Chirping noise

Maybe the inner clutch portion of the A/C compressor is slightly dragging its pulley when it is not engaged?

I feel sure you have disregarded or eliminated the A/C clutch kicking in and out when the A/C is called on to run in the "A/C" and any heat positions with "Defrost" as making the racket?

Keep us posted.

The Medic

Yes, my mechanic did check the AC and turned it on and turned it off as well as all the other climate control positions on the dial. When it is cold out either you cannot hear the sound all or just barely and as it gets warmer the sound gets louder. The sound also quickens as I accelerate and slows when I decelerate. After a two hour our drive it came back full force. I have owned this truck since it was made and it has been very well maintained and the engine runs very strong and actually the AC has been used very little. I normally just run anything on my climate control dial on vent and it does not kick in anything for the air compressor. I have had no problems with the serpentine belt making any noises until these three police were replaced. The spring loaded tensioner pulley when he replaced a second time did reduce the sound significantly but not anymore.

When it is at its loudest, can you quickly remove the belt and crank it back up for a minute and either "rule in" or "rule out" whether the noise is belt driven or not?

The Medic

My mechanic has taken the belt off when it has been chirping and he has tested all of the pulleys and none of them have been making any noise and then when he puts the belt back on it still does not make any noise and it takes a few days for the noise to come back. I have had this truck out to the shop like eight times because once the belt is taken off the noise stops for a few days and then slowly comes back and then as it heats up it starts to get louder. To me it seems like something is out of alignment where after the belt is put back on it takes a few days and the bell moves to where maybe it is rubbing against something but he does not see any marks on the belt either.

And it was run with the belt removed?

What about a whole new belt of a different brand and from a different parts store?

The Medic

Yes, this is the second belt that we put on. It is a different brand, top-of-the-line that they have just come out with, the inside of the belt is green in color. I just went out and started up the truck which is chirping very loudly now after this two hour drive and I sprayed some water on the belt right around the AC and power steering pumps and the noise immediately went away and then after a little bit started to come back.

Hello,

Can you please shoot a quick video with your phone so we can hear the noise, that would be great. You can upload it here with your response.

Cheers, Ken

Sorry but by the time you sent your reply my engine cooled down enough that the sound has gone away again. I did actually record an audio of the sound earlier on my phone but I can only send it by text or maybe an email.

Where this truck is located temperatures are at freezing right now and when the belt warms up it starts loudly chirping and when it cools down it stops. When the weather is warmer it will start chirping barely audible at start up. I do not know if belts expand when they warm up and maybe this tension-er does not work with my truck and possibly I need to get a Ford motor part for specifically my truck. Just a thought.

Just a thought, but this engine has the infamous synchronizer that bushings go out and cause a chirping noise. I would remove the cam sensor and have a peek to see if there is damage underneath it. This is assuming it has not been done yet.

Good morning,

If the syncro was bad, it would make the noise without the belt and is a very common failure for this issue.

The one thing I do not see replaced here is the tension-er itself. I see a lot of reference to the pulley but not the tension-er itself. if that spring gets weak, it is not keep tension on the belt and it will chirp.

Roy

Thank you for all your input. The synchronizer I do not believe has been checked, I will have to double check on that with my mechanic. When I drove my truck this morning the sound was completely gone and the engine was quiet.
Just to recap, I had three pulleys changed because the bearings were bad and according to the diagram on the front of my truck it was the idler pulley and the tension-er pulley and then the other one which the name got rubbed off I believe is the spring loaded tension-er, and also the serpentine belt because the inside of it was chewed up, and also the alternator Replacing the pulleys and bearings fixed why I had originally brought the truck in but the very same day I picked the truck up, by the time I got home the serpentine belt started chirping which it has never done before. When I brought my truck back in, the mechanic took off the serpentine belt to see if there was any rubber on the pulleys and there was not so he put the belt back on and the noise was gone again. A few days later it started chirping again and I brought it back again and the same thing happened as my previous visit. I finally brought it back and left it with him for a day and they let the engine run until it started chirping again and decided to put a different new top of the line belt on it and that did reduce the chirping sound it was making, in fact it was quiet for about the first two weeks and then the chirping started coming back. I brought it back to the shop again and left it for another day and after about three hours of inspecting it my mechanic decided to change out a second time the spring loaded tension-er which improved it even more and the chirping was barely audible. After that he said he did not know what else to do to make it completely quiet again like it was before and I would just need to drive it until either the sound got louder again or something broke. Well after this two hour trip yesterday It did get really loud again and so I sprayed water on the inside of the belt and immediately the noise went away and slowly returned. According to an Internet site if you spray water on the chirping belt and the sound goes away and slowly returns, it is because of a misaligned pulley, and if you spray water on the belt and the sound gets louder then it is a slipping belt. From what I have learned a slipping belt would be because of the spring-loaded tension-er. To me this would say the chirping from the belt is directly related to having these three pulleys/bearings changed out. Something has to be misaligned that he has not seeing are those tension-er is not keeping it tight enough when it warms up. One of my other observations is that it seems to always take a few days before it starts to make sounds again after the belt has been removed and put back on which says to me it works itself into a position that makes it start chirping. Does not the water/spray bottle test prove that it is either a misaligned pulley or the spring loaded tension-er, and those were all changed out immediately before this chirping sound started.

