My car (1999 Zetec, ATX) has started making a rattly sound from the passenger side of the engine. It sounds like it's coming from the timing belt area. The rattle is not harsh or metallic (it's not like valve clatter or bearing knock). It doesn't go away when the car warms up.
At first I'm thinking maybe the timing belt is a little loose, and it's hitting the top cover. I know a lot of you have had that problem.
I searched and found a lot of threads about timing belt noise in Zetecs. Some CEGers just take off the top cover or shim it with washers. Some guys bought a re-designed timing belt cover that gives the belt a little more room. Some guys had really bad belt noise and replaced their tensioners, belt, pullys, etc.
I can't feel any vibration when I touch the top cover, so it doesn't seem like the belt is hitting the cover. I removed the four bolts in the top timing belt cover anyway, just to have a look. I pulled the cover back a half an inch (couldn't get the cover to come all the way off, don't know why), and everything looked OK (can't see much without removing the cover completely). The noise stayed the same, even with the cover pulled back. I also tried shimming the cover with washers. Same noise.
So where is the damn noise coming from? The timing belt doesn't seem to be hitting the top cover, so I'm worried that the problem is lower down in the timing belt case, maybe the tensioner or the idler pullies. Some of you have posted gnarly pictures of broken tensioners, so I sorta suspect the tensioner is the problem.
So here are my questions:
1. How do I get the top timing belt cover off? I want to get a better look at the belt, but the cover seems stuck on at the bottom edge.
2. Is there any way to ADJUST the tensioner? At 27k miles, I would be shocked (SHOCKED, I tell you!) if the tensioner was actually broken.
3. If the problem is a failed tensioner, can it be replaced without removing the serpentine belt pullies, timing belt, etc? That sounds like a huge job, and I have never done it before.
