I have a '99 4.6L w/auto trans and the usual accessories. My dilemma is, on the first cold start each day something hanging off the front of the engine(belt, pulleys, idlers, accessories...) makes a fairly loud squealing sound similar to an old v-belt that has gone bad or is loose. The sound dissipates to nil within 5-10 minutes. I had to change the belt every 10-15k on my '89 & '92 to remedy what appears to be a very similar problem. Anyone else had this? I searched and found others with noises, but none described exactly as mine. Thanks All!


[This message has been edited by DW (edited 01-21-2000).]

 

Had a similar problem with my '99 with the 5.4L engine. Took it back to the dealer. One of the pulleys was slightly off, so they fixed it. Belt hasn't squeeked in over 5,000 miles.

It also squeeled when I hit the throttle hard, ie., at high rpms. All that disappeared with the fix.

 

Dear DW,

It's a new truck under warranty, so you might want to report this to your dealership's service department right away, to get it on record. I've seen this happen from problems with the air conditioning compressor, usually when the vehicle has some miles on it. However, anything is possible, so I would get it in to the dealer, so you don't have to tolerate that aggravating noise in your band new expensive truck!

Good luck, and please let us know what it turns out to be,

------------------
Mike Troyer
Performance Products, Inc.
National Distributor of Superchips
(540) 862-9515
Email: mtroyer@compuserve.com

 

I plan to take the truck in to the dealer within the next two weeks. I appreciate the info. Take care. <EOM>

 

I had what sounds like the same problem. I've got 45,000 miles on my 98 with 5.4. I replaced the belt and the noise went away. A mechanic friend informed me that I should replace original belt with a gates and I did. No more noise at startup.

 

I had the same problem with the squeal on cold morning, high humidity starts. Found info that there is a TSB. Had to 'arm-wrestle' with the dealer to get them to do it. They did after I threatened to go to Ford's Customer Assistance Center.

Good Luck

 

I have a similar problem. When I start my '99 4.6L XLT in the morning, I hear a noise coming from the belt drive. After a few minutes it completely goes away. If I splash a little water on the belt, it goes away for about 20 seconds. I took the truck to a dealer yesterday. They say the CAM chain cover is cracked and they will need the truck for several days and probably need to remove the engine! I've had this truck 4 months and it only has 4K miles!!! Does this sound right? I looked for any TSB's but can't find one - please post the TSB number if you can. Thanks.

 

I have a 99 V8 4.6 99XLT SC 4x4 and yep..everytime after it sits (cools off)it sqeals and makes a racket like the belt is loose. 10-15 minutes all is fine..guess how far the dealer is from the house..yep 20 minutes ..no more problem. Asked them to look at thebelt etc. at the first oil change at 3K. Yep you guessed it "we don't hear anything". I sprayed some belt dressing on it..it went away for awhile..now it's back. Back to the dealer.

 

Ditto on the TSB search for me. I go to the NHTSA site and use their drill-down approach for year, make, and model, but have yet to find any info related to this sound (or that siv thing that Ford calls a sliding rear window...). If anyone has had luck using one of the services that sells TSBs on CD-ROMs such as ALL-DATA, etc, please comment here. Thanks.

 

Had the same problem on my 97 4.6L. Here's what I have had done so far - New belt and tensioner in March/99. This quieted things for a while, then to a different dealer in August. This time the tensioner was replaced (again) and the crank pulley (due to rubber deterioration). Again, this quieted things for a while - then, last week in to a third dealer who replaced the idler pulley (due to a bad bearing). Seems fixed now, but have not had a good cold morning start yet. Seems to be a pretty tough noise to get rid of.

 

Same problem, squeals when cold, or high humidity. Truck now has 28,000 been back to the dealer on this problem FIVE times; new belts, new idler pulley, adjustment on the idler tension. This high pitched whine/squeal always comes back. My service has been very poor since day one (this and other issues). PLEASE POST THE TSB!

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Hoopman// 98 F150 Ext, 4.6L, 4x4, ORP, Teal, K&N, Smittybult tube steps, soon superchip'd

 

Had the same trouble on my 98 Lariat...
Drove it to the dealers at night after they were closed and went back the next morning after it sat there all night. Squelled like a bitch when I drove it in....They just replaced the belt and it was gone,,,,,for awhile..Then sold the truck to a guy I work with and it started again...He took it to another dealer and they found out the alternator was dragging till it warmed up.
They changed it and problem solved.
have someone check this out.. Might be the same problem.....

 

I have the same problem on my 99 with only 2500. Was in once and they replaced some pullys and a belt. Went away for 5 days. Have it scheduled to be looked at tommorrow morning. Will mention the dragging alternater. This sounds like it could be it as the belt gets glazed. Now that weather is colder, it is lasting longer.

 

Sounds like the same thing on my 97' 4.6l. Ive got 50k and I thought maybe a loose belt or something too. I though it was only mine, sorry to here others have this problem. I would'nt mind seeing a TSB on this either.

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Red,1997 XLT 2WD,4.6 V8, Auto
Stepside shortbed,painted to match hard tonneau cover, bed liner, bug & rain deflectors.

Future Mods: K&N air filter (of course), Superchip, side steps, lift or leveling kit

 

Sounds like the same thing on my 97' 4.6l. Ive got 50k and I thought maybe a loose belt or something too. I though it was only mine, sorry to hear others have this problem. I would'nt mind seeing a TSB on this either.

------------------
Red,1997 XLT 2WD,4.6 V8, Auto
Stepside shortbed,painted to match hard tonneau cover, bed liner, bug & rain deflectors.

Future Mods: K&N air filter (of course), Superchip, side steps, lift or leveling kit