I've had 2 intercoolers, and 1 cylinder head replaced on my '00 Lightning by the same dealer. A few nights ago, my "motor" started making a noise, and it didn't sound good. Last night I got a chance to investigate. The only externally noticable thing I could find that may be the source of the noise was my main drive belt (the inside one for the alternator...NOT the s/c), which was not only frayed on the inside edge, but starting to chunk and actually missing some strands at places.

Obviously this isn't good, but since my s/c belt is fine, I was curious and looked a little bit harder to see if I could find out way this was only happening to one belt and not the other (since size and material wise they appear to be the same). What I came to find out was that the belt was improperly seated on the lower passenger side accessory pulley (i.e. only 6 of the 7 ribs were on the pulley...1 was partially off). This in and of itself isn't that bad, but directly after that lower pulley is the smooth tensioner for the inside belt, and literally about 1/8" - 3/16" of the belt does not even contact the tensioner pulley because of how it is seated on the previous accessory pulley. Obviously, the side of the belt that is hanging off is the side that is now starting to chunk. You can see rust/marks on the smooth tensioner pulley, indicating that the belt has been like this for quite some time. I'm thinking/hoping that the noise I had heard (which sounded like a inconsistant ticking / slight knocking that DID vary with rpm), may have been the 6-7" strands of the belt hitting something metal in the engine bay before they actually separated from the belt...(fingers crossed).

Anyway, I have a couple of quick questions I was hoping some of you might be able to answer for me (since I don't have (a) general knowledge of this subject, or (b) my manuals handy):

(1) How longs do these belts typically last? When does Ford say you're supposed to replace them?

(2) When the dealer replaces EITHER an intercooler or cylinder head, do they have to remove this (inside) belt? If so, I would say that they improperly re-installed it, which caused the belt to pre-maturely wear etc.

(3) I called the local Ford dealer, and they said they have the OEM belt in stock for ~$60, which isn't the part I have the problem with...its the 2-3 hours to put the belt on that I don't want to have to deal with. What are the chances of me even having a shot at convincing the dealer that the belt chunking is at least partially their fault due to it being improperly installed, so that I can get the necessary repair covered under my extended warranty?

Thanks in advance for any information, help or advice you can give me.

Later...

GK

 

Cant answer your ? directly BUT I can say that I had a tesnsioner fail and it made some awful sounding engine noises. I was driving with some vigor then pulled over to idle and it sounded like i lost a rod or something... In my case the belt was jumping in rthym to the noise....
Not neccassirly related to RPM more related to the bounce rythm
Doug

 

Silver_2000_!: The rod thing is exactly what I thought happened, especially after reading some of the other horror stories on the board. I'll have to check it out again when I get home tonight, but when I was looking at the engine while it was running, the noise definitely seemed to be "in-tune" (sorry, I just didn't want to have to resort to saying "iN-SYNC"...because "they suck big, fat, huge rhinocerous di*k" (quote from the movie Boiler Room)) with the rotation of the inner belt. Just out of curiousity, which tensioner gave you the problem (Inside/alternator, or outside/supercharger)? I had read stuff about the idler pullies causing people problems, but not the tensioners themselves...I gotta tell ya that this is certainly re-assuring. Thanks for the heads up.

Anyone have anything else they can offer up?

Thanks again.

Later...

GK

 

3hrs to change that belt doesent sound right,i may be wrong

 

Well belt replacement on a stock L is 2-3 hours because you have to remove the SC pulley.

I'd explain it to them that it is their fault, take it in and hopefully they'll cover it.

Otherwise, grab a gatorback belt and do it yourself.

Coldie

 

Hey Garrett

I would say they have to remove the belt, since they have to remove the cam chain cover to get the head off.

Now get it fixed and get your A$$ up to the track so I can kick your butt.

 

when did they work on it last? 2 days ago or 6 months ago? I'd say that it is PROBABLY not their fault, even if they did replace the belt and have it off a rib, it would have probably jumped back into the proper position as soon as it was started for the first time, but who knows. if they worked on it recently (or if the service manager is just a push-over) then I'd say you have a good chance of having it fixed for free whether it was really their fault or not. But if has been any period of time, then you are likely to have to pay.

good luck.

later,
chris

 

Garrett your posts are to long. I feel asleep at my desk trying to get though it!

"He put a post... that was 3rrrr Miles long!"

We will leave the quote anonymous.

 

Well, Silver_2000_ was right. The "rod noise" was in fact due to a faulty pulley. I had my truck towed to the dealer on Tuesday morning, they kept it overnight, and I picked it up the following evening (wednesday night). They replaced the defective pulley, the torn belt, and did that wiper motor cover recall thingie (which I didn't even have to mention, which was nice). My truck has just over 60,000 miles on it, but I have the Ford ESP 5yr/100,000 mile extended warranty, so all I had to pay was the $50 deductible (...which was nice also).

Just something to keep your eyes (or ears) open for.

Later...

GK