I have been experiencing a squeaking noise when the truck is in motion. It is a 1999 Ranger XLT, 4WD 4.0 Litre, extended cab automatic.

I first noticed it a few months ago. It sounded very similar to belt noise. Then it went away. It seemed to fit the well documented symptoms of a Cam Syncro, and I thought about going ahead and replacing it, but I could not even see the syncro, it would require removing the intake manifold, so I was hesitant to dig into it. Then the sound went away.

I mentioned it in another thread while trying to chase a different issue. I did take the belt off, the alternator spun freely, as well as the belt tensioner pulley. I had some difficulty manipulating the belt and tensioner so once I got it back on I decided to stop messing with it.


The truck sat for 3 weeks, and after driving it for two days this week. The sound came back. I was driving the truck last night, and the sound graduated from a squeak to more of a whirring noise. It seems related to vehicle speed, I can not make the truck make the noise while it is still by revving the engine. The sound increases in frequency according to speed, and goes away as I come to a stop, the noise stops completely at 10 mph. The other thing I noticed was the noise stopped briefly when I went over a bump.

Does a Cam syncro make noise at idle? I am having trouble Isolating the noise, when I am driving with the window up, it seems to sound like it is coming from the passenger side front wheel area. I rolled down the window and it just sounded like it was coming from under the truck. It is kind of hard to focus on driving and trying to find a sound!

The only thing I can say for sure is that the sound is more pronounced when it is cold outside, below 40 F.

I just do not want to have something important fail and leave me stuck on the side of the road or cause a dangerous situation for me or my fellow motorists. I have another car to drive so I am going to park the ranger until I figure it out.

 

You didn't mention where you think the sound is coming from (front, underside, rear). Based on the fact that it appears to change with speed, I would check u-joints, although normally the sound would be there even at 10 MPH. Your best bet is to try and isolate the location the noise is coming from. Grab a buddy and go for a ride on an isolated blacktop road. Maybe you can track it down that way. Good luck!

 

The only other thing I would suggest is while you have the belt off start it up for a second. That will tell you whether it is an engine component causing the squeal or whether it is one of the belt driven pulleys. Obviously, without the belt on the pulleys if you start the vehicle for a brief period, the pulleys won't be moving and you can either rule them out or convince yourself that it was one of them causing the noise.

 

I know it has been a while since I posted this, and I have not been driving the truck too much. I drove it when we had some snow, and for the week after, since it was first in the drive way. (and I just like driving it)

Any way, I finally had some time, and a nice day so I got under the truck. This noise has graduated to a scraping noise. On the passenger side I observed a band on the inside of the wheel as though something was scraping it. AHA!

First thing I did was try to wiggle the brake caliper, I remembered my old taurus once lost a caliper bolt and the caliper would scrape the inside of the wheel. thankfully the caliper is nice and secure

I then noticed the splash guard was very rusty and bent up. I found one area where it was touching the brake rotor, and another where it looked like it could well be touching the inside of the wheel.

The proper repair is obviously to replace the splash guard

I am thinking of bending and probably in the process breaking most of the remains of the splash guard to verify the issue. It is all rusty and comparing it to the other side most of it is gone already.

 

I decided to try to mitigate the problem by bending the splash guard out of the way, and it broke. When I was jiggling it I figured out what was going on. It was pivoting and making contact with the wheel at 6 o clock. once it broke I could not get it out, so I had to drag out the jack, jackstand, wheel chocks, and impact wrench



and the wheel:



and the remains of the splash guard



I will take it for a ride later but that thing rattling around is likely the cause of the racket I was hearing.

I had to dig around my messy tool box for my torque wrench, but I found it and torqued the lug nuts.