when I start the truck it starts the chirp and then goes away all but a faint chirp during idle. When I accelerate it starts up loud and continues all during the acceleration. I thought it may be the camshaft sync but then a buddy said it was the ac fan tensioner pulley, so I replaced it and the noise stopped for literally a day. Now it's worse. There's another pulley that wasn't as bad but could need to be replaced that may be making the noise but the sound is hard to track down... it sounds a little more like it's coming from the camshaft sync now though.. I'm at 112300 miles. Someone for the love of all that is Holy help me.

 

You're heading in the right direction.
Un-slip the front belt and run the truck with out it, see if the chirp goes away.
ONLY RUN IT FOR NO MORE THEN ABOUT A MINUTE AND A HALF.
The water pump will not be turning.

If the chirp continues it's more probably the cam sync.

At any rate, with out all the racket from the fan, it makes it easier to pin point the noise.

If you've replaced all the idler pulleys up front, it could be the cam sync.
But it also could be a bad bearing happening on the water pump, fan clutch, alternator etc...
Running the engine with out the belt will tell you a lot.

 

I did that before I replaced the first pulley, no chirp whatsoever. I'll have to take the belt down and listen for it again. Is it possible I tightened it too much?

 

Don't understand how you can tighten it too much _ what does "it" refer too ?
The belt is only as tight as the tensioner can make it.

Yours is a 96 so it shouldn't be too much different them my 99.

In the old days you could over tighten a belt by applying too much leverage with the generator/alternator, but with todays serpentine belts, and automatic tensioners, that doesn't apply any more.

 

My ranger is a 99...? And "it" refers to the bolt for the pulley not the belt!

 

Over tightening the bolt won't cause any more noise, or less.
If it's over tightened then you will strip out the aluminum housing.

 

So what's the likely-hood it's the camshaft sync... or something worse?

 

There are only so many things on an engine that make a chirpy noise like that.
The camshaft sync is the worst, but no big deal to fix.
There's the clutch release bearing (assuming that you have a manual), but logically the symptoms don't point to that since that sort of noise happens when you push the clutch pedal, or if it were the clutch release bearing the noise would change when the pedal was pushed.

So logically that only leaves the moving parts at the front of the engine that is driven by the serpentine belt and the cam sync at the rear of the engine.

Have a look at this, you don't even really need the tool.
You turn the engine to where the tooth on the cam sync is in the middle and simply position the new one in the same place.

It's just like putting in a distributor only easier because you don't have to time the spark.

You can check the synchronizer too by simply removing the sensor at the top.
Once the sensor is removed, you can see how much side to side play there is in the sleeve bearing.
There should almost be no play, if there isn't, you can drip some oil in there to make it quiet again.

I'll post some pictures tomorrow of the tools that I use to get at the small sensor bolts.

Fortunately the 3 litre is much easier to get at the sensor/synchronizer, you can't even see it on the 4 litres.

https://www.ranger-forums.com/engine...9-3-0v-114186/

EDIT:
Your truck is doing quite well if only now after over 100k, that you're experiencing these chirpy noises, but no big deal to track down and fix.

 

I think it's going to be something with the serpentine belt like the other pulley that felt like it was starting to go bad. It is an automatic so not from clutch and my big thing was that I didn't want to buy the camshaft sync tool... just seemed silly. How do I know if the belt is what's making the noise?

 

The belt isn't actually making any noise, but I suppose if it's really old it might squeal, but that's another problem.

Release the tensioner and slip the belt off.
This will allow you to check and see if any other idler pulleys are loose, and if they are, they are worn and more the likely making the noise.
A worn idler pulley will have some side to side play and be sloppy, as you know.
It's sort of a guessing game, but the pulleys are inexpensive to replace, so start with them.

With the belt off you can check your water pump and alternator too.

Also check the fan clutch too, it should be stiff and have no play when the engine is cold. When they go bad, they can make a lot of noise.

Here's my tool to remove the sensor on top of the synchronizer.
The socket is 7/32.

 

Alright everyone, thanks for all the help! I checked out the camshaft sync and it was good, no play! I took the belt off and started her up and no noise so I had double confirmation it was not the CSS. I changed out the pulley and ta-da! Problem solved! Again, thanks everyone! Now I've got suspension and leaf springs to do next may need help there too but I'll start a new thread!

 

Alright nevermind the squeel/ chirp was gone for an hour or so and now it's back...I don't know what to do...

 

do you know how old the belt is? what brand? how dose the grooved side of the belt look when ya bend it! are there cracks? are pieces missing? like jeff said inspect all pulleys for play and wobble when the belt is off. do ya want to look silly , take the longest socket extension you have or long metal rod,put it on the bone right behind your ear, and the other end on the NON MOVING PART closest to where ya think the squeal or chirping is coming from, it will act like a doctors stethoscope. it just amplifies the sound to your ear. they do have a mechanics stethoscope at advanced auto and auto zone that are pretty cheep

 

We checked everything with a stethoscope... and nothing. The belt is a dayco..... and I think I've found the problem. I believe the pulley connected to the fan is misaligned slightly. This being the case the edge of the belt is rubbing the side of the pulley. I've ordered a gatorback belt in hopes of fixing this... ugh!

 

Something that I should mention that I forgot about that happened to me was that the new bearing in the idler pulley was so stiff that the back of the belt was slipping on it and was still making a bit of noise.

I ended up going to a place that sold nothing but bearings and simply reused my old idler pulley.
That bearing wasn't made in China.

 

I get my new belt on Friday I think, I will let you guys know what's up when I put it on... like I said I see some misalignment of the pulley... does anyone know what to do about that?

 

So today I put on a gatorback belt. GTR-4060855. I read on another form that this is the correct size for this truck and that's true if it doesn't have the AC. I had to bypass my idler pulley in order to get this built to fit. It was about 2 inches smaller than the belt that I pulled off, which was a motor craft belt that was relatively new. The noise is gone for now.... how important is it that I need the belt around the idler pulley. I understand it's there to put more surface area on the AC but am I going to run into any problems this way?

 

as long as it is not the tensioner pulley that you by passed, you should be fine. if it squeals when you turn the ac on you know what the problem is!