I'm new to the forum but have already benefited from many answered questions here. I purchased this Ford Ranger about year ago and have loved every minute. I've tried searching for something similar, but haven't been able to find anything yet, so here I am.

My Ranger: 2007 Ford Ranger Sport, 4x4, 4.0 SOHC V6

There is a weird clicking noise coming from somewhere that I can't quite figure out. It sounds like it's coming from the AC compressor. The clicking isn't consistent, it can only be heard when the truck is idle. It is not affected by turning the AC on or off, the heat on or off, or the air on or off. I have known about a small leak in the AC system for a while now but haven't fixed it yet, so it may be a little low. The air can blow cold or hot. Looking under the hood, I can't see anything moving that would produce that kind of clicking noise.

Here is the youtube video of the sound,

 

Remove the belt and if the noise goes away, then it's something for sure at the front that's causing the noise.
Don't run the engine for more then 1 minute with no belt !

Could be fan clutch, a noisy AC clutch drive, or bearing going in the idler pulleys and or water pump.
Once the belt is off too you can turn things by hand and that may identify the problem.

 

Hi there - I’m having the identical noise and problem. Any news on what the issue was? Did you need to replace the entire compressor?

 

Yes, the compressor was bad. Had to replace the entire unit. The orifice tube showed a ton of metal shavings as well. I actually replaced the evaporator, accumulator, condenser, and all the ac hoses as well. Just barely finished it all last week. The heat wave definitely motivated me to finish.