('95 302) Truck is quiet at idle but makes a loud squeak-squeak-squeak-squeak at 1500+ rpm. Can't tell if it's idler, tensioner or alternator but it's charging fine.
Can't afford to throw money at it right now, have precious little time and I used the hose-stethoscope trick to no avail.
Can it be all three? One more likely?
Could be engine mounts or a vacuum leak (some leaks can sound like a chirp, just like a shifting piece of exhaust could make a chirping noise).
Anyway you could shoot video of it and post it to Youtube or something?
Pop the belts off and spin the accessories by hand. Also inspect the balancer, it could have failed.
Unfortunately had to have a shop replace my newish water pump and they told me the idler, serpentine belt and alternator need to be replaced.
I'm gonna try the belt first obviously (cheapest) and then try the idler pulley. Then go from there.
The serpentine belt on a Ford can make a lot of noise, even when it looks OK. While you have it off, you will have the chance to quickly check the tensioner and all the stuff that the belt drives.
Eyeball the pulleys to see whether the tensioner bushing has started to fail, causing the belt to run a bit out of line.
All my Super Dutys had belts that made noise. The fix was to take a little wire brush and hold it against the inside of the belt while the engine was running. Since this was somewhat perilous I only did it on date nights. Looking back it was probably a waste of time as a girl going on a date with a fat redheaded guy in a tow truck probably wasn't put off by a little belt noise.
It may also explain why I spent so many Saturday nights in my room watching Dr Quinn.
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