Ford Ranger / B-Series :: Thumping Noise From Under The Hood
Nov 2, 2011
Driving home from work (a 30 minute hwy cruise) I had to stop for a traffic light. As was sitting there I hear a thumping noise from under the hood, otherwise it was running the same as always. Got it home and I didn't hear it anymore, looked under the hood while idling, seen nothing, shut it off. top rad hose had a slight amount of pressure, started it and it quickly built pressure and felt a rhythmic thumping in hose and it got fricking hot quickly. I figure either a head gasket or cracked head.
I just recently did an aggressive cooling system flush using Prestone heavy duty cooling system flush (can only get this at a dealer) because the previous own neglected it, and it blew a head gasket, tons of rust inside when I did it. I'm gonna borrow a tester to check for exhaust gas in the cooling system and what did it end up being? The guy I bought it from (the previous owners mechanic) put 1 or 2 head gaskets on it.
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Ok I have a 1998 Ford Ranger XLT 4.0L automatic 4X4 with A/C my problem is i just had the timing chain,water pump, thermostat, upper and lower hoses, and front crank seal replaced. I got it back and right away noticed a thumping noise at idle only... My gauge was always steady at the same spot it had always been. but the thumping was loud when idling. Now the sound seems to have moved farther towards the engine instead of the dash and tonight when i popped the hood noticed the top hose was collapsed and i could feel no pressure. the thumping noise seems to be coming from the area of the thermostat. I have no oil in the coolant and no coolant in my oil! I tried to get the air bubble or pocket out if thats what is the problem by running the engine till hot with the radiator cap off but it made just a huge mess. it did seem to push a huge air pocket out but still does the loud thumping. This all started the day i got it back from the mechanic so I am assuming its an air pocket. I planned on changing the thermostat tomorrow.
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1991 2.3 l. Thought I had an exhaust manifold Leak. Replaced gasket. New gasket didn't work. Removed gasket and mounted manifold to engine metal to metal, still and noise. Installed New manifold with gasket. Still same noise. Am thinking noise not coming from manifold. Torqued all bolts to spec. Could it be lifters .
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1998 ranger 5spd... I have 117k miles on this little ranger and I recently took it on a little trip and since that trip it has a ticking noise under the hood as if the lifters were sticking. I believe it has hydrolic lifters in it. I put some sea foam in it 200 miles ago and changed the oil about 50 miles ago. I used Valvoline full synthetic and it seems like it has lessened the tick and it drives a lot smoother, in my opinion. Is there any thing else I can do to relieve that ticking? It is more noticeable when the engine first starts and is louder if i push down harder on the gas. It is not preset if i do not put that much pressure on the gas.
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'94 Ranger 4x2. Recent new brakes front and rear, installed by a garage who was also doing my clutch a few months ago. Not long after brake job, slightly detectable 'thump thump thumping' sound during braking. At first I thought possible stuck caliper/warped front rotor, but vibration was not in the steering wheel, and as sound grew increasingly louder, seems to be coming from right rear brakes.
ABS light appeared once, but after adding a small amount of brake fluid to master cylinder, has not reappeared. No other brake related idiot lights, and truck brakes quickly and straight. Pedal could possibly be firmer, however.
Took my rig back to the shop, since brakes were supposedly "guaranteed for six months". Out of business, no forwarding address or phone number!
So I decided to bleed the rear brakes. Haynes manual says bleed RABS valve first, then proceed to rear brake bleeders. Found RABS on rail frame, dust cap still on bleeder, (cap was very dusty and difficult to pop off) looks like shop never removed it or bled it! Had to remove its electrical connector to access the 7/8" bleeder nut with a box wrench.When I tried to bleed it, NOTHING came out. Neither air nor brake fluid. Moved on to rear brake bleeders. Normal. Bled 1/2 pint from each, as I topped off the master cylinder. I have not yet removed either drum to inspect.
Long story short, does the RABS valve on a '94 Ranger rear wheel only ABS need to be plugged in to be able to be bled? Do I need to have the ignition 'ON' while doing so? (I thought only '95 and up needed the Ford factory code reader to bleed four wheel only ABS valve?) And can the thing fail without setting the ABS warning light, and allow the rear brakes to still (noisily) work ?
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My 2011 F350 - 6.7 has developed this KRAZY thump, snap noise under the hood, loud enough to be heard inside the cab, and I cannot find out what the heck it is. It is not directly connected to the motor, you can rev it and the noise does not change. the thump is like, every few seconds or so, especially when the motor is cold. I am afraid this is a 2000 dollar noise and the truck is out of warranty.
