Started as what I thought was a belt chirp at low RPM only. Now it is a squeal that has to be a bearing. More likely the whipple or the tensioner pulley? Risk a 5 mile drive or call a flat bed? Thanks for any opinions.
Derry
Derry
Bad tensioner or whipple bearing
- Thread starter Derry
- Start date
Wwabbit
GT Owner
Sounds like you hear it clearly so it could be an external bearing such as an idler or maybe alternator bearing(?), the list goes on and hopefully not part of the oil pump drive. Safest of course is to truck it, but since the bearing is on the way out in either case and 5 more miles doesn't seem that far.... Maybe some of them are downhill? Tempting. I guess depends on just how loud the thing sounds like it's coming apart. One thing for sure, the more you run it in the garage, you're getting further away from wherever you want to go.
Thanks. Just spoke to Ford tech and he is telling me to lube the belt and see if noise goes away before considering a bearing. Will try tonight and hope.
DON'T lube the belt! (Cannot believe someone recommended this!!) I would suspect first that it is the Whipple idler pulley. How tight is it pushed over onto the belt?? Can you snap a pic? Whipple has and continues to recommend shoving that idler pulley over as far as your strength will allow. However, we and others have found that if you relax this idler - maybe about halfway of what you are fully capable to do, then the chirping will go away. We've had 19psi Whipples on the dyno withe the idler in this halfway position and have never witnessed belt slip. I never like to deviate from what the manufacturers recommend but this is one case where we have - seemingly with no downside other than a quieter car.
Fubar
Totally ****** Up
Maybe he meant lube the bearing? If he actually said "lube the belt" then you should flatbed your car to a Ford Dealership far far away.
Yes he actually told me to lube the belt, Ford trained GT tech! Have not done so, still was pondering last night. Belt is tight but below the idler pulley I can push in the belt about 1/8 th of an inch or so with 3 fingers. Thanks for your help! I will try loosening the pulley a bit this weekend and report back.
Xcentric
GT Owner
Perhaps the tech meant a shot of belt dressing simply as a diagnostic tool? A little soapy water would do the same thing and make less mess. If the noise lessens or goes away, get a new belt.
Wwabbit
GT Owner
I'd hold off on that. Multi-rib belts don't need dressing to work when everything is correct. If you are up for it, take the belt off and clean all the pulleys and idlers, look for any leaks or goop. Maybe wipe the belt down lightly with denatured alcohol (or replace the belt), wiggle stuff and have a good poke around - just don't spray a bunch of belt dressing crap in there. Belt dressing might be ok for the V belt on your shop fan, but
that won't fix whatever is wrong here.
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MAD IN NC
Proud Owner/ BOD blah bla
To kendall's point - I dropped the pressure from the idler pulley and most of the squeal went away......
For the belt chirp and to verify if it was the belt, I sprayed a little water on the belt from a spray bottle while the car was idling....
Still chirps a little on war up but goes away after 2-3 min.... Need the Shadowman fix of the shim to resolve that I believe
For the belt chirp and to verify if it was the belt, I sprayed a little water on the belt from a spray bottle while the car was idling....
Still chirps a little on war up but goes away after 2-3 min.... Need the Shadowman fix of the shim to resolve that I believe
. She makes more pwr now than before same Shadowman tune 766
zrchris
GT Owner
Your problem is likely just related to the belt, not a bearing or tensioner. I have the exact same problem, and so do many others with older Whipples. You'll want to replace the belt but the problem will reappear if you don't address the actual problem. As Evan Guyett found, the Whipple pulley is about .100" rearward of the plane of the other pulleys -
http://www.fordgtforum.com/forums/showthread.php?23152-Whipple-Belt-Chirping-Explained-and-Corrected
And so a shim is needed. Whipple is (very) quietly handing these out to those who ask. What is happening is that your belt is rubbing against the aluminum face on the front edge of the pulley. The belt is now shiny and the anodizing is gone, creating a major noise. Evan suggests relieving the face to add some clearance. pe2unia's Ultra Grip Pulley has this feature as well but I fear he is not correcting for the offset problem. Theoretically if everything is aligned and the belt and pulley are the same width as OE, clearancing should not be necessary.
Certainly the idler should not be push too hard, as it is easy to bottom out the tensioner, which could add a lot more load to the rest of the set and cause further problems. The reduction in tension surely reduces the noise, but it will still return in time if the interference is not resolved (via the shim).
Given that Whipple is offering these shims, I suspect at some point recently (in the past year) they revised their units to address this. Only they know the serial number at which this occurred...
http://www.fordgtforum.com/forums/showthread.php?23152-Whipple-Belt-Chirping-Explained-and-Corrected
And so a shim is needed. Whipple is (very) quietly handing these out to those who ask. What is happening is that your belt is rubbing against the aluminum face on the front edge of the pulley. The belt is now shiny and the anodizing is gone, creating a major noise. Evan suggests relieving the face to add some clearance. pe2unia's Ultra Grip Pulley has this feature as well but I fear he is not correcting for the offset problem. Theoretically if everything is aligned and the belt and pulley are the same width as OE, clearancing should not be necessary.
Certainly the idler should not be push too hard, as it is easy to bottom out the tensioner, which could add a lot more load to the rest of the set and cause further problems. The reduction in tension surely reduces the noise, but it will still return in time if the interference is not resolved (via the shim).
Given that Whipple is offering these shims, I suspect at some point recently (in the past year) they revised their units to address this. Only they know the serial number at which this occurred...
Thugboat
GT Owner
Yep,
What ZRChris said. And for several reasons you have to ask (sometimes Beg) for the shims.
Larry
What ZRChris said. And for several reasons you have to ask (sometimes Beg) for the shims.
Larry
Thank you guys! I ordered the belt from Whipple today figuring that whatever my issue was I would replace the belt. I explained the issue to the gent at Whipple, guess I am a little surprised that the shim was not offered. I am sure the belt has shipped already but will certainly give them a call anyway. I plan on spending tomorrow AM on closely reviewing the pully system and belt. Only a couple thousand miles on the $190 belt.
Took a close look/listen over the weekend. As bad as the boise is a small spray of water quiets it for a short period, no internal noise heard through a large screwdriver. Front edge of the belt is a little frayed but also glazed over. New belt arriving today from Whipple along with a free shim kit. Thank you guys for all your help!
eg1985
GT Owner
With a new belt and the shim kit installed you should be in great shape. As zrchris stated above, we have fixed a good number of the 3.3 cars with 100% success.:thumbsup
Wwabbit
GT Owner
What size belt you using? Same exact belt I got from Whipple I found online.
http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/d...005&keyword=25100891&doInterchangeSearch=true
MAD IN NC
Proud Owner/ BOD blah bla
I thought the whipple belts were cut down.....
I did pick one up from Fubar when he did his run of them for ~$35 and a Opus X.....
I did pick one up from Fubar when he did his run of them for ~$35 and a Opus X.....