cjrfsu7 Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 New to the forum, hopefully this is the correct area to be posting this. Hoping someone could give me a little help on this. I have a 2008 Fusion that has a rattle from hell when the engine is at an idle and under some sort of load, power steering, A/C, the alternator, whatever. Sound like marbles in a can. It is especially bad when the car is in gear. You can watch the serpentine belt tensioner jump around as it makes this noise, and if you apply some sort of pressure to the tensioner while it it running it stops. With the belt off everything seems to spin freely. I've already replaced the tensioner (with a Motorcraft one), belt, idler pulleys and the alternator when it gave out. It's been going on for a while now and I can't seem to figure out what is causing it, and I can't really afford to throw parts at it since I'm going to school at the moment. Is there some way to diagnose what is causing this? Or has anyone else had a similar problem? I've hit a bit of a brick wall here, as I do not know how to check what could be causing this. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueOval2010 Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 Could be the harmonic balancer, or did you check that? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjrfsu7 Posted December 2, 2014 Author Share Posted December 2, 2014 I completely blanked on that. I'll have to check it out once I get a chance. Could be the culprit. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monochrome11 Posted December 2, 2014 Share Posted December 2, 2014 Are you sure the belt is not too long causing it not to be under proper tension? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjrfsu7 Posted December 3, 2014 Author Share Posted December 3, 2014 Pretty sure I've got the proper belt size. There's a couple sizes listed for this engine, I ordered the shortest one off of Rockauto. Puts the tensioner pretty close to the center of its travel as far as I can tell. Front seal needs to be replaced, so I went ahead and ordered the balancer too. Should be here tomorrow. Hopefully it fixes the problem. Now that BlueOval brought it up it makes sense, I can't think of anything that would make the tensioner rattle just by putting it into gear other than the balancer. Idle stays the same, just puts a load on the engine. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjrfsu7 Posted December 6, 2014 Author Share Posted December 6, 2014 So the new balancer is installed. Still rattles, but seems like it did quiet down a bit. Same symptoms as before, any sort of load on the engine causes it. So still not sure what it could be, unless the tensioner was damaged/worn out from hammering like that. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjrfsu7 Posted December 8, 2014 Author Share Posted December 8, 2014 Update, talked to a ford tech. He says it's probably the aftermarket belt. Something about aftermarket belts not meeting specs and stretching while they run, acting like a rubber band. Anyone else hear of this before? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tsetse51 Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 Update, talked to a ford tech. He says it's probably the aftermarket belt. Something about aftermarket belts not meeting specs and stretching while they run, acting like a rubber band. Anyone else hear of this before? Did you replace the belt with one from a reputable manufacturer? Or with a belt branded for the store chain from which you bought it? There's nothing wrong with using "aftermarket" belts from the likes of Gates, Dayco, etc. (who probably supplied the factory with the original equipment, anyway). But if you use something at half or two-thirds the price, under the brand name of the parts store you bought it from, there's no telling where it was made, or to what standards. Serpentine poly-vee belts must deal with much heavier loads than the V-belts of the past, under very severe conditions of heat, cold, vibration, and torsional stresses on the driven equipment. This is an item, like brake parts and tires, where you don't want to cut corners on quality. The (insert Chain Store name here) parts store up the street always offers me two choices for belts: the store brand for about $30, and a Gates or Dayco product for about $45. Definitely a no-brainer. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rschap1 Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 I am trying to figure out very similar rattle. Thought it was the exhaust's flex pipe and replaced that last week as it looked pretty rough and about to come apart. Digging deeper, I can see that it rattles when the serpentine belt gets a little slack. Trying to get at the tensioner, it's pulley, and the idler pulley. With 140k miles nothing is like brand new, but nothing jumps out as terrible either. I replaced the belt a few months ago. I think it was a Good Year. Seemed OK or better for a few days. If I manually get under the car and pull the tensioner tighter, it seems better for a VERY short time. I am real suspicious of the tensioner itself. Just so tight trying to see or get at anything. Mine does it particularly when I back out of my garage. At least that is when I hear it most often. Foot on brake, in reverse gear, and some load on the power steering. Had my son get behind the wheel and do all that while I was under hood. When I see a little less tension on the belt and enough slack for it to get some "slapping" action, the rattle seems to coincide with that. Anyone replaced their tensioner?? Tough job? Any tips? Pulling front tire or fender liners help? Anyone fix their rattle? Thanks 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjrfsu7 Posted December 13, 2014 Author Share Posted December 