Low pitched squealing noise that comes from motor?

[SlugStang8997]

I am not a mechanic but i bought a v8 swapped Ranger. It has a 5.0 Mercury Mountaineer engine transmission and rear end.

There is a Low to high pitched squealing noise that come from the motor or engine sometimes while driving. It sounds like a belt or a pulley.

I Messaged the Mechanic who did the v8 swap and he said that it wouldn't be a belt because he replaced the belt while doing something to the clutch.

I am wondering if this is a common problem with this engine? Cause i found a you tube video of a Idle pulley being the problem.

What most likely is the problem?

The noise isn't constant, It only happens every now and again. It sounds like a slipping.

Also my motor or engine generally has a ticking sound while accelerating i just want to make sure that is normal for this particular engine. Everything runs fine otherwise no issues. The engine has roughly 128000 miles on it. I read that is can be a number of different things.

What is the most common problem of a loud ticking while accelerating? My worst fear is that i would need a engine rebuild. But i am hoping the sounds are related to each other and can be fixed easily and inexpensively

 

[pentode]

It is common for pulleys to squeak or chirp as the grease in the bearing dries up and the bearing wears out. If you take the tension off the belt (or remove the belt) you can spin the idlers by hand and listen for a noisy one. Usually it’s pretty obvious. Could be the belt - what condition is it in? is there good tension on it? If not it might be the tensioner.
For the ticking, there are a few things it could be. Starting on the optimistic side, since it’s an engine swap, the first thing I’d want to rule out is an exhaust leak at the manifolds. Sometimes that’ll sound like a tick. Try giving the engine a little rev while looking under the hood and see if you get a sense of where it’s coming from. If it’s a very metallic sound coming from under one of the valve covers, then there’s a whole other diagnostic direction you can take at that point.

 

[SlugStang8997]

It is common for pulleys to squeak or chirp as the grease in the bearing dries up and the bearing wears out. If you take the tension off the belt (or remove the belt) you can spin the idlers by hand and listen for a noisy one. Usually it’s pretty obvious. Could be the belt - what condition is it in? is there good tension on it? If not it might be the tensioner.
For the ticking, there are a few things it could be. Starting on the optimistic side, since it’s an engine swap, the first thing I’d want to rule out is an exhaust leak at the manifolds. Sometimes that’ll sound like a tick. Try giving the engine a little rev while looking under the hood and see if you get a sense of where it’s coming from. If it’s a very metallic sound coming from under one of the valve covers, then there’s a whole other diagnostic direction you can take at that point.

Thanks for your reply
I will give the engine a rev and see how it sounds for the ticking. As for the squeak or chirp I may go have the truck inspected and driven. I am getting a another bed put on today though so nothing is going down today with the engine. Maybe tomorrow i will take the truck in somewhere

 

[pentode]

Ok, well I and others would be happy to help you diagnose it if you decide to troubleshoot either issue yourself. Otherwise, best of luck. Overall I wouldn't worry about the engine too much. There are plenty of potential causes that are no big deal at all.
Edit: just make sure there's oil in it.

 

[bobbywalter]

tick could be an exhaust leak/crack in header/manifold
.....look for soot around the manifolds.

 

[SlugStang8997]

I called my local mechanic and they said that they heard the ticking of the engine and said there isn't anything you can do about that. Cause the engine has lifters. He suggested that i put an oil additive in to quiet the lifters. Would i need an engine rebuild to make lifters quiet without an additive to the oil? So its loud lifters i guess that is the problem with the ticking. He said that he would like to drive it and give it another listen.

 

[tinman_72]

If you kept it EFI, cam sensors are known to dry up and cause a chirping sound.

 

[SlugStang8997]

I am wondering what engine oil additive is best for a engine with lifters? Having never had a motor with lifters i don't really know what the motor is suppost to sound like. What engine oil would be best for a engine with lifters? I don't really know if there loud or normal. What does a bad lifter sound like vs a good lifter? I was going to have a mechanic listen to it.

 

[SlugStang8997]

If you kept it EFI, cam sensors are known to dry up and cause a chirping sound.

Yes the motor is EFI

 

[pentode]

I am wondering what engine oil additive is best for a engine with lifters? Having never had a motor with lifters i don't really know what the motor is suppost to sound like. What engine oil would be best for a engine with lifters? I don't really know if there loud or normal. What does a bad lifter sound like vs a good lifter? I was going to have a mechanic listen to it.

