rumbling duratec

[dern]

Our mondeo gave us heart failure today when it started rumbling in a grim way at idle on the left side (from the front of the car). I couldn't tell if it was the engine or the anything driven by the aux drive belt so I took the belt off and restarted and the engine was as quiet as you like. Took it for a run (bloody hell it's heavy without the PAS) and it's fine and no noises at idle, under load or anywhere inbetween.

Therefore I reckon the bearings must be going on either the alt, the PAS pump, the aircon pump or the tension pulley. When I put the belt back on it was marginally quieter. I don't know if this implies it's more likely to be the tensioner but was wondering if any of these items are more likely to fail than the others? The alt was new a couple of years ago.

The car is a 98 2.5 v6 and has done 92k.

Cheers,

Mark

[nighthawk]

Power steering pumps on the VE have caused noises similar to what you describe, there was a air ingress concern with the couplings on the pipes.

While the front FEAD belt is off, give the idlers and pulleys a good tug and spin,
if any feel rough, junk them.

also try it with the A/C on as well as off, could well be a fubar A/C compressor.

[dern]

nighthawk said:

Power steering pumps on the VE have caused noises similar to what you describe, there was a air ingress concern with the couplings on the pipes. While the front FEAD belt is off, give the idlers and pulleys a good tug and spin, if any feel rough, junk them. also try it with the A/C on as well as off, could well be a fubar A/C compressor.

I've had air into pas pumps before and it didn't sound like that. None of the idlers and pulleys felt particularly rough and turning the a/c on didn't make it noticeably worse. I suspect I've just noticed a slight change in noise because I'm so used to it and when the offending items gets worse I'll be able to tell which one needs changing.

Cheers,

Mark

[flamingm0]

I'd definitely go for the fixed idle pully first (easier), then the sprung one. It may feel ok when you spin it on the vehicle but in your hand it will feel and sound gritty. At least that's what I found.

[dern]

flamingm0 said:

I'd definitely go for the fixed idle pully first (easier), then the sprung one. It may feel ok when you spin it on the vehicle but in your hand it will feel and sound gritty. At least that's what I found.

I think you're right. Cheapest bit too... assuming I can get to it with pulling the engine.

Mark

[flamingm0]

I found the fixed idler fairly straight forward to remove from inside the wheel arch, with the most difficult bit getting the belt back on without taking the skin off my hand. I did find using a large screw driver as a stethoscope (put your ear to the handle end ) on the centre nut of the pulley located the noise. You can touch it to various other suspect parts (access permiting and with care not to get it caught!) to locate the noise.

[dern]

flamingm0 said:

I found the fixed idler fairly straight forward to remove from inside the wheel arch, with the most difficult bit getting the belt back on without taking the skin off my hand.

I thought it was a brilliant idea to put a 3/8ths socket driver square hole on the tensioner so you could relieve the tension but a bit of an own goal to have the tensioner so close to the inner wing that there wasn't room to fit one. Largest screwdriver comes in handy again.

flamingm0 said:

I did find using a large screw driver as a stethoscope (put your ear to the handle end ) on the centre nut of the pulley located the noise. You can touch it to various other suspect parts (access permiting and with care not to get it caught!) to locate the noise.

I'll try that. I did the usual method of using a bit of flexible hose as a stethoscope but without any joy.

Cheers,

Mark