Horrible intermittent rattle---Solved

[cshade]

For nearly 4 months now I've been trying to figure out what the heck was squealing from my motor...One day while I had the serp belt off, I spun the idle pulley out of frustration and low and behold the bearings inside of it sounded like they were pecan shells! I took a trip to the auto store, bought the bearing ($10) pressed it in and the rattle was gone!

I felt pretty proud of myself until I counted the extra money I had already spent on a new ps pump. :mad:

[john8662]

Powersteering pumps get blamed a lot, sometimes for bad crank pulleys, etc.

Glad you found it while you were still sane!

J

[cshade]

Rattling noise is back again once the engine gets hot...not like it was, but it's there. Thats it! Forget this crap I'm moving to the mountains, making friends with a bear, and surrounding myself with pet rocks.

[Mark Rinker]

Just like Robyn did? :)

[More Power]

Remove the belt again and spin the tensioner pulley to check the bearings. While you're there, use your flexhandle to rotate the belt tensioner through its range of motion. Does it move freely and silently? Or, does it creak and groan, and move with considerable effort?

I recommend replacing the entire belt tensioner assembly (which comes with a new pulley/bearings) instead of just the bearings. A worn out tensioner can quickly take out the bearings due to its inability to move freely, which can cause the belt to run too tight. ;)

Jim

[twaddle]

Can you identify where or which side of the engine the noise is coming from?
The other option is to get a mechanics stethoscope, the type with a metal probe at the end of the tubes. They are not that expensive and can save a lot of hassle in pin pointing where a noise originates from.

Also check out the vacuum pump drive unit as it can make a heck of a racket when ready to fail.

Good luck

Jim

[gmctd]

Harmonic damper\balancer - will eat your crank

rubber-isolated accessory drive pulley - rattles, may initiate crank damage

vacuum pump - noisy\rattles, maybe low\no power and black smoke

belt tensioner\pulley -noisy rattles scrunches cracks pops, can sound like timing chain is coming thru cover

waterpump\fan clutch - grinding squeals\rattles

alternator bearings - grinding squeals

a\c clutch bearings - grinding squeals

p\s pump - g\s, oil leaks

[john8662]

Just like Robyn did? :)

That's kinda funny!

J

[tommac95]

cshade --

Just to amplify one point made by GMCTD:

Whenever either the accesory-drive pulley , or the harmonic-dampener/vibration-dampener fail/decay , be sure to check up on the other one.

[cshade]

It was the harmonic balancer...


Why i hate dealerships:

Charles: check the harmonic balancer and fix the oil leak(s). I have no idea where the rattling noise or the leak is coming from
Dealership: ok

3 days later:

Charles: did you fix the oil leak
Dealership: yeah that will be 1300 dollars
Charles: wholy crap for what
Dealership: fixing the leak, details are on your receipt in accounting
Charles: i guess i'm not getting my suburban back if I don't pay this huh
Dealership: bingo
Charles: did you check the balancer
Dealership: the wha?
Charles: the harmonic balancer..because of that noise
Dealership: its fine. diesels are just loud. By the way that will be 1300 dollars, but we don't guarantee it wont leak again
Charles: i'm feeling taken advantage of
Dealership: our prices are fixed
Charles: like opec eh
Dealership:wha?
Charles: nevermind, hey i noticed another leak this one is HUGE
Dealership: ok we can look that over
Charles: i thought you fixed those
Dealership: well, we put vacuum hoses on instead of oil hoses
Charles: hmmm sounds like a rockstar crew you have. Are you sure you checked the balancer
Dealership: that will be 1800 dollars, we needed to fix your cracked filter housing it was leaking slightly.
Charles: here's your damned check and I'm buying a manual with the money I have left in my bank account before you take that too. By the way on your way to the bank you can also go to hell.

[gmctd]

MrGoodwrench 6.5 training curriculum -

Report to service manager's office

Brief indoctrination -

Dr. Diesel invented the Diesel engine a long time ago

Diesel fuel don't smell like gasoline - it got something different in it

Don't use Diesel fuel in the barbeque pit, even tho it smells like starter-fluid - fuel got something bad in it

Don't use Diesel fuel in mosquito fogger, even to it smells like mosquito spray - fuel got something bad in it

You can always tell a Diesel engine - it sounds different

An encouraging 'if Dr Diesel can design one, you can fix one'

A hasty 'atta boy' and combination hand-shake\palming-off of the customer's keys, and the service bay's new 6.5 Diesel tech is thrown to the dogs

Remember: you always got this forum - nuttin' to it, the way we do it................

[Robyn]

This sad tale replays itself over and over and over again.
Incompetence lead by more incompetence fueled by greed.

I am sorry you were taken advantage of by the dealership.
I have used the dealership a few times when either I did not have the time to work on the beast or the weather outside was just so nasty and I could not get the rig inside.
Every time I have used the dealer I have had issues with something not being fixed right.

Mark is right

Move to the mountian, make friends with the little critters and ride a mule.

The mule can be stuborn but at least its predictable. :D and it will eventually do the job.
It does however make funny noises from time to time. :eek: but they are consistent with the model and design. :rolleyes:

Robyn

[Billman]

If that's what you said to them, it's pretty funny...

Educate yourself and read here. You can learn a ton.