A short video of my '97 2.3 is attached. Please listen and tell me how to find this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6-7...ature=youtu.be

So far, I've:

Taken the serpentine belt off and run engine. No change.

Looked around while changing the power steering pump after taking the accessory cradle off. Couldn't see anything wrong. Checked all bolts for tightness while changing P/S pump. Nothing found.

Got under the truck with the engine running and listened to the crankcase. No apparent rod or main bearing noise, thump, or click.

Same with cam and timing belt cover. Nada.

Listened with stethoscop to alternator, A/C compressor and P/S pump. All normal.

Checked all spark plug wires to make sure thye're in place and this noise isn't a spark arcing. (long shot, I know) No anomalies.

So who has had a similar problem and what did you do, or what's your opinion? Thanks.

 

Have a towel handy and pull off the Oil Filler cap and see if noise is loose rocker, it will get really loud if it is in valve cover.

Certainly sounds like metal on metal, not spark arc.

 

The sound makes me think the timing belt may be hitting the timing belt cover.

Do you feel what your hearing if you touch the timing cover?

The timing belt cover is easy to remove or loosen up enough to bump the engine over and inspect the entire belt.

If you do not see anything you may have pull the cover off and inspect everything under the cover.

 

OK, I've pulled the accessories on the driver's side and am down to the cam cover. I have removed bolts in the middle and bottom of the cam cover and popped off all the snap-in tabs. However, something is sticking. It seems to be next to the water pump on the driver's side. Am I missing something?

also, the cam cover feels like it loops around the balancer underneath. Is there another bolt under there?

Fired up the engine with the accessory cradle off and still have the annoying clicking noise. Will advise further when I can inspect inside the cam cover.

Thanks for the replies.

ETA: Inspected the belt and it looks fairly new. There is wite-out on the marks so it's been changed before. There does appear to be a little interference between the cam gear (there's a stamped-out portion on the back of the gear) and some mechanism behind the gear inside the cover-I'll have to pull the cover to see it better. That may well be the noise but I want to pull the cover to make sure.

 

If your stethoscope looks like this one,



remove the probe (black plastic piece) from the flex tube that leads up to the ear pieces. Wand the open tube around the engine bay till you narrow the location down, then reattach the probe and touch the end around the area you narrowed it down to.

 

That's a good tip, thanks. Onward through the fog tomorrow.

 

OK, a short intermission there due to a bad back.

I removed all the accesories on the front of the engine and ran it for a few minutes. The clicking noise was still presnt, so all front end stuff is excluded.

Next, I took the advice above, removed the oil cap, and stuck my stethoscope down into the cam cover. Sure enough, it's inside there, towards the front, so it's valvetrain noise, I guess either a rocker arm or lifter.

I decided to try one more thing. I changed the oil and filter again. Used synthetic oil and one quart of Marvel Mystery oil. There is little, if any change, so, my final decision is to turn up the radio and drive it 'til it pukes. . We'll see how long that is.

 

Might prove to be an expensive decision, but sometimes not. I had a ford 500 with a definite tick. I ignored it, it had the exact same tick the 3 years I owned it, I sold it like that, nothing came of the tick LOL. Do you feel lucky? :)

 

Yeah, I do, but mostly because I have AAA 100-mile radius tow and a cell phone.

If it pukes, I'll part it out.