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Chirping 1998 Mustang
Sent to Car Experts August 25 11:32 PM

I have a 1998 Ford Mustang with approx. 103,000 miles. The performance of the car is great, except that it has developed a "chirping" noise that goes with the rotation of the engine. I have replaced the alternator, water pump, and power steering pump, but it is still there. My mechanic said he called Ford, and they said this was a common problem as these cars age. They recommended we put Slick 50 in the engine to take care of this problem. It didn't. Do you have any possible solutions? Thanks for your time

Customer (name blocked for privacy)
Status:  Closed   Value: $10
Answer
August 26 5:53 AM (6 hours and 21 minutes and 38 seconds later)
         
REPLIEDCheck Mark
First remove the serpentine belt and run the engine for a short tiime to determine if the problem is external or not. You could have a bad belt tensioner or idler pulley. Another possibility is that id the serp belt has stretched and the tensioner is hitting it's stops, it wiill make a noise.
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Hammer Time -- L1 Master Technician -- 98% Positive Feedback on 2714 Car Accepts
ASE Mastertech with Adv level Engine performance cert.
Reply
August 26 8:30 AM (2 hours and 36 minutes and 49 seconds later)
         
Reply to Hammer Time's Post: I believe that has been done. We also had a new serp. belt put on. Do you think it could be the camshaft position sensor? I learned about this last night.
Thank you
Customer (name blocked for privacy)
Answer
August 26 9:54 AM (1 hour and 24 minutes and 7 seconds later)
         
REPLIEDCheck Mark

If thatt's already been done, did the noise go away when the belt was removed?

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Hammer Time -- L1 Master Technician -- 98% Positive Feedback on 2714 Car Accepts
ASE Mastertech with Adv level Engine performance cert.
Reply
August 27 7:54 AM (21 hours and 59 minutes and 41 seconds later)
         
Reply to Hammer Time's Post: No, as far as I know. My mechanic said somrthingm about a camshaft bushing. Does that sound right?
Customer (name blocked for privacy)
Answer
August 27 6:05 PM (10 hours and 11 minutes and 12 seconds later)
         
REPLIEDCheck Mark
What engine is this?
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Hammer Time -- L1 Master Technician -- 98% Positive Feedback on 2714 Car Accepts
ASE Mastertech with Adv level Engine performance cert.
Reply
August 28 1:48 AM (7 hours and 42 minutes and 52 seconds later)
         
Reply to Hammer Time's Post: 3.8 V-6
Customer (name blocked for privacy)
Answer
August 28 8:09 AM (6 hours and 21 minutes and 1 second later)
         
ACCEPTEDCheck Mark

No, I doubt the camshaft bushings have anything to do with it. You have a few possibilities.

Bad harmonic balancer

Cracked flywheel flex plate

Bad timing chain tensioner

The cam sensor can start to feeze up

You need to use a stethiscope to try to narrow down the location some.

CAUTION: Do not remove the cam sensor without first carefully marking the position of the drive housing and the internal vane and do not move the engine with it removed. Failure to do so will require a special tool to retime it and you'll play hell trying to find one.

Edited by Hammer Time on August 28 2005 at 8:31 AM
Picture
Hammer Time -- L1 Master Technician -- 98% Positive Feedback on 2714 Car Accepts
ASE Mastertech with Adv level Engine performance cert.
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