I have had my 1994 Ranger for over a year now, and when I bought it, I thought it was normal for an older vehicle to be obnoxiously loud when starting off but now I am starting to worry and wonder if there might actually be a problem (I'm assuming there is).

When I start the Ranger AND rev it at lower rpms, it is very loud, and it sounds like a semi-truck (if you have ever been next to an 18-wheeler at a red light and hear it take off, that's exactly what my little ranger sounds like). When I rev at higher rpms, and rev at higher rpms at higher speeds, it sounds like a normal motor with the mean low growl like motors do when you rev them hard. It seems to like to be louder when the engine is cold but I cannot confirm that statement 100%. The loud noise seems to be coming from the under the hood area somewhere, idk of it's the top, bottom, front, back, left or right - I can't pinpoint its location and I haven't had a helping hand to rev it up while I crawl under it so idk where it's coming from, just under the hood somewhere. It does not make the noise when idling as far as I can tell.

I tried googling this symptom and the majority of my results said something about a cracked exhaust manifold but none of the OPs came back to say what the problem ended up being. Then from there I tried googling exhaust leak noises and cracked manifold sounds, but the results were different. People were saying it would be a ticking noise, so now I'm posting my own thread and I am getting to the bottom of this thing one way or another.

I have heard vehicles make this loud obnoxious noise going down the street before, exactly like mine, and until I actually drove my own loud vehicle like this, I never really thought there might be a problem making this happen.

 

Sounds like your fan clutch is engaged. This is normal when taking off from a light until you get enough air flow to cool it down. If it is happening constantly you may have a bad fan clutch.

 

I have an entirely new cooling system, including the fan clutch. I might refer you to my other thread where I almost changed out my fan clutch but stopped at the last second because my dad said he already put a new one in it with the new fan. But then people on the forum started telling me that new doesn't mean it's good or works right so you might be right. I've also had a hunch that the noise was coming from the fan area...

 

It's just aggravating because I want to hear my engine, not some obnoxiously loud roaring sounds when I rev it up...

 

Oh and when I spin the fan by hand it basically stops spinning when I take my hand off of it...

 

So after doing more research on noisy or engaged fan clutches, I believe that is what my problem is. In my other thread, I tried to find out why it would get too hot and I came to the conclusion it was the fan clutch, so I bought a new one but my dad said he already installed a new one and I had no idea he did when we bought it (the old fan blade was broken and I guess he got a new fan clutch to go with the new fan). He convinced me nothing was wrong with it in the middle of trying to take it off, but I guess I'm going to have to convince him otherwise! That explains the random hotness at idle AND the noise! It also feels like I have less torque or power at lower speeds (feels like I have less power when I hear that annoying roar at all).