Rattle from Pulley Side of Engine

[David Mueller]

Today I noticed that I have a fairly loud rattle that seems to be coming from the passenger side of the engine. Specifically it seems loudest when I put my ear near the timing belt cover. It is only noticable at around 1400-1700rpms. At higher or lower rpms it is not there at all. Almost like a resonate frequency of something? The car had a top end 60K earlier this summer and a front end 60K done fall of last year. The car has 180K miles on it. Power is not lacking.

 

[David Mueller]

In case it wasn't clear....I was looking for some advice on what this problem might be. I hope you guys can give me some advice on what else to look for, or some experience with a similar issue that you might have had.

 

[masho95]

Timing belt. Was it replaced recently? Did you put the reataining washer on the right direction? Timing belt is my guess.

 

[David Mueller]

The timing belt was replaced with the front-end 60K a year ago, I haven't had this problem up until today. I didn't do the work, but would assume that everything was done correctly as I haven't had any trouble in the area.

 

[projectSHO89]

if the noise is coming from inside the timeing belt, and is RPM dependent, then that leaves the timing belt, the tensioner, the tensioner pulley, possibly the water pump (remove the serpentine belt and test-idle the car car a short time to see if the noise goes away), or possibly crank cancer.

You will probably have to pull at least the upper timing cover to learn more about the source of the noise.

If you can make it to our next St. Louis meet (whenever it may be), someone here can probably take a look at it.

Steve

<small>[ September 10, 2003, 07:53 AM: Message edited by: projectSHO89 ]</small>

 

[sdpatt]

Try a mechanic's stethescope or long rod against your ear to locate the source of the noise. Don't replace things that aren't failing.

 

[David Mueller]

My Boss, who is an ex-Ford Mechanic, let me use his stethoscope today and we both hear the noise coming loudly from the rear camshaft pulley (nearest the firewall) at around 1500 rpms. I am just going to take the upper timing belt cover off and check the tightness of the bolts. Does anybody know what the proper torque should be on those bolts? I'll let you know the results.

 

[David Mueller]

Well, after doing some more checking I think I have found the problem. I pulled the top timing belt cover off and then reassembled everything but the cover, and started the car and ran the rpms up to 1500rpms. I found that there is a noticable vibration, seemingly coming from the timing belt tensioner. Does this seem to be a reasonable problem? And since the Timing Belt has been replaced within the last Year and a Half I don't want to have to do a lot of work, because as many know it is quite a job to tear down the whole front of the engine. Can this be done with minimal work? Any suggestions?

 

[BlownByU]

My Moonlight Blue ATX just had the same exact symptoms as you described, the vibrating sound at certian rpms and coming form the passngerside of the engine. The timing belt tentioner it is. Have fun

 

[Ric]

David Mueller:
Well, after doing some more checking I think I have found the problem. I pulled the top timing belt cover off and then reassembled everything but the cover, and started the car and ran the rpms up to 1500rpms. I found that there is a noticable vibration, seemingly coming from the timing belt tensioner. Does this seem to be a reasonable problem? And since the Timing Belt has been replaced within the last Year and a Half I don't want to have to do a lot of work, because as many know it is quite a job to tear down the whole front of the engine. Can this be done with minimal work? Any suggestions?

I'm in the same boat. Please keep me posted on what you find. I would like to get that tensioner tightened and adjusted at the lowest possible price.

<small>[ September 16, 2003, 03:11 PM: Message edited by: Ric ]</small>

 

[projectSHO89]

Ric,

That means you have to replace the tensioner.

It costs around $120 or so for the part. Labor is the killer.

Steve

 

[David Mueller]

Well, finding a replacement part hasn't been that easy. SHO Shop doesn't carry them, and they said that ford has discontinued them as well. I am going to contact ford and make sure that they really are unavailable and let you guys know. I will do the work myself...not going to be fun but much better than a big bill.

 

[Emerald94]

Try www.SHONUTPERFORMANCE.com for parts.

David Mueller:
Well, finding a replacement part hasn't been that easy. SHO Shop doesn't carry them, and they said that ford has discontinued them as well. I am going to contact ford and make sure that they really are unavailable and let you guys know. I will do the work myself...not going to be fun but much better than a big bill.

 

[David Mueller]

I did try SHONUTPERFORMANCE but they didn't have or couldn't get it. But the good news is, Ford Parts Network was able to get the part. It was 129.99 plus 7 for shipping. The part number is F3DZ6L266A. That may come in handy when trying to find it or ordering it.

In the mean time....building up the energy to do the work. Oh the fun....

 

[Devin]

Just as an advisory, is this a part that is known to go out at certain points in a SHO's life, or is this just a random failure type? I'm interested in that because I will be putting an engine together and I don't want to assemble it with failure prone parts.

 

[V6&V8SHO]

I had a rattle rom the pulley side and it turned out to be a bad water pump.

 

[David Mueller]

I have been on this forum for 'bout 2 years (I read a lot, but post little). I have never seen a post on a problem with the ATX tensioner, and most people I have talked to have not heard of too much problems either. If the engine has a lot of miles on it (like 150K+) I would replace it. The only thing to be aware of with the ATX tensioner and pulley assembly is to not undo the bolt on the pulley. I read some posts about this, doesn't sound like much fun. With that said, SHO Shop recommends in their catalogue to replace the tensioner due to bearing failure issues in the pulley every 100k, which is different problem than the one I am having.

 

[David Mueller]

Off subject comment: Devin...your b-day is the same as one of my best friends--year and all.