redraif
The uphill battle begins
Sport xls 3.0L auto 4wd. 245,000 miles. Timing belt done at 225,000 miles with Water pump. New water pump 3000 miles ago due to seal failure. less than 1000 miles ago (beginning of August) crank shaft pulley bolt backed out. Was reinstalled by a friend and truck has been 100% since, till this noise.
So this clattering type noise just started this past week out of the blue. Its only when the truck is cold. AC is off. After a good drive its quiet. This is not the normal ticking you get either at cold start or a thrown rod sound. (yes I heard that before... 2 different engines. Will never forget the rocks in a dry sound) Checked the oil as it will make some nasty ticking when it gets low. It was a touch low, so I topped it off, but not enough to account for this. (On a side note... Tracking the leak is no fun. 14 cans of brake cleaner and about 5 hours of wiping and scrubbing to get the oil residue gone, just to try to track the leak. UGH! I hate previous owners who neglect things and shops that don't wipe things down when they take things apart.)
Anyway, I digress, the noise. Due to recently throwing the crank pulley I checked it first. Solid as a rock!
Its not wobbling either. To describe the noise, it sounds like plastic hitting something. Think card in bicycle spokes. First thing I looked at was to see if the fan was making contact with anything. Like a small stick or something to that effect...nada Belts don't appear to be making contact with anything. Can't see anything hitting any pulleys. Not sure what to make of the noise.
A friend came by and took a listen. used the screwdriver trick. He detected a noise on the driver side of the timing cover. He shifted it towards the pass side and it went away. Looks like the timing cover might be cracked, or is it seamed at the passenger side valve cover? Thought that was it. But it did it again at next cold start. I checked the timing cover... nope not it. (The truck had actually been driven the morning prior to him listening to it, so it was apparently not presenting itself fully.)
So I videoed the noise in hopes someone would have some insight before I have to give it to a shop to track the noise. Back of my mind said could it be something with the fan? the clutch going out? Been having some issues with cooling at idle in traffic on 90+ degree days. It gets to the 3/4 mark, but not over. Resolves as soon as the truck is moving again. But I do have a 2 inch body lift and have the lower bottom edge of the fan shroud off to clear the fan.
First video: at the wheel wells and through the grill. Did not thing to video the engine bay.
https://youtu.be/D8MZdwQcmdw
Second video: engine bay level. throttled it up a bit, but it stays consist ant with the RPMs and does nothing telling.
https://youtu.be/3TjLjnRFyDc
Third video: at home after errands fully warmed up. No noise.
https://youtu.be/UJqzrPywOz0
So this clattering type noise just started this past week out of the blue. Its only when the truck is cold. AC is off. After a good drive its quiet. This is not the normal ticking you get either at cold start or a thrown rod sound. (yes I heard that before... 2 different engines. Will never forget the rocks in a dry sound) Checked the oil as it will make some nasty ticking when it gets low. It was a touch low, so I topped it off, but not enough to account for this. (On a side note... Tracking the leak is no fun. 14 cans of brake cleaner and about 5 hours of wiping and scrubbing to get the oil residue gone, just to try to track the leak. UGH! I hate previous owners who neglect things and shops that don't wipe things down when they take things apart.)
Anyway, I digress, the noise. Due to recently throwing the crank pulley I checked it first. Solid as a rock!
Its not wobbling either. To describe the noise, it sounds like plastic hitting something. Think card in bicycle spokes. First thing I looked at was to see if the fan was making contact with anything. Like a small stick or something to that effect...nada Belts don't appear to be making contact with anything. Can't see anything hitting any pulleys. Not sure what to make of the noise. A friend came by and took a listen. used the screwdriver trick. He detected a noise on the driver side of the timing cover. He shifted it towards the pass side and it went away. Looks like the timing cover might be cracked, or is it seamed at the passenger side valve cover? Thought that was it. But it did it again at next cold start. I checked the timing cover... nope not it. (The truck had actually been driven the morning prior to him listening to it, so it was apparently not presenting itself fully.)
So I videoed the noise in hopes someone would have some insight before I have to give it to a shop to track the noise. Back of my mind said could it be something with the fan? the clutch going out? Been having some issues with cooling at idle in traffic on 90+ degree days. It gets to the 3/4 mark, but not over. Resolves as soon as the truck is moving again. But I do have a 2 inch body lift and have the lower bottom edge of the fan shroud off to clear the fan.
First video: at the wheel wells and through the grill. Did not thing to video the engine bay.
https://youtu.be/D8MZdwQcmdw
Second video: engine bay level. throttled it up a bit, but it stays consist ant with the RPMs and does nothing telling.
https://youtu.be/3TjLjnRFyDc
Third video: at home after errands fully warmed up. No noise.
https://youtu.be/UJqzrPywOz0
