I recently noticed what sounds like a bearing going bad up on the front of the engine. Starting cheap, I replaced the belt tensioner pulley...nope. Any ideas? I tried to pinpoint where the noise is coming from but I cant tell. Any guidance would be appreciated. The truck has 190,000 miles on it.

What year, model? Might be the vacumn pump.
Don

is your harmonic balencer(SP?) still good?

Dampener pulley is rubber mounted. If rubber has deteriorated mounting bolts can clack or clank on pulley spokes . Aother place to check .

x2 on checking the Vac Pump.

I experienced pump deaths on both my C1500 and C3500 and think my K2500 pump has one foot in the grave.

I did not replace them. I made TM's for them.

Chaser

Ac pump idler bearing also a possibilty. Vacume pumps make alot of noise when starting to go bad. Turn on ac to eliminate ac bearing. Noise will stop with ac running. Fan clutch also a possibility. I'd bet on the vacume pump.

when i bought my truck the vac pump was already dead. the new one i put on, before i upgraded to my T/M, had a rattle/tick like a really bad exhaust leak so it seems that they can make all sorts of noises.

take the belt off, and spin all the pullies by hand. usually you can pinpoint it that way. if you can't find it still, then start the truck with the belt off, then you will know if it is an accessory pulley, or balancer or base engine noise.

I haven't tried this myself but I think some of the more experienced guys here could tell you how to use a broom handle as a stethoscope, I think you would put it up against a bracket near the suspected pulley and put it to your ear. I imagine you would want to be pretty careful not to get it in the belt.

I haven't tried this myself but I think some of the more experienced guys here could tell you how to use a broom handle as a stethoscope, I think you would put it up against a bracket near the suspected pulley and put it to your ear. I imagine you would want to be pretty careful not to get it in the belt.

broom handle, long screwdriver, piece of brake line. they all work for a cheap mechanic's stethoscope. i've used the brake line and it works fairly well.

Wooden dowel or a very long handled screwdriver works well.

I don't put it in the ear canal but rather against part of my ear that when pressed against my head covers the ear canal. Then firmly press the other end against whatever you want to listen to. Put it on the alternator body to hear the alternator bearings, same with p/s pump, water pump, injection pump (that'll be REALLY loud), vac pump.

Also, harbor freight has a cheap stethoscope that is quite an upgrade from having used dowels and screwdrivers and ratchet extensions for so long. It nearly deafened me it was so much louder. Got it for about $3 on sale I think.

Chaser

PS: I wouldn't (and don't) recommend using this method for checking idler pulleys and such. The belt and fan become a real danger. It's probably better to pull the belt and check those by hand.

I haven't tried this myself but I think some of the more experienced guys here could tell you how to use a broom handle as a stethoscope, I think you would put it up against a bracket near the suspected pulley and put it to your ear. I imagine you would want to be pretty careful not to get it in the belt.

broom handle, long screwdriver, piece of brake line. they all work for a cheap mechanic's stethoscope. i've used the brake line and it works fairly well.

Gotta try the brake line idea. sounds good

Gotta try the brake line idea. sounds good

i had a piece of 1/4" line from when i redid my rear brake line. the piece was too long so i had to cut it down to about 1/2 its length. i just cut it with heavy duty shears and tapped the end back into somewhat of a hole instead of a crimp. just don't shove the cut end into your ear, i didn't do this but i'd imagine your ear drum would no longer be on speaking terms with you if that happened. :eek:

I haven't tried this myself but I think some of the more experienced guys here could tell you how to use a broom handle as a stethoscope, I think you would put it up against a bracket near the suspected pulley and put it to your ear. I imagine you would want to be pretty careful not to get it in the belt.


The belt dosnt bother me its that fan thing.

The belt dosnt bother me its that fan thing.


yes me too. plastic or not, theres just something about fast spinning blades that bothers me.

The belt dosnt bother me its that fan thing.

My dad was taken to hospital in his own ambulance because of a fan:eek::( almost lost his hand

yes me too. plastic or not, theres just something about fast spinning blades that bothers me.


mine isnt plastic

mine isnt plastic


that'll do a good bit of damage then. :eek::eek:

Yeah - Either one will eat you quick...
OTOH - You can remove the fan to check the accessory's bearings.

How hard is it to remove the vac pump? Im going to replace it with a TM so I wont have to worry about failure ever

The vac pump is easy, their is a step by step post in FAQ I beleive. Our do a search on it.

How hard is it to remove the vac pump?

Not hard at all. You have to rotate the pump to get at one or two of the bolts. Takes just a few minutes to get it off.

My dad was taken to hospital in his own ambulance because of a fan:eek::( almost lost his hand
Must be cool having your own ambulance. jk

Anyone see the Sons of Anarchy episode with the stolen ambulance? Funny as hell, everybody walking into the garage was saying "where did we get an ambulance?", or "we have our own ambulance?" Then when a guy got shot the prospect showed up with it to get him out of there before the cops came, and the gunshot victim was like "a motorcycle gang with it's own ambulance?" Pretty freakin' funny.

Just a suggestion - don't put the screwdriver or dowel to your ear. Ears are for stethoscopes and the like. If you just press the screwdriver or dowel against your skull (forehead) and to the part being tested, you'll hear it through the bone just fine, esp the higher frequencies and better than shoving it onto your ear.

Careful about those moving parts on matter how you use the sticks or scope. The head is a mighty important body part and most likely want to keep it as intact as possible for the rest of your life.

A few posts back, some people were talking about the fan. I had a fan let me know it was there when I was looking for a coolant leak at "oh dark thirty" at night on a S-10. Didn't lose anything, but I sure as heck don't wanna do it again.

As to the sticking stuff in your ears, don't stick anything in them besides your elbow. Use the right tool for the job. A broom handle to the forehead works in a pinch, but I'd recommend a mechanic stethoscope. They are cheap enough and work wonders.