If in fact it is really lifters (definitely possible) then it is fixable- but it’s a fairly big surgery.
What they’re talking about is thickening up the oil to add a bit more “cushion” to it. When we were kids we used to use Motor Honey, which I think still exists. I’m sure Lucas makes a product as do many others. They’re just gooey oil thickeners. Alternatively you could just change to a thicker oil like 15W40 or even 20W50. Those won’t perform very well in cold weather though and to be honest, all of these measures are sort of a last resort thing. I wouldn’t get my hopes up too high that they’ll cure your problem. You might get lucky though. For 8 bucks it’s worth a try.
Oh, and the difference between a good lifter and a bad one is that you don’t hear the good one. (hydraulic lifters anyway)

 

[SlugStang8997]

If in fact it is really lifters (definitely possible) then it is fixable- but it’s a fairly big surgery.
What they’re talking about is thickening up the oil to add a bit more “cushion” to it. When we were kids we used to use Motor Honey, which I think still exists. I’m sure Lucas makes a product as do many others. They’re just gooey oil thickeners. Alternatively you could just change to a thicker oil like 15W40 or even 20W50. Those won’t perform very well in cold weather though and to be honest, all of these measures are sort of a last resort thing. I wouldn’t get my hopes up too high that they’ll cure your problem. You might get lucky though. For 8 bucks it’s worth a try.
Oh, and the difference between a good lifter and a bad one is that you don’t hear the good one. (hydraulic lifters anyway)

Thanks for your reply
I will do some searching around for additives and do some reading on them. But i don't think it will cure the noisy lifters if there even noisy. I have never had a engine with lifters to my knowledge. I only learned this morning what a lifter even is. So for all i know they could be sounding normal and not loud at all. I may not be used to them. The engine design is from along time ago so the motor is more noisy in general. Everything with the ticking may be fine. When my mechanic next week gets a listen to the motor and drives it i will get some more answers. I really like the truck and intend on taking good care of it. I just got it. I have only had it for about 2 weeks or so. I was going to change the oil and put HMX Royal purple oil in it 5w-30 5 quarts. Its a high mileage oil that sounds pretty good. Its kinda difficult to get though. I hope its not snake oil like alot of the additives

 

[bobbywalter]

I called my local mechanic and they said that they heard the ticking of the engine and said there isn't anything you can do about that. Cause the engine has lifters. He suggested that i put an oil additive in to quiet the lifters. Would i need an engine rebuild to make lifters quiet without an additive to the oil? So its loud lifters i guess that is the problem with the ticking. He said that he would like to drive it and give it another listen.

i have had dozens of small block fords and have built many. if the lifters are noisy something is wrong.


every windsor i have built has been much quieter then any cammer... in regards to actual mechanical engine noise....

so. i do not trust your mechanic..

if this is actually lifter noise. i remain skeptical. maybe a bad or loose rocker....jacked up failed spring...lots of things.

now what does happen....because the engine runs so quiet....INJECTOR noise is definitely a thing.

outside of that....i expect an exhaust tick...maybe the egr system ect...

 

[PlumCrazy]

I didnt read through everything....but my Expo 5.0 made a TERRIBLE squawking chirp noise intermittently about 3000 miles after the swap (engine sat for 2 years prior).

Ended up being the cam sensor/oil pump drive was dry as a bone. Put a raman unit in and been fine for 20K now. to replace it you will need the cam sensor alignment tool (only a few bucks). You may be able to just pop the sensor off the top and squirt some oil down the housing to quiet it down without a replacement.

 

[pentode]

Thanks for your reply
I will do some searching around for additives and do some reading on them. But i don't think it will cure the noisy lifters if there even noisy. I have never had a engine with lifters to my knowledge. I only learned this morning what a lifter even is. So for all i know they could be sounding normal and not loud at all. I may not be used to them. The engine design is from along time ago so the motor is more noisy in general. Everything with the ticking may be fine. When my mechanic next week gets a listen to the motor and drives it i will get some more answers. I really like the truck and intend on taking good care of it. I just got it. I have only had it for about 2 weeks or so. I was going to change the oil and put HMX Royal purple oil in it 5w-30 5 quarts. Its a high mileage oil that sounds pretty good. Its kinda difficult to get though. I hope its not snake oil like alot of the additives

There are different kinds of lifters but most engines have them- they’re the thing that rides on the cam and provides the linear motion that “lifts” the valves open. If you’ve only had newer overhead cam engines you very likely still had lifters, but most of those designs use a bucket style solid lifter (Or similar) However, whichever type you have, if the clearances are too great, they’ll click and tap. In a healthy engine you won’t usually hear any lifter noise, at least not over the other noises as @bobbywalter mentioned. In a hydraulic lifter engine, if you’re hearing loud valvetrain noises that’s usually not a good sign. If you’re hearing lifter tick from inside the car while driving down the road, and it is in fact actually lifter noise, you do have a problem. As a couple of us have said though, an exhaust tick can sound a lot like a valvetrain tick to a casual listener.
One other thing- a valvetrain tick won’t necessarily change in loudness very much at speed or under load. You mentioned that you hear it while accelerating. That would be more consistent with an exhaust leak IMHO.

 

[pentode]

I didnt read through everything....but my Expo 5.0 made a TERRIBLE squawking chirp noise intermittently about 3000 miles after the swap (engine sat for 2 years prior).

Ended up being the cam sensor/oil pump drive was dry as a bone. Put a raman unit in and been fine for 20K now. to replace it you will need the cam sensor alignment tool (only a few bucks). You may be able to just pop the sensor off the top and squirt some oil down the housing to quiet it down without a replacement.

+1 I was wondering if that generation of V8 had the same style cam synchro as the 3.0. If so, they’re definitely a possible source of chirping (and a high priority repair)