My 98' 4.2L is squeaking and chirping for ~ 5 seconds after cold start-up. After it has warmed up the engine starts with no extra noise. I have 42,000 miles. Just changed out the serpentine belt - but did not help the problem.

I am wandering if it is the belt tensioner or other drive pulleys...

It seems to come from lower - passenger side engine compartment...

Thanks in advance for your thoughts ????

 

I have the same noise when I start mine, '98 4.2 2WD, 76000 miles, I'd be curious to see if anyone has had it fixed and what the cause was.

 

I know Ford came out with a redesigned idler pulley with different grease in it for the 4.6 and 5.4 for similar problems. If it only happens on very cold starts, I wouldn't go too crazy replacing parts. Have someone start the engine while you have the hood up and are armed with a stethescope. Check the bolts holding the pulleys on while the noise is happening and see if any one seems loud. If so, you may have found the cause.

Robbie

 

Well I would like to tell you that changing the belt tensioner and belt would help. But that is not the case at least on mine. I even had the dealer do it. Still occurs on really cold days.
I believe it is a design problem. With such a large belt and open
to water/snow etc in that area causes something with the belt.

Good luck
Herm

 

Newblue --

When your truck is cold, take the belt off completely and start the engine. If it still squeaks, then the problem is the "Camshaft Synchronizer" which is basically a shaft and sensor installed in the hole usually intended for a distributor. This same thing happened to me and that was the culprit.

If you dont hear it, then you know it's one of the accessories, idler pulleys, or tensioner.

Let us know how this works out!

 

Thanks to all for the advice on this.

Camshaft Synchronizer...humm...that doesn't sound good.

I will remove the belt and see if I still have the noise....

hades281 - How much $$ am I looking at to replace the camshaft synchronizer? Is it only a nuisance or will I do some real damage if I live with the squirell under the hood?

 

Luckily my camshaft synchronizer was replaced under extended warranty, but I asked the service manager how much it would have cost, and he said "probably $600" given the labor.

They have to pull the upper intake and remove some of the EGR stuff to gain access to it. If I can find a picture of where it is, I'll post it later for ya.

But for now, lets just hope that's not what it is! Removing the belt and starting is definitely the first thing you should do. And while the belts are off, you can spin the pulleys by hand to get a feel for what condition everything is in or if something there is causing the squeak.

I'm not an expert, but I'm studying mechanical engineering (does that add legitimacy? no guarantee!) and given the setup it could make things pretty ugly. At the very least, the mechanism could stop spinning and the vehicle wont run because spark won't be delivered to the correct cylinders. At the worst, if it fractured somehow it's not a great place for debris to be lodged. That's a problem I'd go ahead and fix.

And in case you were wondering, the Camshaft Synchronizer assembly acts in place of the distributor; it has a sensor that notifies the computer which cylinder is ready for spark (and I think also fuel).

 

Here is the latest...

I just removed the serpentine belt and inspected all of the pulleys etc. Everything appeared to be OK. The only play or noise I could detect was about 1/8" on the power steering pump. It seemed to move in and out slightly.

Here comes the bad news -- when I turn the engine over with no belt I still get the squeak. Sounds like the camshaft synchronizer...hummm.


MiBlack98XLT - How long has your truck been doing this?

Thanks again for all the advice!