13, 2014 At first it was a store brand belt when I was planning on selling the car, but since the rattle started I replaced it with a dayco. Also attempted the Motorcraft belt like the tech said. Did absolutely nothing, figured it was too easy of a fix. As for replacing the tensioner, I would definetely jack it up and remove the front passenger tire. Going to have a rough time playing with the belt without access to the crank/ac pulleys. Replacing the tensioner itself isn't too hard, just one bolt holding it on. Still fighting with the rattle, guess I get to tear it back apart and check everything a little closer. Getting pretty fed up with it. Might pick up another tensioner and bolt it on, just to make sure the new one wasn't faulty or something. Return it if it does the same thing. Thing that drives me nuts is it's any load on the accessory drive. power steering, A/C, a draw on the charging system. Also putting in in gear, reverse or drive. I'll try and get a video up on youtube so you guys can hear it. Driving me nuts. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjrfsu7 Posted December 13, 2014 Author Share Posted December 13, 2014 (edited) May be hard to see, but here's the noise. Near the end I turn everything off and the rattle basically stops. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFLkyzeGEBg&feature=youtu.be Edited December 13, 2014 by cjrfsu7 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rschap1 Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 Looks and sounds like my issue is probably the tensioner. cjrfsu7, replacing yours did not fix it? Make it any better? For a while? Use a "Ford" part? I see a variety of brands at places like Autozone and Oreilleys. Hate to go through all the hassle of replacing it and not actually fixing it. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjrfsu7 Posted December 15, 2014 Author Share Posted December 15, 2014 It's been replaced once already, with a motorcraft tensioner. Didn't fix it. Need to check a couple more things once I get some time. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rschap1 Posted December 16, 2014 Share Posted December 16, 2014 THANKS I been wondering if it is an issue of belt being too loose... Has anyone ever tried a shorter belt??? Haven't looked into enough to know if they are available in increments small enough to do anything like that, but I was wondering. A centimeter or 1/2" shorter be enough to wrap around everything but keep it tighter....? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rschap1 Posted December 16, 2014 Share Posted December 16, 2014 I see some belt lengths listed as 88" for my application, 2007 2.3 SEL. Some others show better part of an inch longer. Gates says "effective length" of 88". Duralast lists like 88.78" Wonder how much effect that would have? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjrfsu7 Posted December 16, 2014 Author Share Posted December 16, 2014 Hard to say, I tried the shortest belt length that was listed and it still rattled. Any shorter and I think I'd have problems getting the belt on. Replaced it with the stock motorcraft belt, trying what a ford tech said and it rattles. I need to check some other stuff out this weekend. They ranged from 92.75" to 91.75" on rockauto for the v6. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rschap1 Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 Frustrating not knowing what to fix for sure. I replaced the flex pipe from the manifold to the catalytic convertor thinking that the was the case already. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rschap1 Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 Picked up a new 88" Gates belt last night. Saw I had a Valucraft 88 and 1/2" on there now. Got underneath and saw that the tensioner was hitting the end of it's travel making the clattering noise. Found a pretty big spread in what gets listed for length. Mostly 88 for automatics like I have and 88 1/2" for manuals. Again that if for my 2.3 (sorry to be carrying on in V6 area). Some showed as long as 89+. After seeing my issue, I have to believe that would make some noises too. Fingers crossed. See if it is quieter today !!! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjrfsu7 Posted December 21, 2014 Author Share Posted December 21, 2014 PIcked up another tensioner last night. Going to go and throw it on in a few just to see if I had gotten a bad one, or if I killed the last one by driving it for so long. If not it's going back. I'll check back in after I finish working on the car. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rschap1 Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 Hope you had good luck with the tensioner. My belt looks as though it was my problem. Put the new shorter Gates belt on and it has been better. I was underneath the car with it running before and there was only about 1/4" between the 2 "stops" on the tensioner before. It had a ton of travel going on too, even just at idle. I was thinking there was an out of round pulley or some sort of other trouble. But with new belt there was over an inch between the stops on tensioner and very steady. Hoping that takes care of things finally. Glad I saved a nickel or two also... wife just called, rear hub on our Expedition is out... $500 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rschap1 Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 Seems that the newer shorter belt took care of the rattle for me. So far at least. Hopefully it stays that way. Appreciate the help and advice here. Got me headed in the right direction... Feel silly after replacing my flex exhaust pipe, but it looked pretty frayed and rough. Thanks 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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