Just left work and it was quiet and after about four miles it has started chirping again. I will be sending a video with the noise.

Sending a video, hope it comes through.

Good.

Again, was the tension-er itself replaced with the pulley?

When you turn the truck off, does it chirp when the engine stops?

Roy

Yes, I addressed the tensioner with the spring being replaced in my second post. It has been replaced twice. And no, there is no continuation of chirping after the engine is turned off.

Okay, try this.

When the noise happens, get a spray bottle of water and spray it on the belt and see if the noise goes away.

Roy

Hello, I addressed that also in an earlier post. When I sprayed the water on the belt over by the AC and water pump side of the belt the noise goes away completely and then slowly returns. From what I have learned that means there is a misalignment of a pulley. If the noise gets louder than the belt is slipping.

No, not misaligned.

It indicates the belt ribs are making noise against the pulleys. It is not the pulleys at all.

That tells me it is the belt.

I know you have changed the belt a couple of times. What brand did you use?

Roy

I do not know the different brands. It says on my paperwork that it is just a serpentine drive belt that was under warranty I believe it probably came from AutoZone or Napa and the second belt says K061031HD/premium heavy duty belt and that was the second belt that was put on. It is supposed be new on the market and the underside of the belt is green. And besides the alternator it says that the tensioner assembly and the smooth idler pulley and the grooved idler pulley were replaced.

When the premium heavy duty belt was put on it did help and there was no noise for about two weeks and then it slowly came back, though not as bad as the previous belt. After that my mechanic changed out the tension-er assembly a second time and that helped even more to where it was just a faint chirp and at that point he did not know what else to do to get it completely quiet. It stayed just a faint sound until I went on this two hour trip and now the sound is back full force but only starts making a sound after it gets warmed up and then the next morning is quiet again.

I do not know if it will make any difference but seven months prior at a different shop I had a new water pump and power steering pump put in and the mechanic put on a new serpentine belt because he said that it was soaked with fluids. There was a light chirping with the new belt he put on and he said it was defective so he put another belt on and it has been quiet until these pulleys were changed out just a couple months ago.

And then seven months after the water pump and power steering pump and serpentine belt are replaced all of a sudden three bearings in three pulleys go out and the seven-month-old serpentine belt is all chewed up on the underside.

Got it.

It definitely sounds like the belt is the issue. You need to have someone else look at this to help determine the issue. I think it is the belt whether it is the wrong length or width.

Roy

Alright, it looks like I am probably headed in that direction, to have a second pair of eyes take a look at it. Thank you for your time! Merry Christmas!

Thank you.

Merry Christmas to you and yours as well.

Keep us updated.

Roy

Hello, just thought I would give you an update. I droped my truck back off at my mechanic because the sound was intensifying and he just started taking things apart trying to see what was making the noise and finally found something. It had nothing to do with the belt and nothing to do with the pulleys. He saw a piece of metal moving on a plate that bolts into the power steering pump and discovered there was this huge bolt missing out of it. He put something in the hole and the sound immediately stopped he took it back out and the sound started back up he put it back in and the sound immediately stopped again. The shop that had replaced my power steering pump and water pump this past February forgot to put the bolt back in because as you can see in the picture there is grime covering the area where the bolt would be as well as inside of it. The reason the sound went away when I sprayed the belt is I was spraying in the exact area of this plate. This has pretty much been a nightmare for both of us and we are all very relieved that this has been fixed. Thank you again for your help, and merry Christmas!

wow, that is not good. Glad he found that for you.

Thanks, same to you and yours.

Always glad to help.

Roy