanks again.

 

[sperold]

You are going to find that Ford doesn't make hardly any parts for your car anymore. Look at Rockauto, Shosource, Advance or up to a dozen other places that DO look after our cars.

 

[RonJohn]

make it manuel... do a search

 

[SHOtimer]

www.shosource.com
-they have new/rebuilt idler pullies
-they *may* have good used tensioners

www.rcmautomotive.com
-they *may* have good used tensioners

Doug