I have a 2003 Excursion 4x4 Limited V10 with 129,000 miles and there is a new noise in the engine compartment. I had a whir that everyone who heard it said it was the power steering pump going bad, but the fluid level was always good and not real dirty. So I did not want to just throw part at it I thought I would research it further. My father-in-law borrowed it to go pick up grain and when he got home he noticed another noise that sounds like the fan hitting something. I went to check it out and thought it maybe the fan clutch going out so I rotated the fan but never felt it hitting anything. There was also some resistance while turning the fan so I ruled out fan clutch. So I am back to square one. The whir has morphed into a tapping sound so I am now suspecting a bad idler pulley or bearing. What do you all think?

 

Loosen belt and spin idler pulley. Easy to do.

 

I started to do that last night but it got dark on me and I needed a step ladder to get in to the tensioner pulley. Will try again this evening. Thanks.

 

Well it turned out to be the tensioner pulley. It was about to fall out, ball bearings were missing. Thanks for all the help.