Loud chirping under the hood now

[paulnola]

Within the last week or so, a loud chirping noise has developed, chirping regularly every few revolutions (or so it seems). Without doing a detailed inspection, I checked the serpentine belt and it looks good. But I did just pass 104K miles, and do not know when it was last replaced. The truck had 77K miles when I bought it and has not had any problems. It runs like a champ otherwise, and this is the first odd noise it has made for me.

I plan on doing a thorough inspection soon (once all the rain stops and I can get caught up on outside projects) but am curious if anyone has a quick idea of what it is.

Thanks

 

[Frmboybuck]

The bearing in the idler pulley is going out. Replace the idler

 

[paulnola]

Possible cam syncro failing

I just read another person's engine noise thread, and read a more accurate description of the noise than I gave. TomB1269 described a noise like a wounded squirrel coming from the rear of the engine, and said that is what it sounds like when the cam syncro is about to fail. So I asked:

That is the noise my 2004 started making about a week & a half ago, getting a little louder and more regular as time has passed. How hard is this to fix? I'm no serious mechanic, but I have successfully replaced the heads on my old 90 Ranger 2.9. Should I stop driving it until I get it fixed? This has me concerned now. Any advice will be extremely appreciated.

Has anyone else had this problem? Please weigh in with suggestions or comments.

Thanks,

 

[Frmboybuck]

So is the noise coming from the front of the block or the back?

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

the cam syncro is a very common failure for post distributor 3.0l models. it sounds like a dying squirrel under the hood and will only get worse, potentially damaging your cam shaft.

 

[kawasakiman27]

It's pretty easy to fix. Get TDC compression (mine called for 10deg ATC), pull out old, line up and pop in new. Easy.

 

[BC ranger]

I had that on my '02 B3000 right around 100,000km. I drove it around for another couple of thousand before figuring out what it was & getting it fixed. I was keen to try doing it myself but what a chore to try and get at the bloody thing! The mechanic did it for pretty cheap. I believe the part # is Motorcraft DA2089, I got mine from Rockauto:

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/raframecatalog.php

Replaced the little sensor on top at the same time. When I got the faulty part it made a very distinctive squeak when I turned it.