What is this Noise?! (video)

[BullittRob]

Hey everyone. I bought my Bullitt last April and when I test drove it I noticed what I thought was the infamous power steering whine. It was barely noticeable at that time, but has progressively gotten worse since then. It is at a level now that the sound literally bounces off buildings downtown and it drives me crazy. It is mostly noticeable while driving the car, but maybe you can still distinguish the noise from the tiny Vortech whistle in the short video. I was hoping someone might be able to help me out here.

Also, I read where another S197 owner was having a similar noise and eventually found that his alternator was going out. So, just as a long shot I had Autozone check the alternator this morning, and when the manager hooked the computer to the battery, it ran a couple tests and said "BAD BATTERY". Now, I have never had any problems with the battery, but is it plausible that it is making the alternator over-work? As far as I know, the battery hasn't been replaced in the car's 46k mile life.

One more nugget to make this more fun: when the s/c was installed last month, the shop obviously had to relocate the power steering reservoir, thus draining/replacing the fluid. Right after cranking the car, the noise was not noticeable, but after getting it out on the street it was back. THIS NOISE DRIVES ME CRAZY! Please help...thanks in advance!


http://flickr.com/gp/robpcarter/A9t2j1 <<--- Clicketh here for the short video

 

[JeremyH]

Actually vice versa if the alternator is going it can cause the battery to fail sooner. My reccommedation is to try bypassing accesories one at a time till the noise goes away.

 

[BullittRob]

Actually vice versa if the alternator is going it can cause the battery to fail sooner. My reccommedation is to try bypassing accesories one at a time till the noise goes away.

Thanks Jeremy. So, can I do this without buying a different belt? Will the tensioner take up the slack enough? Good idea if I can easily do it. This noise has seriously made me think about trading the car in on a newer Stang. It's that bad to me. Is there any way to check the alternator with a bad battery without removing it?

 

[JeremyH]

Depends, the extra idlers on the blower setup may allow you some play to resuse the belt and just route it differently to leave out one accessorie at a time. You may need a short belt to do the testing though. I would try to bypass the power steering pump and then blower first.

 

[skwerl]

If you don't have a stethoscope you can just use a piece of tubing. Hold it to your ear and place it next to each pulley while the car is running (don't stick your fingers in the belt) and you should be able to quickly tell exactly where the noise is coming from.

 

[BullittRob]

How about a pulley going bad? Anyone ever had one take a dump randomly? A service writer at a local Ford dealership said that's what it sounds like to him, maybe the idler pulley. I'm waiting to have enough time off to spend some time trying to pinpoint the problem. Just wondering if anyone has had a pulley go bad.

 

[skwerl]

Yes, which is why I posted wheat I did. I figured that was a given. Now go back and read my previous post.

 

[BullittRob]

Thanks for the advice. I was just checking to see specifically if the idler pulleys are known to go bad with reasonably low mileage. Your post about how to diagnose it is great advice. I did some research online elsewhere and found what I needed. Thanks again.

 

[skwerl]

If it's just an idler pulley and you're not concerned about the bling factor, you can pick up stock appearing idler pulleys from almost any local auto parts store.

If it's the alternator then I recommend a PA 130 amp alternator from AM. The best alternator you can buy from the best vendor around.

 

[BullittRob]

Yeah most of what I read so far sounds like if the alternator was bad the noise wouldn't change pitch so much with engine speed. Also the noise has been there at least since I bought it, and I haven't had any charging issues. Battery showed 100% when they tested it, although it said it was bad.

I checked around and saw the cheap prices of the pulley. The bad thing is, it is located behind the Vortech bracket and all that will have to be removed to change it. I'll use the tube test tomorrow and isolate the noise, then remove the belt and try to turn the pulley to make sure this is my problem.

 

[bullitt boy]

I seem to think the idler arm is on the mid passenger side not behind the blower bracket . Changing my plugs tomorrow will take a look.

 

[trojanhorse6]

Bullit Bob, the plastic gooved idler pulley on the driver side has had a problem of the bearing going out around 45000 to 50000 miles on some 4.6 L engines. My friends F-150 sounded like the power steering pump was going out with a loud whine. As in low fluid level. It turned out to be the hard plastic grooved idler pulley. Replace with a NAPA steel pulley and the engine was a quiet as a mouse in church.

 

[BullittRob]

^ Thanks for the info. That's exactly the sound I am getting and it is driving me nuts. I plan on having it fixed as soon as I have some extra time off.

 

[bullitt boy]

I seem to think the idler arm is on the mid passenger side not behind the blower bracket . Changing my plugs tomorrow will take a look.

sorry my bad was thinking about the tensioner.

 

[BullittRob]

Went ahead and had all 3 idler pulleys changed. Noise is GONE! The steel pulley had a bad bearing, you could hear & feel it when spinning it on your finger. What crap. 39k miles and it's done. Anyway, now I can hear the sweet whistle of the blower better.