04 ranger sounds like a belt is slapping around but belts are fine. I was driving on the highway and got temporary power loss not a dead engine just loss of power and not being able to accelerate then it was ok. I exited and then a horrible sound was coming out like something was banging around in there when I hit the gas. sounds fine when at idle. higher RPMs louder and more aggressive noise especially when taking off. 180k miles and its straight piped due to theaves. idk whats going on. i thought maybe a rod but its not overheating either and oil looks fine.

 

Welcome to the forum

Assuming 3.0l V6 from the sub-forum
Manual or automatic?
2wd or 4x4?

Is the CEL(check engine light) on?
If so what codes, exactly

Cold engine
Remove fan belt from Crank pulley
Start engine, battery light will stay on, thats OK
Engine bay will be very quiet with no fan or accessories spinning
Listen for noises, REV engine as needed
You can ONLY RUN the engine with no water pump for 60-90seconds, which is actually quite a long time to track a noise
AND you can repeat this test again and again after engine has cooled down

See if you can localize the noise and get a clearer description of the noise, i.e. a "tick", a "knock", a "grinding"

 

yes 3.0 manual 2wd. engine light is on but I haven't coded yet its always on though due to no o2 sensor after the cat was cut off. someone wanted it more than me. I will remove the belt today. it's very loud though the best description is that someone put marbles in a blender only makes the noise as I'm reving.

 

Doesn't "sound" good, but hard to diagnose any engine just by sound it makes, even recordings don't help