hooloovoo

Been a long battle with this one. We had several shops diagnose a noise on the passenger side of the engine as a bad a/c clutch. We bypassed the a/c compressor for a while and while the loud noise went away we were left with a ticking sound. Another shop said that was the alternator, some windings were probably loose and it would need replaced at some point. That was over a year ago though and it's still putting out 14.2v. We've since had the a/c compressor replaced ($$$) and there's still loud noises coming from the passenger side of the engine.

As far as I know there are two things it could be... First is a bad alternator but like I said it's putting out 14.2 - 14.3v. Second things is I know one of the engine mounts is cracked but I expected that to sound more like a thunking sound. This is like a metallic rattle / scraping kinda sound.

Here's a youtube recording of the noise, if anyone has any suggestions!

Fakie J Farkerton

iTrader: (51)

Timing chain guide/tensioner

hooloovoo

Hmmm so searching on that it looks like that's $$$. Other than the noise is it gonna cause any problems? I'm looking to sell it but wanted to take care of any little easy / cheap things. Seems like this is something I probably want to sell as is then and take a hit on the car... I try to be honest though and let the buyer know what they're in for, is this going to eventually grenade the engine or just make noise forever? Car has about 192k miles on it.

Fakie J Farkerton

iTrader: (51)

Nothing to worry about until it gets real loud..even then some have reported ignoring it for a long time and still put on 100k after it got loud

hooloovoo

ok cool. any chance switching to high mileage oil would help? there seem to be various opinions on google with some people claiming thicker oil helps and others claiming thinner oil helps...

Fakie J Farkerton

iTrader: (51)

50/50 chance at best
I would assume thicker is better, like a Lucas or the stp additive, but

The Wizard

iTrader: (43)

Could be a pulley starting to fail. Buy a cheap stethescope from HF and get the end very close or lightly touch each pulley as it's rotating. Be careful. The one that screams in your ear has a bad bearing.

CS_AR

Year model?

hooloovoo

It's a 99 SE

reallywildstuff

incorrectly assembled / adjusted PULLEY ASSY-IDLER,COMPRESSOR - the sound you hear is the back of the pulley grinding away the curve in the adjustment screw

put a light and your face down there and look behind the guide pulley while its running


do i win ?

hooloovoo

ha that's what I was worried of, now I have a lot of possible solutions and all I wanna do is get rid of it! I should probably just sell it as is and tell them maybe it's the pulley, maybe it's the alternator, maybe it's the timing chain. These cars are probably not worth enough to justify fixing it before selling anyway, looks like best case I might get $1k out of it...

reallywildstuff

https://www.infinitipartsdeal.com/pa...75_C001,11925M

$60 is pretty cheap

hooloovoo

The tensioner and idle pulley were just replaced a few months ago when I had a shop replace the a/c compressor so I'm somewhat skeptical that's the problem. I also feel like the noise was there before that too though I'm not 100% sure.

hooloovoo

I poked around with a mechanics stethoscope and nothing seemed obvious. I should be able to pop the belt off and briefly start it up to see if it still makes the sound right? I'm thinking that would at least narrow it down to timing chain vs tensioner / alternator / water pump.

JoshG

Honestly, I'd just deal with the sound. It's not that bad.

hooloovoo

No it's not but like I said I'm going to sell it so if it were cheap / easy to make it stop that would avoid it potentially turning buyers off. Or at least if I could say with some confidence "oh that's just X and it's no big deal".

CS_AR

Here's a video of a cold start before replacing the tensioner. Clatter clatter clatter.


Here's a video of a cold start after replacing the tensioner AND the GASKET. .

max ride 41

iTrader: (4)

craig, you need to rebuild my 95. i am so sick of throwing $$$$ at her and still having noise and idle issues.

JoshG

If you plan to keep the car, I'd just deal with the noise. But if you plan to sell it. Its either you sell it cheap with the noise and let them know what it is or fix it and either keep it/sell it higher.

hooloovoo

I am doubtful that fixing it would be cost effective in terms of selling it. Maybe with it fixed I could get $1500, without it fixed maybe $1200, I doubt it's worth my effort. Just gonna get what I can for it. Honestly if I were keeping it I'd just ignore it and eventually something will break making it clear what was making the noise... So a future owner can have that too. My money is on timing chain anyway, and if that's the case it seems like it's fine to probably ignore it for years and then when it goes either swap the engine or just junk it.

max ride 41

iTrader: (4)

292,000 on my original timing chain and still holding together.if the noise continues after she warms up, then you have an issue, my 95 always quiets down after warming up.

JoshG

Also how is the rest of the car's condition? I know some of the 4th gen owners here have rust issues on their car and the body is beat up to hell. Also a line of repairs needing to be done. At that point just get rid of it. Rust is going to take over the frame and its long gone after that.. But if it is a rust-free car, in real good condition then sure It may be worth keeping. Everyone's 4th gens conditions are different. These cars are 20-24 yrs old! Thankfully mine is still in great condition, and rust free... 23 years later! That is quite some time.

Sometimes I feel like getting rid of it, but then I look at how cheap it is to keep the car, like the body lines, and the condition mine is. its hard to get rid of it and It would be tough to just give it to some random person despite that I can probably get 3-5 grand max out of it due to its condition. Then 500-2000 max if its nearly to junk/runs and drives ok but needs a little work. Not a whole lot of money to be honest. So In the end I just end up keeping it/repairing it as this is no longer my only car. Now If it was my only car...then, yeah it'd be a different story. There are many 4th gen owners out here still on the forums with their clean 4th gens still going but I noticed that its not their only vehicle.

hooloovoo

Luckily here in the NW rust is not an issue, it's overall in pretty good shape. Just getting up to the mileage and age where it's probably better to just drive it until it blows up rather than fix every little thing that happens...

reallywildstuff

hooloovoo

Yep, hitchikers reference

Over the weekend I'm going to take a closer look and pull the belt briefly to see if the noise still happens. I doubt it matters too much, I think I'm just being sentimental and the smart thing is to just sell it to someone who wants a cheap car to do no maintenance on until it falls apart, but dammit it's been a good car and the urge to keep it up even though I'm selling it is strong. Completely illogical of course...

Fakie J Farkerton

iTrader: (51)

Rust free 4th gen for sale soon?
Where are you located?

hooloovoo

lol, Eugene Oregon. All our cars are rust free out here, no road salt!

JvG

Yup.

Straight rust free cars are everywhere here.

Lots of cheap 4th Gen here.

Look up Portland Craigslist to see what I'm talking about.

hooloovoo

Well in good (or bad) news... I popped the belt off tonight and started it up and it purrs like a kitten with no noise. Poking around some more with the mechanics stethoscope I'm 99% sure it's the alternator, it's the only thing I can touch that has an oscillating sound, everything else is a constant volume / pitch sound.

So I guess on the good side, the timing chain is still good to go and the car might still have some life in it! On the negative side, now I gotta shell out for a new alternator. or let the buyer deal with it...

JvG

Well, that's relatively good news.

Easier and cheaper than dealing with a tensioner
and chain guides.

It's all about attitude control.

max ride 41

iTrader: (4)

or money control, getting ready to do the egr spacer tube on my old girl. tube, 40.00, gaskets, 10.00, labor?? have to argue with mechanic over that yet, we'll see......

JvG

When I compare that to car payments, even that sounds pretty good.

The Wizard

iTrader: (43)

You see, it wasn't that difficult to pinpoint after all. Glad my suggestion helped you out.