Funny Sound Starting Cold

[ben416]

I had been having some issues with squealing belts and a mechanic told me it was the pulley to the right of the alternator because he could wiggle it with a pen. I replaced the pulley and all was well for a day before it started squealing in the cold again accompanied by a slight rattle / dry leaves in the fan sound for a second after start. I bought a new belt even tho the mechanic seems to think it looked ok. When we got the belt off he found the tensioner pulley was now loose too so we replaced that. No sounds for a few miles then squealing all the time. Replaced the belt and the squealing is gone but the funny rattle sound on first start in the cold morning is still there.

I made a video of it to try and capture the sound best I could. I may have to have a friend stand at the engine bay to get the sound better if this is not good enough. Its between 0:02-0:03 seconds in the video.

Oh, BTW this is a 2001 Ranger XLT 4.0L

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouwZU59bc78

Thanks for any info.

~Ben

Edit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZMKaAPyhsA
Second recording from inside engine bay

 

[trader007]

thats your starter not disengaging completely right away (its gearhead is just slipping on the flywheel's teeth). mine did this for about 4 years until it just stopped doing it. i wouldnt put even 1 more thought into it, it really wont hurt anything.

and these motors are NOTORIOUS for squeaking belts. best i can figure is that the pulleys get buildup of gunk on them (that you cant see) and they start squeaking. clean all the pulleys off with carb cleaner the best you can, and you will probably go through 2 or 3 different kinds of belts before you find one that stays quiet. the higher priced belts dont really mean they will be better- the best one i found yet is the Orielly's house brand belt- which is actually a Gates Made in the USA belt. if you buy the branded Gates belt from oriellys, you get the Made in Mexico Gates belt. its weird but the USA belt is cheaper and it has stayed silent on my truck for over a year and a half now

 

[ben416]

Thanks, that confirms what someone else suggested today. They said it sounded like the starter too. It seems to be fine otherwise now. The 2 pulleys had bad bearings so I thought it was those till I replaced them and the belt later. Squealing is gone, just the starter noise now. It's probably just showing up due to the recently colder weather here in Maine.

Lol I just had to fix a lot of stuff since buying this truck a few months ago so I'm a little paranoid. First a wheel hub with a bad ABS sensor, then 3rd gear snapped in half at the welds, then the bearings in the 2 pulleys and a few small things. Hopefully I can get through the winter without anything major. It's only got 64k miles on it. Either way thanks again for the response, at least this starter thing doesn't sound like something I need to worry about now.

 

[feellnfroggy]

The pinion shaft sticks on those. I just replaced mine. Prolly wasnt neccessay, but i did anyways.