My 2001 Excursion is making a strange noise. At idle I get an intermittent squeak/chirp. While driving it makes a sound more like a card in bicycle spokes. Also sometimes makes a droning sound. At times I can even feel a high freqency vibration thru the floorboard. It is load related - as soon as I lift off of the throttle, the noise/vibration goes away.

I just replaced the idler, tensioner & water pump, so those bearings are OK.

Also, thc left sidc (when standing in front of the engine & are lcoking at it) of the y-connector (between turbo & intake) is covered in oil.

I'm thinking the turbo is going. How can I check it? How much to replace it?

 

Some of your stuff sounds like a shot u-joint (vibration in the floor) My dodge had a launch shudder that went away when crusing or coasting turns out it was a blown u-joint.

 

I don't think so as I could hear it when the truck is not moving.

I did pull the intake tube off of the turbo & checked the bearings for play/roughness. Everything there is smooth as silk, so I think that the turbo is OK.

Could I have an exhaust leak that is making this sound?

 

Mark, Ford had a problem with flex plates from 99 to 01, I would be willing to bet yours is cracked almost all the way around the crank bolts and ready to fail. You might be able to see some of the crack if they are severe enough by pulling the inspection cover. Get this checked, if the flex plate fails at highway speeds it will take the trans case with it. It can be changed by just pulling the trans back about 6 inch's. Also oil on the intake tubes is completely normal.

Post what you find and good luck,Tim

 

I don't know if you noticed, but this is a Dodge diesel forum. If you want a little more PSD specific help check out a forum like powerstroke.org.

 

You're kidding & I thought that the 3rd gen ram at the top of the website was just a coincidence. I have posted on the Ford forum, but know that there are alot of knowledgable truck/diesel guys here that may be able to help me out (your comment by the way was not at all helpful, in case you are wondering). That's also why I posted in the general diesel section and not in the 1st, 2nd or 3rd generation section.

 

Mark Hodowanec, while I am not sure about this specific problem, you can count on me to help you out when I can. Regardless of what your question is.

 

are you kidding me? if thats the kind of advice you have to offer please refrain from postin in any threads i start.

mark if i had a shadow of a clue id be more than happy to offer up some ideas

brett

 

id go w/ the flex plate suggestion...

 

Well you know what guys here's the deal, I was flying through posts like I normally do and I did not notice your post count or anything to indicate you were aware, so I made an error and figured it was your first one and I WAS TRYING TO HELP so MY BAD if I made a mistake. That was my way of trying to help you, sorry you took it wrong.

 

You guy's are not going to believe this, but the cause of the noise was...

A SERPENTINE BELT that was delaminating.

I knew I needed to replace it, just thought that I would replace it AFTER I fixed the bad bearing,etc., or whatever else was causing the problem.

I can't belive this - I really feel like an idiot after pulling my hair out, thinking it was bad turbo, flex plate, etc.

Thanks for all the suggestions!

 

im glad it all worked out for you and probably was a little cheaper than all the other stuff that could have gone wrong with it

brett

 

Mark, I'm glad that you located the problem with your truck. I'm sorry that some of our members mistakenly assumed that this is a Dodge only site. We encourage, and welcome, all who wish to share in the vast wealth of knowledge and experience of our members. Gentlemen, an attack on another member will not be tolerated, no matter the reason. If you have a problem either solve it via pm's or hit the little triangle and report the post for us to review.

 

I'm sorry that I made a mistake. I honestly did not intend for my post to sound rude or come off in any negative way and I am genuinely sorry if I upset any of you.

I re-read your initial post and I do actually have some more useful information to contribute. I had a similar noise on my 99 PSD. I ended up finding that my tensioner needed replaced. It was during my slow business time in winter too, which stunk because I didn't exactly have the funds right away. The belt ended up losing a couple of ribs a few hours before I got to the parts store and got a new one on. That was around 140k miles so if you're anywhere close you might take a look at it.

 

No Problem

I have obtained a wealth of knowledge here on PowerStrokes, 6.5TDs, Kubotas, and even the ol' 5.9ISB. So I do post some non-Ram/Cummins questions here. The experience here is amazing. I try to recipricate, and part of 'my effort' is to close the loop when I solve the problem so that others that have may have been following the thread are aware of the problem/solution.

On a tangent, TheDieselStop (a Ford site) USED to be a great site as well. I used to learn as much there as I do here (only have had my Ram since 2004). I think that all the problems that Ford has had w/ the 6.0 really got everyone there either blindly defensive, or so mad/hateful that little usefull information comes out of that site anymore. it's really a shame, but at least now I have this site!