Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Another noise question...

Ok I cleaned out my UIM/LIM and now I have this weird noise that seems to come from the intake manifold (IM).

My process of cleaning the IM was the same as everything posted on the forums. I went through the full disassembly of the intake. I used B12 spray to clean out the UIM/LIM and for the real gunk I used a wire brush as well as an old tooth brush to get in small areas. Rinsed everything and used a vaccum cleaner on the LIM to make sure nothing fell down that wasn't supposed to. Reassembled everything with new gaskets on the UIM and TB and torque the intake bolts to spec and did it in the correct sequence.

The car runs great now, however on the initial start up I hear a rattle that sounds like metal on metal whirling about in the IM. This sound only occurs on startup. If I turn the car off and then restart it right away sometimes it won't do it, but the majority of the time it does. So you could say if you start and stop your engine and repeat this like 5 times in my case the sound happens 4 out of 5 startups.

I disassemblied the IM to see if anything was lodged in the MAF screen or the TB, but there wasn't anything. Any ideas? It sounds like its coming from the back side of the IM.

back side of the IM? as in.. the passenger's side of the car?

Could it be tensioner's rattling/clattering upon initial startup?

When I said back side of the IM I was thinking back as in firewall. I actually thought of the tensioners at first too. Only I was looking at the tensioner for the water pump since that was initially where I thought the source was coming from. Another worthy note on this I guess is the fact that I took the idle air valve off the IM and cleaned it out with carbon cleaner since the RPM's have been sticking up a little longer then usually lately. I don't suppose anything in there could be rattling... I mean all thats in there is a spring and a diaphragm correct?

Anyhow I'll check the accessory tensioners tomorrow.

I get that same noise from my zetec on cold starts. Like when you kickstart a moter bike and don't relese the kick leaver up right away you get that wirling buzz.

Thats exactly it. I wonder if it could be related to the starter and the sound is just resonating from under the engine. Although if that were the case you think it would come from the front of the engine by the fans... that is where the starter is located is it not? I have never paid that much attention to the starter since I didn't have problems with it.

It's always done it and keeps on running, I figured it must be mormal. A combo of cold T-belt, cams & lifters??? I realy don't believe it has any thing to do with the starter, the bendix will not spin that long. I almost wonder if it has any thing to do with the VCT. It uses oil in the gear hub and may leak down over night. The noise lasts about the liength of time to get the oil pressure up again. Just like changing the oil, you get that light chatter 5-6 seconds till you get your pressure back. It's in that area too. Maybe I'm just nuts??