Help!!!

[pimpinindastinkinlincoln]

hey guys hows it going? I have a 97 lincoln continental 4.6 32 valve DOHC V8. 165,xxx. Waterpump was replaced at 150,xxx. serp belt is making a racket. defintly sounds metal on metal. Pull the belt and check for loose spindle? Any common things go? i.e. tensioners, power steering pump, a/c. started out as a quiet whine that went away after a minute. started up this morning and started making a real loud, awful racket. drove 3 mile loop and it is still knocking. almost sounds like i have no oil and my rods are knocking. (checked levels and listened for it and no its not that, no oil. lol) sounds like its coming from the front half, meaning alternator forward. i know the power steering pump, a/c, and tensioner is in the front. crap shoot, which one would you guys replace first? wont drive it till i figure this out. I know that dam 4.6 is an expensive motor to fix and if i throw that belt Its gonna cause problems. Any suggestions would be helpful, thank you.

Ian

 

[KStromberg]

hey guys hows it going? I have a 97 lincoln continental 4.6 32 valve DOHC V8. 165,xxx. Waterpump was replaced at 150,xxx. serp belt is making a racket. defintly sounds metal on metal. Pull the belt and check for loose spindle? Any common things go? i.e. tensioners, power steering pump, a/c. started out as a quiet whine that went away after a minute. started up this morning and started making a real loud, awful racket. drove 3 mile loop and it is still knocking. almost sounds like i have no oil and my rods are knocking. (checked levels and listened for it and no its not that, no oil. lol) sounds like its coming from the front half, meaning alternator forward. i know the power steering pump, a/c, and tensioner is in the front. crap shoot, which one would you guys replace first? wont drive it till i figure this out. I know that dam 4.6 is an expensive motor to fix and if i throw that belt Its gonna cause problems. Any suggestions would be helpful, thank you.

Ian

Pull the belt off and spin the pulleys by hand to find the culprit.

 

[tixer]

Well, assuming the continental v8 is identical to the Mark V8, (but sideways, I'd assume) you'll have two idler pulleys. one on the tensioner, and one bolted to the block. They are identical. (same part number) and I do know that I had to replace both of mine at about that mileage. (My Mark VIII is also a '97) But as you say, it could be anything.

the "sure thing" is to get yourself an automotive stethoscope if you don't already have one (they're super cheap) and touch the tip onto the bolt of each pulley in sequence until you hear the noise. it will be *obvious* with the stethoscope. they're kinda fun like that.

I suppose something you can try without even getting your hands dirty is to see if the sound goes away when you turn on the A/C. If it does, it is either the bearing on the compressor pulley, or something with the clutch on the compressor. Beerdog recently did a nice write up on the clutch mechanism. it's worth a read.
http://www.lincolnsofdistinction.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=35841

Happy hunting!

 

[driller]

I would suspect the tensioner and/or idler pulley.

 

[AmpTrooper]

I know I am late to this but, I had a Durango that sounded just like that and it turned out to be the AC pulley. It started from the clutch on the pulley messing up and got worse from there. I ended up bypassing it because it was so darn expensive to fix it. But yeah, sounds like the best thing to do is listen. You can even use a long screw driver or wooden handle like a scope if you don't want to buy one. I think Auto Zone actually has one they will let you use as long as your in the lot.