Mason Edmison

Hi,

94 22re with a very annoying chirping sound - almost sounds like crickets on a summer night (see video).

So far, I have changed both belts and have them tightened to where I can just barely turn the belts 90 degrees. Alternator just replaced too. I also replaced the idler bearing pulley (power steering belt).

I did pull the power steering belt and it seems to still make the noise with just the alternator/ fan belt. Compression tested the engine and all cylinders came back around 175-180.

Not really sure what it could be. Some folks have said that the harmonic balancer coming apart can cause this chirp type noise?

Have a 8 hour round trip coming up next week and I would loooove to get this squared away before then as it is driving me nuts.

Mason Edmison

Oh and its an automatic 2wd. Also adjusted the valves recently.

gsp4life

You can start and drive a 22re without the alternator belt. Your battery will drain fast and the water pump won't turn, so I wouldn't recommend driving or idling for very long, but it'll let you know quick if it's the belt or not.

gsp4life

Fyi, my browser couldn't open the file (android phone) so I couldn't hear it, but I've had glazed/worn out/loose belts or bad bearings sound like crickets in the past on multiple vehicles. Also possible that it could be the bearing in the water or power steering pump. Does your truck have a/c?

Mason Edmison

Update:

Pulled both belts and (briefly) started it and what do ya know the sound was still there. Not sure. I guess best case scenario is that it's timing chain noise/slap? I was planning on doing the timing chain and water pump in the next month or so.

The fact that the motor has good compression and rungs pretty good gives me hope that theres nothing too wrong?

gsp4life

Is the noise constant? Or only when clutch is depressed? It could be the throw-out or pilot bearing.

If the engine at idle, with nothing else connected to it is making a chirping noise, that's not good because it almost would have to be an engine bearing at that point. The timing chain doesn't have any bearings so couldn't really make a chirping sound. When those go bad, it's a chattering or rapid tapping sound.
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Keep us updated and continue with the diagnostics.

old87yota

I can just I barely hear the sound through my headphones, and cannot tell what it is. The rest of the engine noise sounds normal.

It cannot be a throw-out or pilot bearing as this truck has an automatic transmission and not a manual.

Did you have this noise before the valve adjustment? Did it start immediately after adjusting the valve lash?

Mason Edmison

TheBFA

I used to be an acoustic operator in helicopters in the Navy doing anti submarine warfare. You can tell A LOT by the frequency of a noise.
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Use a paint marker or similar to make a mark on every pulley, like a timing mark. Watch your engine running and the pulley with the revolution that matches your sound timing is the culprit. It needs to perfectly match though. If you don't see one that matches perfectly, you'll have to look for some other cause. You can take your current rpm, divide by 120, and that's how many times a second a noise induced by the valve train will repeat. (Example: 900 rpm > 15 revolutions of crank per second, 4 stroke engine > 2 revolutions of crank per revolution of cam shafts, so suicid 15 by 2, cams rotating/valves actuating 7.5 times per second)

If someone had a timing chain handy and could count the links, and count the teeth on a cam sprocket, we can determine the revolution ratio of the chain to the sprocket and it's determine its frequency to see if that's causing the noise also.

If you can't find the culprit this way, it's something else. I couldn't pay the video or else I could probably help more.

fountain

Mine does the same thing after a distributor change. I'm wondering if mine isnt timing related. Mine is a slight chirp/squeal on a rev

snippits

Sounds like it's arc sparking. Open the hood, do it at night in the dark, and see if you see any sparks while it's running. Worth a shot anyway to rule that out.