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Rattle/chirp from engine on Acceleration

Tiny
STERLING.RIOS
  • MEMBER
  • 1999 FORD TAURUS
  • 6 CYL
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 107,546 MILES
I have a 1999 ford taurus 6 cyl 3.0 engine. I noticed that in the engine on accelleration in the 2-2.3k rpm range there was a slight chirpy/rattle sound comming from the engine compartment after it warmed up (about 5-10 minutes of driving). Also when I would come to a stop, at a light, or stop sign, my oil light would flash. When I let go of the brake, and the rpms got to about 6-700, it goes away. About 3 days after that I noticed that the chirping sound was much more prominent after the car warmed up on acceleration. On the highway (95% of my drive time in this car) if im at 65 mph and I let it coast with foot off of the gas, the chirping/rattling would continue almost in a pattern. When I resumed acceleration, the sound got louder.
Today, same issues with the car, but more info: when I slow to below 1.5-1.6k RPM, the noise disappears. In regular city driving if I go above that 1.5-1.6k rpm, the rattle is there, but slight, not as loud. Oil light hasnt come on as a result of just driving city miles. Only with highway miles does it occur. Plenty of oil, no leaking there. Belt looks good, no cracks on the smooth side, and none on the grooved side. Engine has coolant, and does not run hot.
I had tried replacing the spark plugs because I thought they were bad, but that has done nothing to help with the issue.
Any advice you can give would be greatly appreciated. Im no professional, as you can tell by my troubleshooting, or lack thereof. I thought maybe oil pump/sending unit/pressure sensor may have an issue? Well, ill leave that to the pro's.
Thanks for reading.
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Wednesday, June 8th, 2011 AT 2:44 AM

10 Replies

Tiny
FIXITMR
  • MECHANIC
  • 9,990 POSTS
Any idler pulleys should be checked for bad bearings. You can get oil pressure tested. Or try adding some LUCAS oil stabilizer. Improves viscosity and parts coating ability and raises pressure slightly.
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Wednesday, June 8th, 2011 AT 3:22 AM
Tiny
FIXITMR
  • MECHANIC
  • 9,990 POSTS
Alternator bearings are suspect too.
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Wednesday, June 8th, 2011 AT 3:23 AM
Tiny
CJ MEDEVAC
  • MECHANIC
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Thought about this a little, on the same lines with fixitmr, If your A/C or Defrost (both turn on the A/C compressor) is on, the A/C clutch could be kicking on/off--if your belt is worn or tensioner is not up to par--the sudden start up of the A/C compressor may "accent" this noise, or the possible bearing/ pulley issues described by my colleague. Ain't that cool! 1st time I have used that term sorta professionally!

Check it out! Turn A/C and/ or Defrost off and try the initial start-up---check the other stuff too!

Let us know what you find, we will continue to offer any assistance we are capable of.

Your Turn

The Medic
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Wednesday, June 8th, 2011 AT 3:38 AM
Tiny
FIXITMR
  • MECHANIC
  • 9,990 POSTS
Another thing to check is the cam sensor/sychronizer. This is known to make similar noises when failed/failing.
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Wednesday, June 8th, 2011 AT 3:51 AM
Tiny
SRIOS
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Wow so many responses already! I have a lot of research to do on how to start checking what has been suggested. Thanx for the info so far :D
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Wednesday, June 8th, 2011 AT 4:21 AM
Tiny
STERLING.RIOS
  • MEMBER
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***UPDATE***

ok so it turns out there was a combination of things. So far the "chirping" aspect has been resolved by replacing the belt. Upon closer inspection, it was indeed cracked on teh ridged side Sorry guys, like I said on the last post, im no expert, heh.

What I thought was all 1 sound was 2 sounds. Now that the chirping sound is gone, I can hear when the engine is warmed up after driving for about 10 minutes a tapping, or almost like a small metal bearing rattling around in a tin can. It happens regardless of whether or not the ac is on, and having it on doesnt seem to affect the noise one way or the other.

This happens when im accelerating @ around 1900 - 2.5k rpms, and is more prominent when im going uphill. Also after getting off the highway the oil light no longer appears to flash or flicker, now its pretty much just on when im at a standstill after warming the car up.

And a final observation, is that when I try to gain speed going up hill, getting that rattling, I press on teh gas more, and the rpms do not appear to go up, and I keep losing speed slowly. MPH's slowly fall as I press on the gas.

Im going to see about getting the pressure tested tommorrow and getting the oil conditioner additive as well.

Any ideas or thoughts are greatly appreciated and any questions for clarification are more than welcome!
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Sunday, June 12th, 2011 AT 8:38 AM
Tiny
CJ MEDEVAC
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Here's 2 links to keep me from hunting and peckin' so much

2nd link is from before the "new site" came into being, so stuff just didn't "translate over too well, one example is "QUOTATIONS", they some how turned into: "QUOTATIONS"e....My user name was also different, it was "Turddog" before the "big guys" requested that I change it!

https://www.2carpros.com/questions/2004-jeep-wrangler-engine-tap

https://www.2carpros.com/questions/jeep-wrangler-2002-jeep-wrangler-removing-lifters

Let us know if this helps you

The Medic
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Sunday, June 12th, 2011 AT 11:34 AM
Tiny
STERLING.RIOS
  • MEMBER
  • 5 POSTS
On my! That certainly is a lot of info!
My concern is that my symptoms dont match what was happening with the jeeps there. On start and for the first 5-10 minutes it sounds great, no tapping/rattling at all.
The jobs that were done on those threads look to be beyond my capabilities. Heck I was proud of myself for taking the radiator reservoir out so I could replace the belt with more room, and I know thats a simple task lol

going to try some of that wonder oil when I change mine today though. Definately
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Sunday, June 12th, 2011 AT 5:33 PM
Tiny
CJ MEDEVAC
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OK w/ the "oil light" issue...Lets sorta see what we are dealing with, before we just start pouring in stuff!

Got a Kinda Mechanical sorta buddy?

This ain't like tearing the tappets apart (as with the feller in the other link) But it is more involved than taking a reservoir off, and a little more critical.

What is your take on trying this?

https://www.2carpros.com/questions/2003-ford-taurus-oil-light-and-engine-knock-03

The Medic
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Sunday, June 12th, 2011 AT 6:03 PM
Tiny
FIXITMR
  • MECHANIC
  • 9,990 POSTS
Sounds sorta like spark knock by your description? Try adding premium and see if it goes away? Maybe your knock sensor is kaput?
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Sunday, June 12th, 2011 AT 7:19 PM

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