new to the v6 scene, not real sure of some sounds im hearing

[c_caudy]

i werecked my 98 reg cab swb ranger last week 2.5 5 speed decent little truck got used to driving it everyone knows its hard to kill a 2.5 or 2.3 never really worried about it but my new 01 has the 4.0 sohc and under a load its making a rattling noise sounds like its comin from the intake manifold area? kinda makin me nervous but either way im easy to get along with like to voice my oppinion in good ways and like hearing tips and tricks so if ya have any about the 4.0 lemmie know! i know all you guys are really knowledgeable about these little trucks so im counting on ya!

 

[n_grimm]

Welcome to TRS! Rattling under load can be pinging/detonation. You might want to have a mechanic listen to it to make sure. If so you could try a tank of high octane gas next fill up to see if it helps. Detonation can be hard on pistons so I wouldn't let it go too long.

 

[Mark_88]

Welcome to TRS~!

Could also be a loose heat shield...they tend to rattle at idle though...

 

[EERNGER]

Welcome to the station! Willing to bet with your truck being a 2001 SOHC, its probably the common timing chain rattle, the early Sohc's had weak chain tensioners which were corrected on later models. My 02 does the same thing, so your not alone.

 

[c_caudy]

i worked at an exhaust shop for a year and a half through highschool and im pretty sure its a heat shield rattle and im not certain my exhaust isnt rubbing on the trans crossmember... i wrecked my 98 2.5 and i used the exhaust i put on it on my 01 cuz the 01s was rotted off... that thing is really rusty im kinda dissapointed actually cuz my 98 had none but the 01 only had 99,000 on it so that kinda makes up for it

 

['95 ranger]

Welcome to TRS and welcome to the infamous 4.0 Timing chain rattle!

 

[mhughes165]

welcome to trs, and like has been said, its a timing chain rattle, which BTW if u didnt know is located on the BACK of the engine....by ur intake manifold area. it is the sound ur hearing

 

[02 ranger]

welcome to trs, and like has been said, its a timing chain rattle, which BTW if u didnt know is located on the BACK of the engine....by ur intake manifold area. it is the sound ur hearing

How do you fix this? My 02 4l has the same thing and it gets annoying.

 

[EERNGER]

How do you fix this? My 02 4l has the same thing and it gets annoying.

The only real way to fix the problem is to replace the tensioners in your truck with the revised versions offered in the later models (if im not wrong the early generations had two springs, and the later gens had 3 or 4 spring tensioners).

If i were you i would just crank up the stereo, the fixes for this problem are either really expensive (done at the shop), or a pain in the butt (DIY). so its pretty much a worse hassle to fix than the annoyance the sound creates (or at least i feel it is).

 

[mhughes165]

u want to fix that sound as soon as possible...the chain may slip from being lose, and well....bad things happen, gotta either pull the trans and do it with the transmission out, or pull the engine out.

 

[EERNGER]

If it is a really bad rattle, then you might want to look into it (they usually will do a slight noise on a cold start, and then in the 2300-3000rpm range especially under load) However, it is not a death sentence, and there are hundreds of SOHC's which make the noise and continue to drive daily (mine is included). If your nervous about how long you can go with your truck making this noise, i would like to point out that my fathers Fx4 has been making this noise since 75k miles and his truck presently has 150,000 miles with no repair of the noise. There are many people who are running over 100k with the noise with no reported failure of the system (mine is at 160,000 miles) however a small handful have claimed that the system failed on them (which is bad news bears) so take both paths with a grain of salt. Im taking the "im not worried about it" approach however.

If it goes, it will be 5.0 time