Hard to find engine squeak

[Altnrgy]

Hello Experts!

My rock solid 99 2WD with 246k miles has developed a squeak that I can't track down with my mechanics stethoscope. I've placed it on the water pump, the belt tensioner, the power steering pump and even got underneath and checked everything out. But I'm not a professional mechanic so it could be operator error while it was running.

It's not present to barely noticeable at idle. It used to go away after a few minutes but now it's pretty much much there all the time I'm a few hundred RPM above idle.

It's not the alternator because it was there before I changed it a few weeks ago and is still present.

Also it's NOT directly proportional to RPM. IE: double the engine RPM's but the frequency of the squeak is just barely faster.

Any ideas for things to check?

Thanks to this Forum I'm totally confident to drive my baby for at least another 100k miles.

T

[zambonimaxx]

If the water pump is the original, it could possibly be that one. However, the first thing I would do is remove the belt and free-spin as many of the pulley wheels as I can. My guess is its the free-standing guide pulley, that seems to be a common trend that goes out. If that turns out to be the case, do not purchase the new wheel and bearing from Ford...if you have another vehicle to drive (not sure of the size) but pull that pulley wheel off and bring it to NAPA they will get you a bearing for 1.20 instead of 90! Same goes with other stuff...use a press get the old bearing out, replace just the bearing, as long as the wheel is o.k.!

~Phil

[95dieselsmoke]

Could be as simple as an idler pulley or any other pulley for that matter. give it a squirt of oil and see if it goes away, may help pinpoint the bad pulley.

[Altnrgy]

Thanks for the quick replies. I picked up a new serpintine belt then removed the old belt. It didn't show any signs of wear but it was approaching 4 yrs old.

When I had the old belt off I checked every pulley for play and sqeuaks by hand. They were all in great shape. I put the new belt on and the squeak is now gone. Go figure?

Thanks!

T