A few days ago I had my oil changed since June (about 6 months) and the coolant topped off at the garage that I had been going to since I had gotten the car over summer.
Before having the oil changed a few days ago the car had sounded great. The ler roared, and the engine sang. No odd sounds. Over thanksgiving, my brother and I removed the silencer, and the car sounded even better.
The day following the oil change two or three days ago, I noticed more of an "air rushing" sound, and less of a sound from the exhaust. taking off in 1st sounds like a bunch bag pipes... yeah, thats right,.... bag pipes.
Today, on this sunny and warm December day in CT, I drove the car hard and discovered a sequenced sound of chirping/whining over 4000 rpms (on/off, on/off at a relatively high pace).
I thought maybe it's valves doing what they do, but I also got a series of clicking/vibration when I got home and parked the car.
I am horrified of what the hell has happened because I can't continue putting money into this car with school and all.
Perhaps you guys can persuade me to stay positive...... See video.
*I am a "spirited" driver, and so I do drive hard on occasion, but I never redline. I almost always keep the revs below 5500.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDLyPwfs6b4&feature=youtu.be
check out that screech at the 11 -13 seconds part of the vid. It's hard to hear it with the sound of the motor..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDLyPwfs6b4&feature=youtu.be
Have you tried taking off the belt and running the car to see if the noise still exists? It's probably coming from an engine driven accessory.
As far ashiznitting 5500rpm:
1. I doubt that you're revving that high. The stock digital tachometer is horribly inaccurate across the rev range. Unless you're manually shifting the AOD there is no way a stock AOD is making 5500rpm shifts. It's more in the 4800-5000rpm range. The AOD in my Thunderbird has valve body modifications and a high rev governor and shifts at 5800rpm.
2. Taking the engine to 5500rpm isn't going to hurt anything. Fuel cutoff in the computer is 6250rpm.
I had my twin rev the motor. It sounds like a lower accessory.
Is it worth putting on a new belt tomorrow to test? I have an unopened one in the trunk, I think my stepdad and I should be able to do that with minimal chance of shag up...
Take the belt off and move each pulley by hand. You might be able to feel some resistance or a grinding feeling on the pulleys.
Sorry, belt whine at 3500, not 5500. Lol
I had occasionally driven my dad's miata mx5 when living in California to college and around town, so I guess I forget how torquey and low revving the XR7's 302 is.... redline is at 5grand... I don't usually go over 4grand
I'm definitely going to do the spray test and see if I can diagnose the serpentine belt whine. I don't want to get worse; it's also annoying.
Chris fix has a pretty good how to video if you search him on YouTube.
I still prefer pulling the belt off and feeling the pulleys personally.
Your belt will basically only go on one way. Just make sure the flat side of the belt goes to the flat pulley's and the ribbed side goes to the ribbed ones and your done.
My stepdad again says I'm neurotic and shouldn't obsess over it. I think coolant was spilled at Mike's garage or the clutchless AC pulley or tensioner pulley is going. Everything else looks and sounds straight.
I'll see what happens a week or two down the road.
Any news on this? I was told once to be careful not to get antifreeze on a serp belt and if I did to thoroughly wash it off. The water (if a 50-50 mixture) will evaporate but the glycol will not. It will then dry, crystallize and never go away, causing slippage/screeching of the belt.
How many miles are on that car again?
Hey, hope everyone's holidays are going well.
The car continues to chirp/squeal around 3500 rpm's as it did when it started after the oil/coolant top off. It's sounds like a blow off valve or something silly when gunning high in the rev band. I don't know what it is. I'm assuming it's the beaten-to-death de-clutched AC pulley or some other pulley. I did the "spray bottle" test, and had no change in sound. So i assume it's hardware, not belt.
I also did some research about pvc hoses popping out that go in and out of the intake manifold, but haven't found any videos re-creating the sound my car makes.
A kid on one of the Cougar forums on facebook told me he had the same issue with his XR7, and that it was the tension pulley.
Either way, I'll get the pulleys inspected and maybe replaced early this summer, maybe at the Ford Dealership. I also want to get a fresh AC delete pulley to have mounted over summer so I can get rid of the AC .
I have one more semester of college left, and so I'll have my Bachelors in Illustration and Fine Art, as well as a graphic novel self published. Afterwards, I'll have all the time I can afford to work getting this car how i want it. In the meantime, I'm trying to ignore it...
The car only has 14x,xxx miles on it. Also, since traditional oil was added last oil change, I've noticed way less oil burning then when I had synthetic. So, overall, she's running great.
I've only had smog pumps and tensioner pulleys lock up on me. Never a water pump, power steering or ac.
I still recommend pulling the belt off and spinning the pulleys by hand. If it makes a squeel or chirp while running, you'll be able to feel play or grinding or notchyness in the bearing while you spin them. I just replaced my tensioner pulley a few months ago because I suspected it was bad. Just for fun I had them check the shelves to see if they had any and it was only $10 and a metal pulley so I bought it on the spot.
PLEASE for shiznit's sake PLEASE don't delete AC. You'll regret it I promise.That car is a museum piece, and worth so much more in many ways if you keep that accessory.
At the very least, if you insist, keep all of the parts and get rubber caps for all of the resulting open connections. That way down the road you could restore it or someone else could if you sell the car.
It's your car and you gotta do what you want, but surely someone else here will echo me. We are passionate about these cars and do what we can to fight for their proper preservation or tasteful modification/improvement ;)
I've locked up a A/C compressor, of course was no issue unless I tried to use air, it shortly dumped the charge problem went to zero... Had two P/S pumps lockup on the daughters 2.3 '87 Stang(yeah that stopped it dead)... Both were replacement's I bought from Western Auto... I had to go to GA to get car so I raised hell With WA, they at least partially paid expenses... They repl pump and approx 1.5 year later that one locked as well... She was in IA at the time, her father-in-law replaced that pump...
On a nice vehicle removing A/C is just plain red neck, if it's destined to be parts, junk, race car etc, well that's another story... I reinstalled the A/C on my Turbo Coupe after the 5.0 install...
+1
Don't ditch the A/C. If it doesn't work just leave everything in place until you can fix/recharge it. I still have functioning A/C on my Thunderbird and I wouldn't have it any other way.
I jumped the cutoff switch for my ac compressor on my last tbird and it worked like new after a recharge. It quit working after a year or so, but the system was still pressurized.
The only good way to bypass the ac is to get a mustang power steering bracket and find a delete kit. They can be pricey.