I know this has been talked baout in a million threads, but my case is different than one i can find. I thought that my belt or one of the pulleys had a squeak. After changing a few pulleys it is still there. I took the blet off today and it still squeaks so i can be any of the acessories or pulleys. The noise is coming from the passenger side of the engine bay and it mostly squeaks on start up and If i tap the throttle is makes a slight squeak as the engine idles down. Could this me a manifold leak? Anyone have any ideas it is pretty embarasing. Oh yeah when i am driving the vehicle i cant here any squeaks only here it standing still or going slow in reverse.

 

30 views and not one comment? somebody please give me some input even if its an off the wall guess.

 

What engine? If it is a 4.2, it may be the cam position sensor synchronizer assy. It is essentially the lower half of a distributor which turns the oil pump on the 4.2L. It's the only motor in the F series that uses this. It is located directly behind the water pump.

Robbie

 

Have a good mechanic listen to it; experience is worth a lot in tracking down noises. My under hood noise turned out to an alternator. For you a manifold leak sounds like a good place to start

 

My engine is a 5.4. As far as getting a mechanic to listen to the thing i just dont want to pay somebody $75 to listen to my truck and then still have the squeak. What is the normal charge to have a place check it out? I normally do everything on my truck myself including engine work, i am not used to dealing with shops.

 

While you have the belt off, give each pulley a good hard spin if possible, and see if you can detect which one it might be.

 

The rate depends on the shop. Where I am there is a good, local shop that in my experience usually doesn't charge for just looking at a problem (might be a charge if they had to take something apart or spend considerable time to check it). When Ford sent out the letter about the tie rod ends, they checked mine at no charge. I had a squeal under the hood that turned out to be the alternator. They charged for the alternator work but nothing extra for the diagnosis time.
My thought with going to a shop (honest & reputable) would be that maybe they could help you determine the problem. Even if there is a charge you could have the answer you need. Shop around.

 

Have you checked the heat shields on the catalytic converters? The tack welds break and cause them to rattle around. If so, you could remove the shields, or get a big hose clamp and install around the whole thing to hold the shields tight. Make sure nothing is coming into contact with the exhaust. You say the squeak is there with the belt removed. That means that it can't be something belt driven.

Robbie

 

dont have any cats. i will check to see if anything is hitting my exhaust though