my ranger squeels almost everytime i start it, warm or cold. It doesn't make any other noises when driving. I'm thinking it may be a belt but not sure. any ideas?

 

Welcome to FTE jessfactor

Try tightening your belt! If any fluids gets on it, you'll end up w/ this problem! Super clean pullys + replace belt if nothing else works!
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‘90 Ranger XLT: 2.3L, EEC-IV, EFI, DIS, 2wd, Mazda 5sp

 

My 2000 3.0 has the same squeal for the first few minutes after I start it up. It does seem to be worse when the ambient air is moist, but it squeals most other times too. After a few minutes it is quiet. I changed the belt and no difference. Who knows. It is annoying but I haven't seen any difference in performance or any fraying of the belt.

 

Checking your belt tension is the first step, as wolfen suggested . . . only when you do, you are checking both that they are not too loose, nor too tight. At the center of a couple of the longest runs for the serpentine belt, press on the belt . . . it should move between 1/4 and 1/2 inch - Too loose, and you risk slippage and hop while running . . . too tight and you could be putting undue strain on unit bearings, shortening their life and potentially damaging them (cracked bearings will squeal - so will bearings that have lose their grease seal)

Providing everythig is correct, and the bearings are in good shape, the most likely culprit is often a dirty pulley. To clean them without removing the belt, you can spray the belt (with the engine running) with a little WD-40 or similar product . . . . it doesn't take a lot, though it may need doing every time you start for a while.

What I did when I had this problem was start the engine, spray, and drive to where I was going. Squeals usually did not recur during the drive.

You may wish to spend time trying to figure out exactly which of the components pulleys is causing the sueal though - if the puley bearings have lost their seal, you could be dealing with minimal or hardened lube that only softens and lubes the bearings when the bearings warm through running.

An ounce of prevention can definately apply here.

 

thanks for the advise. tomorrow morning i'm gonna check the tension and spray a little wd-40. as ranger2000 said, its not causing any noticable problems, but i'd just like to keep everything running 100%.

 

I would almost bet it is either the idler or the tensioner for the serpentine belt. My truck just recently started doing the same thing, after I had the dealer give my truck the 60,000 mile once over. They replaced the serpentine, but didn't mention the idler or tensioner pulleys.

The belts squeel when under no loading, but as soon as you apply gas and get the truck moving the squeeling goes away. That tells me that the belt is too loose and it takes engine loading to get the belt tight enough. Not to mention the tensioner pulley looks like skid-mark city and also sits crooked.

 

mine is a bit strange in the sense that it only squeels for a few seconds when started up, then quiet the rest of the time, untill i have to start it again. i'm still going to check the tension and oil it up tomorrow morning. if that doesn't work out i'll be back on tomorrow night searchen around and asken more questions

 

Howdy,

I'm new to this forum; looking for posts about a suspected A/C system water leak that lets the driver side floor get wet and came across this post.

Had the same initially intermittent squeal on start-up on my 91 XLT, 2.3L 5-speed. Started about a year ago. Got gradually worse, became more like an intermittent screech. Fooled with new belts, tension, checked A/C compressor bearing, etc, no dice.

Then one morning on the way to work, I noticed something not quite right about the guages. Hmmm, battery voltage good, oil pressure zero, water temp norm - Holy****Batman! ZERO OIL PRESSURE!?! About that time the engine started talking to me. Immediately pulled over, shut down, called for a tow.

It took a couple days for the local garage to get it in, but I pretty much new that the prognosis wasn't going to be good and had some time to look at options. To make a long story short, I went the new engine route with 141000 miles on the original.

While they were at it, I had the opportunity to look at the old engine innards. Turns out the main bearing was scored, and the oil intake screen was about plugged closed with some thick gunky stuff. Way too thick and gunky to be typical oil sludge. My understanding is the original oil pan gaskets on that vintage engine were installed with sealant and that it was very easy to get excess sealant squeezed into the engine interior when the oil pan was installed. I don't have any proof, but my theory is that over time, this excess sealant deteriorated or broke off, and got pulled onto the oil intake screen. Once the screen got enough gunk on it, the bearing started to suffer from oil starvation, and finally the oil pump could no longer pull enough oil through the screen resulting in engine failure. Could the intermittent squeal be from a suffering main bearing?

I would suggest an engine flush, but a flush probably wouldn't get this gunk out - The gunk will mostly get pushed around and then end up on the screen again. The only sure way to get it out would be to drop the oil pan and scrape the screen, and you about have to pull the engine to get the oil pan off.

Anyway, it was a learning experience. I have a new engine and clutch now (I figured after 141000 miles the original clutch might have some wear), a reconditioned radiator, and the ole twuck runs good as new again. No squeals.

Now if I can just fix that pesky water leak...


Gromit
91 Ranger XLT 2.3L 5-speed

 

Welcome to FTE!!!

A back flush works well at getting the sealant off the pump screen.

Have you check the condensation drain, if its clogged it might cause water to leak inside.

 

Ken,

Yes, I verified the dain is free. Pees like a drunk. I'm thinking I might have a crud dam built up somewhere, but I'm not sure what I need to tear into to look for it.

When I took the truck in for engine replacement (this just happened a couple weeks ago) the mechanic got on me for not using synthetic oil, thinking I had a sludge build up problem. Once he got it opened up and saw the gunk, he asked if I had been treating the oil with anything. Nope, straight dino oil, changed every 3k-5k miles. Not sure he believed me, but he concluded it wasn't typical oil sludge. I don't think he believed me either when I said the clutch was original at 141,000 miles. He said a flush would have cleared the screen but probably only have gotten some of the gunk out, and the rest would have ended back on the screen. Repeated flushes maybe would have cleared more of it.

I think it was old gasket sealant, and the mech allowed it could be. The new gaskets apparently don't go on with a separate sealant application anymore, so it shouldn't be a problem on the new engine. He didn't know when they went to the new gaskets.


Gromit
91 Ranger XLT 2.3L 5-speed

 

Maybe you could see something by pulling the heater core out, also the blower motor.

I was lucky my 1989 2.9 never got that bad but the oil pressure gauge did show something at times.

 

my oil pressure is fine and it doesn't consume any oil(changed every 3k). it only has 50k miles so it shouldn't have 2 much build up. its not a steady scueal. its a really loud screetch than lasts about 3 seconds when i start it up. i am interested in a flush. how would i go about doung this?

 

Are you sure your not hearing a belt squeal.

 

Just about any garage can do an engine flush. Like anything else, some places probably do better than others, and some places charge more than others. It works to get normal oil sludge out, but anything much gunkier than that is questionable. If you run a synthetic oil, sludge shouldn't be a problem as it's more typical of old dino oil breakdown. You can get cheapie flush kits and do it yourself, but I wouldn't recommend it for a serious flush job.

If the screech is from the main bearing starting to wear from oil starvation, an engine flush won't cure the screech. The only way to get rid of the screech is a new main bearing, if it really is the main bearing, which is pretty much a complete engine rebuild. But that's cheaper than a new engine if you let it go to complete oil starvation like I did. Checking all the belts and pulley bearings is cheaper yet than an engine rebuild, so do that first

The engine flush will just prolong the life of the engine, assuming it gets all the gunk off the screen and out of the engine. Problem is, it's tough to tell how effective the flush is without opening up the engine. If you see any fluctuation or twitching or anything unusual with the oil pressure gauge, I would most definitely try an engine flush, maybe even several repeated flushes.

Good luck. I got rid of my screech with a new engine, but that was a way expensive way to fix the screech. We'll see if I can't get it past 141000 miles this time.


Gromit
91 Ranger XLT 2.3L 5-speed