ieatglue

My brother bought a tempo about a year ago, and it's had this annoying rattle. I'm not sure if it's the harmonic balancer or the belt tensioner. He got it for $100 and spent about $500 on new brakes, pads, calipers, rotors, brake lines, plugs and wires. I also seafoamed it for him and replaced the air filter. The mileage doubled LOL. Now we're trying to get rid of that rattling noise. It only rattles in drive at a stop and a bit in park or neutral. Here's a video. Hope it helps...




Is there any way to test them both to see which one is the culprit?

ieatglue

ieatglue

Anyone???

__________________
Horsepower is how fast you hit a wall, Torque is how far you take that wall with you :D

tbird100636

Start by taking the belts off first. Then start the engine back up with no belts and see if the noise is gone. Before taking the belts off make sure there's no loose accessory bolts (alt. mounting, etc.) What year is the Tempo???

__________________
Master ASE Certified L1 Chrysler Technician- still a Ford fan at heart.
1964 Thunderbird Hardtop- Chantily Beige- 390 FE 4V V8-Uncle's Car
1966 Thunderbird Convertible- Red- 390 FE 4V V8- Uncle's other car- waiting for paint and body work!!!
1967 Mustang Convertible- Blue- 289 V8- helping a friend re-assemble this classic

ieatglue

It's a 92. I went ahead and bought a harmonic balancer anyway off ebay since it was only about $24 shipped. I'll take the belt off tomorrow, tighten it all up and give it a try. If i do get the sound, it would be the balancer right? I checked the exhaust heat shield, not that

__________________
Horsepower is how fast you hit a wall, Torque is how far you take that wall with you :D

ieatglue

I took the belt off today and started the tempo. I heard just a bit of rattling, but a lot less than previously. It could probably just be the valves. 95% of the sound was gone, so i turned off the engine and spun all the pulleys. The tensioner and the alternator both made a grinding noise. The tensioner pulley was a bit wobbly. I think it might be the culprit. I have a balancer on the way, so I'm gonna go ahead and replace it anyway. As for the tensioner, could I possibly just order the bearing?

__________________
Horsepower is how fast you hit a wall, Torque is how far you take that wall with you :D

tbird100636

The bearing is part of the pulley, you might as well just buy a tensioner. It's probably the original.

__________________
Master ASE Certified L1 Chrysler Technician- still a Ford fan at heart.
1964 Thunderbird Hardtop- Chantily Beige- 390 FE 4V V8-Uncle's Car
1966 Thunderbird Convertible- Red- 390 FE 4V V8- Uncle's other car- waiting for paint and body work!!!
1967 Mustang Convertible- Blue- 289 V8- helping a friend re-assemble this classic

ieatglue

Here's a small update. The tensioner pulley bearings were making some noise, and I noticed that they bearing sheilds were removable, so i removed them, cleaned it out w. WD40 and regreased the bearrings. That's now taken care of. As for the harmonic balancer, I tried removing the engine bracket mounted to the body, but 1 bolt was stripped a bit and I couldn't get it loose. So I tried removing the bracket connected to the engine. I got the 2 bolts out, but it appears to have some rivets that fasten it to the engine. How do I remove those? I just need to drop the engine to get to the balancer. Oh and I got the harmonic balancer for $27 shipped off ebay :D

__________________
Horsepower is how fast you hit a wall, Torque is how far you take that wall with you :D

tbird100636

Here's some directions and pictures for the dampener.
SERVICE PROCEDURE

1. Disconnect battery negative cable.

2. Release tension on belt tensioner and remove belt from idler pulley.

3. Remove two (2) bolts from the right isolator.

4. Raise and support the vehicle.

5. Remove bolt for accumulator-to-compressor A/C line support bracket, then position A/C line toward rear of engine compartment.

6. Position safety stands under transmission and engine, use block of wood to protect oil and transmission pans.

7. Remove right side bushing bracket and mounting bracket for stabilizer.

8. Remove front isolator through-bolts and lower retaining nuts.

9. Remove rear isolator through-bolts.

10. Remove right isolator lower retaining nut, then carefully lower drivetrain.

11. Remove vibration damper retaining bolt and vibration damper. If necessary, use Bearing Puller T77F-4220-B. It may be necessary to reposition drivetrain to the left of the engine to provide clearance for the damper.

12. Reverse procedure for installation.

Front mount for trans.

Rear mount for trans.

Right mount for engine

Hope this helps.

__________________
Master ASE Certified L1 Chrysler Technician- still a Ford fan at heart.
1964 Thunderbird Hardtop- Chantily Beige- 390 FE 4V V8-Uncle's Car
1966 Thunderbird Convertible- Red- 390 FE 4V V8- Uncle's other car- waiting for paint and body work!!!
1967 Mustang Convertible- Blue- 289 V8- helping a friend re-assemble this classic

ieatglue

It does, thanks! All I need now is an impact wrench because all the nuts are rusted over! I was trying to unscrew this one nut, and the wrench sipped. I ended up punching my driveway. I can barely feel my knuckles haha

__________________
Horsepower is how fast you hit a wall, Torque is how far you take that wall with you :D