oh man, now I think I've gone and done it.
I sprayed my engine with a citrus spray cleaner and then rinsed it off with my garden hose (being careful where I sprayed them both) and now....SCREEEEEECH.

It sounds like the alternator, but I can't really tell. what should I do or not do before I freak out and take it to the dealership? Any help would be greatly appreciated, I've got a baaaad feeling I've done some damage already.


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If the engine was still wet when you heard the noise it was most likely just the belt slipping.

I've been doing similar engine cleaning like this for years with good results. As long as the engine isn't still hot when you clean it, and you don't use high pressure water which can get into places you don't want it to, you should be OK.

Let it dry off and try it again. There is not too much you could have done to hurt anything (if you were careful).

 

You can also see if the belt is causing it by lightly spraying a little water on the rib side of the belt while the engine is running.

Use an old spray bottle, but watch out for your fingers!!!!!!!!!!!

If the squeal changes then it is the belt.

If that doesn't do anything, then shut the engine off and remove the belt. Now try spinning the alternator by hand. Does it feel smooth? Then try the idler pulley. You can also try the water pump and the power steering pump but they don't usually squeal when they go bad. If you have a bad squeal from either the alternator or idler pulley you should feel some roughness in it with your hand when your spin it manually.

Idler pullies especially can screach like a banshe when their bearing goes bad.

Good luck, I still think it's the belt.

Hope this helps, let us know.

 

How about the AC compressor is the noise coming from there?

 

Ok, I'm gonna go outside and try the wd40 and water and see if it quiets down.

(fingers are crossed)

 

i had this problem when the truck was newer.
started a little while after driving through some nasty wetness. on rainy days there after starting the truck i would get that noise as well. sounded like the water pump going bad on an old 72 buick skylark that i had. took it back under warranty and they said they popped the belt off and cleaned the pulleys. told me they were covered with surface rust. since then it has not happened once (this was over a year ago)

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what if I wan't as careful as I thought (it's starting to look that way, anyway) what could I have done? It's really getting quite loud now. sorry, but I'm freak'n out here.

Thanks for the reply man, I really appreciate it!

 

Spray some WD40 on the bearings of each pulley and make sure you don't spray any on the belt!! Run the engine and see if it quiets down. If it doesn't, consider changing the serpentine belt. Your truck is three years old so it couldn't hurt. I highly doubt you hurt the alternator or anything else by cleaning with citrus cleaner. You either washed away the lubricant on one of the pulley bearings or you just created a light film on the belt and it is slipping slightly. If it is the belt change it soon especially now that the weather is getting hot. You don't want a slipping belt on your water pump causing your engine to overheat.

kev

 

I took it in afterall.
The dude turned the engine over one time, listened for about half a second and said that it was one of pulleys, either the the tensioner, AC, water pump, etc. He's calling me back with the problem in a bit.

billycouldride: I think you're probably right. It was my mistake describing it as a sqeal; it's more like a rough grinding sound that's coming out.

 

Hope they get it fixed for you regardless of what it is.

 

oh well. Win some, loose some I guess. With taxes and an hour of labour (like that's even possible for this job) the total damage came to 480 dollars Canadian (you can figure out the conversion, but either way it's too much!)

Turns out it was.....you guessed it....the alternator was cooked. The guy said that it's a coincidence that I had just happened to wash down the engine when the thing went, or that it was on the brink of going and I just helped finish it off. Man, 350 for a rebuilt alternator! I can remember when they went for around 100 bucks! (and I'm not that old) well, on the bright side, I didn't crack the engine block

I tell ya, I think ford has remade the f150 since 97 thinking that the 96's and earlier were just not breaking down soon enough to hose us all in parts and labour. yeah, yeah, I know, conspiracy theory....nevermind....

Sorry for the long post, and thanks for everyone's input.