Groaning sound in motor

[Fred Valdez]

Hello,

Within the last few days I'm hearing a now distinct groaning/whining sound from motor area. Last night I decided to pull the serpentine belt, start it and see if that sound was still there. No it wasn't. So it's either the belt or a pulley causing this. I'm buying and installing a new belt today so we'll see if sound goes away.

-fred

 

[Flexpedition]

I proactively swapped out the belt tensioner on my '08 when I replaced the belt a few years ago. Motorcraft part 1l2z-6b209-c and was about $35. The old one was fine but made sense to swap it while I was in there and only added a few minutes to the job.

If you haven't bought the belt yet, I went with a Continental & no issues.

 

[JExpedition07]

On my last ‘07 I used a Goodyear with a new tensioner I think? The new belt didn’t last long and replaced with a motorcraft which lasted until the end. Most aftermarkets should be fine I just got a funky one.

 

[iimagine]

Any chance it's your power steering pump?
iimagine

 

[Fred Valdez]

Any chance it's your power steering pump?
iimagine

well, I'm leaning that way...while swapping the belt I turned all the pulleys that freely spun and saw/heard nothing out of the ordinary. After I put new belt on and started I still heard the groan. It even changed tone when I turned the steering wheel so my guess that's it...it seemed to quiet down a little with new belt (probably a placebo effect). Is this something to worry about in the immediate future? The more I think about it..I hear louder groans./whining in alot of Ford Explorers...so this maybe more normal than I think..

 

[Fred Valdez]

but...with that said...thru searching it also could be idler pulley or tensioner too... it's cheaper to go this route for replacement and if it still groans afterwards, then address the pump...

 

[JExpedition07]

I’ll just throw this out there, a power steering pump failure is very rare on the 5.4 3V it’s a solid unit. FordTechMakuloco said leaks and failures are rare and most steering issues are shaft related.

 

[Fred Valdez]

ok..changed belt tensioner and still groans...gotta be power steering pump..

 

[Fred Valdez]

I’ll just throw this out there, a power steering pump failure is very rare on the 5.4 3V it’s a solid unit. FordTechMakuloco said leaks and failures are rare and most steering issues are shaft related.

yea i did the tensioner because of a vid i saw from him... i think gut is telling me it has to do with the power steering tho... checking to see what i can do before considering replacing it.. maybe replace fluid, check for air in system etc.

 

[Fred Valdez]

gonna try to siphon as much fluid in reservoir later and replace with mercon v atf later today.