Engine Noise

All,

I have a 66 Mercury Colony Park with what I believe is a 68 Ford 390 in it. Recently the engine started "chirping" for lack of a better term. High pitched and it increases (and kind of goes away) with RPM increase. But it's pretty loud at idle. Any ideas? I'm thinking try tightening the belts first.

Thanks for any help here.
Mark

 

Belts
Water pump
A/C pulley/clutch assembly
Fan clutch
Fuel pump (more of a clicking)

Let us know what you discover.

 

Also check alternator bearing and any idler pulleys. Take the belts off and spin stuff by had and see if you can hear or feel anything.

 

Yeah, my first thought was a loose belt.

 

Squealing

You would be surprised how many sources under the hood can make this sound. The thing with high pitch is that it is easy "covered". Meaning if you put your hand over a subwoofer, you are still gonna hear and feel bass. But if you put your hand over a tweeter, you will not get the highs.

Using this method, can make quick work of localizing the chirp/squeal. Cut the engine in half. front and rear. Then left and right.

Hope that helps. Been there many times. You can try a mechanics stethoscope, but you might not hear anything due to the nature of a HIGH pitch.

Dave

 

I too will go with alternator bearings.
What do we win if we're right?

 

Thanks all - the strange thing is I replaced the Alternator about 2 months ago. I guess it could go that soon if it was not a good one? One other thing - when I put it in reverse, the noise reduces quite a bit. Not sure if that says anything. I had the tranny rebuilt over the summer

One more question: How do I determine what engine is in the car? I know it was swapped out and I believe it's a 67 or 68. Any way I can definitively tell through a serial number? If so, where is it located and how do I decode it?

 

Post a picture

 

I did a quick search and found a page that might help id'ing Ford FE engines.
http://www.mre-books.com/interchange/interchange11.html

Found another:
http://www.lovefords.org/tech/fe_id.htm

 

So... What was the squeakin' ?

 

I have not gotten to it yet unfortunately. But I'm hoping over Thanksgiving to get some time. I'm going to pull the belts first one at a time and see if that makes a difference. Then I'll start digging into water pump, fan clutch if that doesn't show something. Attached a pic of the engine - I asked the previous owner and he said it had a 68 390 Ford engine swapped in.

Thanks for the ideas and help here!

 

Starter?

Ok, so I did some troubleshooting: on the engine chirping noise when I start up and run. I pulled the belts and the chirp is still there - so not the alternator or power steering pump. Now when I turn the key I'm getting a serious loud grinding noise. And then eventually after a few tries and jiggling the gear shift lever it will start.

So question is twofold: 1) is the chirping a starter going bad? and is the grinding noise when I turn the key the starter itself, or a switch? something else? and, 2) do you think the chirping noise I hear when the engine is running is related to the starter? How hard is it to replace?
Thanks for any ideas here.

 

Hopefully it is just the starter.
The gears on it mesh with a ring gear, and if the ring gear teeth are getting worn that would mean either dropping the tranny or pulling the engine.
I've never done a V8 so I can't speak to how easy it is. The hard part may be access.
Might be easier from underneath. Might be tranny cooler lines in the way.

 

Ok, thanks. Good news on that front is I just had the tranny rebuilt, so I think I'm still under warranty on that one. I'll go the starter route first.

 

Yah just get a new one.
There might be a high-torque mini starter replacement available.