My Expe is making a chirping noise, especially on the colder mornings, soon after its starts up. It seems to be proportional to the RPMs. The idler pulley was chirping and I had it replaced about a year ago and the chirp stopped, this is a new chirp and it seems to be coming from the fan/water pump area. I guess the new idler pulley could be the culprit but I believe that it’s coming from some other part this time; does the fan clutch do this? Let the diagnosis begin …

 

I have had a chirping sound on my Mark VIII and after changing the idler pulley and belt the chirp returned in a few days. It turned out that the crank pulley was starting to come apart, the outer ring had moved foreward about 3/16". Replaced the dampner, no more noise. Moral: look carefully at your dampner if the noise won't go away.

 

The edge of the crank pulley does appear to have a slight wobble to it; is it hard to change?

 

I would also look at your tensioner, get a tech stehoscope looks like a doc but the end has a long piece of metal Northern Industrial Mechanics Stethoscope | Automotive Diagnostics | NorthernTool.com this will help you pinpoint the noise

I have seen the fan make a noise also, more likely the tensioner and pulley though

 

There's also a second idler pulley.

 

it depends on the motor some have it some don't

 

I have to admit that I almost didn't respond to this thread. Having someone with the name Junebug starting a thread over a chirping sound had the potential to be nothing more than a gag.

 

It could also be your belt. One old trick to determine if it is the belt is to get an old candle (not one of your wife's good ones, I can tell you from personal experience, they get up-set over that). Then with the engine running (you need to be VERY CAREFUL at this point so as not to get yourself or any clothing caught in the belt or the fan), hold the candle on the underside of the belt to coat it with wax. It the noise quits, that's where it's coming from. If that is the problem, you could get a new belt, or just coat the old one with wax once and a while.

 

I don't recomend wax, you'll have to clean it off the pulleys use some brake clean works alot better just keep the spray from the alternator

 

You shouldn't get enough wax accumulation on the pulley's. Even it you did, it would wear off over time on it's own from heat caused by friction of the belt, and heat from the engine, which is why, if this is the problem, you have to reapply wax once and a while. This is an old trick that I've been using for many years on many different vehicle and I've never had an issue with wax accumulation on the pulley's.

 

Not too hard on my Lincoln Mark VIII, but there seems to be more room in front of the dampner, electric fan and all, 18mm short socket or box end wrench and a puller. Just over 1/2 hours labor.

 

Good point!