Tick from the front of motor?

[BrilliantBlkS4]

Ive got a ticking noise coming from what looks like exactly where whatever that belt is for on the front of our motors, just a hair underneath the rad fans (04 4.2) what is that for? and is it generally common that this happens? This just started about 2 days ago. Ill post a video up in a bit so you guys have a better idea but any quick help is definitely appreciated

[REVOofRustler]

Definitely check the belt. Mine was doing the same thing and it's because my belt was starting to get torn to shreds. The belt goes to your alternator - the only thing belt driven on our cars.

[BrilliantBlkS4]

Definitely check the belt. Mine was doing the same thing and it's because my belt was starting to get torn to shreds. The belt goes to your alternator - the only thing belt driven on our cars.

Thanks man. how do we get to these damn things on our cars? front end comes off or do i go under the car? lol

[REVOofRustler]

It's a bit of a pain haha. When I did mine, I took my core support all the way off so I could put in a new AC compressor. For just the belt, I've read you can change it by loosening the core support and pulling it out a couple inches. That way you won't have to refill your coolant or power steering fluids.

[AllroadMass]

Thanks man. how do we get to these damn things on our cars? front end comes off or do i go under the car? lol

Same as RevofRustler, I did mine when I took the whole front end off to do my AC. You should be able to put it in service position and get the belt off that way. 17mm bolt on the tensioner from the bottom of the car and belt will come off for you. OEM belt I bought was less than $30.

[BrilliantBlkS4]

Here are the two videos i took after i got home from work earlier today. I think it sounds like its probably the belt, but some verification from a few of you smarter guys would definitely help

[pwest15]

I'm tempted to say that it would be your intake manifold flap rattling. Not a big issue. Very common with our cars. See if you can place your hand on the intake manifold while its running and if you can feel a constant knocking with that sound. Another way to check would be to put some pressure on the little black plastic actuator in front of the intake manifold to see if the sound changes or goes away. It looks like this:

[BrilliantBlkS4]

Ive thought it was the intake flapper too, but ive read that some people only experience it on cold start up and then it goes away? this is at an idle after the car had been running quite a bit. If you're sitting in the car driving you dont hear a peep however. Ill definitely check the actuator in the morning though... im a small dude and even my tiny ass hands have trouble trying to get in there to touch the flapper lol

[pwest15]

Ive thought it was the intake flapper too, but ive read that some people only experience it on cold start up and then it goes away? this is at an idle after the car had been running quite a bit. If you're sitting in the car driving you dont hear a peep however. Ill definitely check the actuator in the morning though... im a small dude and even my tiny ass hands have trouble trying to get in there to touch the flapper lol

Haha yeah it's definitely hard too reach. Flapper rattle is different for everyone though. Some people's rattle never goes away, some after a bit of driving, warm, cold, etc. It varies because its all in the little seal and bearing thing. I did the "fix" before but it ended up coming back a year later. I think I may try and buy the fix kit from ecs but the price is making me hold off.

[REVOofRustler]

Definitely check the intake flapper first, seeing as you only need to remove the "4.2" engine cover for that.

For reference, here's what mine sounded like when the belt was bad. It sounded like it was coming right through the radiator.






And here's what the belt actually looked like

[BrilliantBlkS4]

toyed around with the actuator and that lever you can push down on right next to/under it and it does nothing to the sound, so im leaning towards it probably being the belt, and RevooRustler that sounds nearly identical to the noise im hearing which is kind of making me think even more that its probably the belt haha

i noticed on cold start up that it will tick for a few seconds, then stop, then tick again, then stop.. once it warms up it seems like its constant however


sadly i dont have the tools right now to take off the bumper and loosen the core support to really check how the belt is looking, fingers crossed this thing doesnt fucking snap on me within the next week haha

[2004B6S4]

I recently replaced my belt for the same reason (and revofrustler's video helped me identify what it was when I was getting really worried thinking it was something internal in the engine), and I also have the IM tick. Yours definitely sounds like the belt to me. I guess you've already ruled out the IM too so I think you have it nailed down

[kamdyka]

Very likely that its your belt tensioner. The tensioner's bearing is usually what causes the noise and will also make your belt wear out prematurely. Unfortunately you need to put the rad into service mode to have this replaced. Best of luck.

[roboto_1337]

Haha yeah it's definitely hard too reach. Flapper rattle is different for everyone though. Some people's rattle never goes away, some after a bit of driving, warm, cold, etc. It varies because its all in the little seal and bearing thing. I did the "fix" before but it ended up coming back a year later. I think I may try and buy the fix kit from ecs but the price is making me hold off.

to diagnose my flapper I just pushed on the actuator arm with the car idling... you should be able to replicate or change the noise that you hear if that's the issue.