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My battery went flat and to compound my misery, when I went to open the hood, the cable was snapped. How I can open the hood without using the release cable ? I'd rather not have to pay for it to be taken to the mechanic and then also pay to have the battery changed !
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I have a 98 Ranger 3.0 with a standard transmission. The truck has 240,500 miles so far. It runs just as good as the day I got it 11 years ago, doesn't use any oil and still gets 23 MPG. Last fall, it developed what sounds like an exhaust leak under the hood. It seems to be coming from the area of the EGR valve. The trouble is that I can't feel it or smell it. I have carefully felt the entire length of the tube running from the EGR to the exhaust manifold and cannot feel any leaks. There is no soot or any other evidence of an exhaust leak.
The noise isn't there for the first minute or so that the truck is running. I would think that if I had a cracked manifold or some other such leak, it would be worse when the engine is cold but this is not the case for me. It is most noticeable when pulling a hill as slow speeds in a higher gear. I have checked for codes (no CEL) and there are none. When I first heard it I figured that I would wait until it gets a little worse and I would be able to find it. Its been been over 8 months now it has remained the same.
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fuse #11 in the battery junction box under hood keeps blowing, the last time I put a fuse in it blew immediately, key was off and lights off. Fuse is for parking lights, dash light and I/P(whatever that is) and switch illumination lights. I have to start following all wires to find bad spot. May just put in piece of metal and watch for smoke...
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My friend has a 98 ranger that has a lose connection on fuel relay under the hood, Hit a bad bump truck dies, Pop hood wiggle wire and your good till next bump. This got real old real quick. How this connection is made, Is it soldered?
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I have a 97 Ford Ranger / 2.3L / 4 cylinder (L4) / 5 speed manual / XL Supercab / 140k miles. I had been having some Check Engine issues and ran rough in town stop light to stop light. But was fine on the highway.
On several visits to the parts store, their OBD tester showed:
PO303 (Cyl 3 misfire detected)
PO141 Bank 1 Sensor 2 O2 Sensor (heater circuit malfunction)
PO171 Bank 1 Combustion Too Lean (the most recent new code to show up)
And the following would show up sometimes, but other times not:
PO 402 EGR Flow - Excessive Detected
P1409 EVR (I cant remember the exact error message for this)
Regards the PO141 code, O'Reilly's sold me a Bosch O2 Sensor (Bosch 15719) and the sales rep told me it was the sensor closer to the engine. And with the attached cable length on the sensor showed was indeed the sensor closest to the engine. But I've been advised the Sensor 2 is for the 'downstream' sensor, furthest away from the engine. And the other sensor, that I replaced is the upstream sensor. And the error continued.
Then back issues showed up and I had back surgery this past year and thus drove the vehicle sparingly. Never resolving the check engine issues. (My bad). Ran on the highway ran fairly well. But recently noticed longer acceleration times and unable to top 65 in 5th gear. I bought spark plugs and plug wires and had plans to change next week.
Yesterday as driving down the Interstate, was 90 miles into my trip, I noticed loss of power even in fourth gear. (note it was the hottest day of the year at 100F). It seemed I used more gas than usual for that distance. I stopped for gas on the Interstate and power seemed to improve. Then about 130 miles into my trip I hit some heavy stop and go traffic, and wasn't able to keep an idle and the engine died numerous times if/when I didn't give it gas at a dead stop. The heavy stop and go heavy traffic and the issues persisted for a half hour for more than five miles. Then when traffic opened up the truck seemed to have a bit more power in 4th gear again. And up to that time all my dash gauges were showing fine. Then a couple miles or so down the interstate, driving 65mph in the inside lane, the check engine light started flashing quickly. And at the same time a sudden loss of power, rough sounding engine with heavy white smoke coming under the hood. And looked back in rear view mirror, with nothing but heavy white smoke. Managed to cross three lanes in heavy traffic and was able the vehicle to the outside emergency lane, finally coming to a stop.
Looked under the hood and saw oil dripping everywhere but with all the oil everywhere I could not find a prime source. Looked like the oil came from the top end of the engine and dripped down. Measured the oil at the dipstick and it seemed like I was at least a quart plus down (I checked the oil before I left on the trip). And it didn't look like any water was in the oil. And my radiator overflow tank was at the proper level. So I figured I lost all that oil during that period of "white smoke".
So had my vehicle towed home. Today in daylight, I did some more inspection and removed the air intake system (hoses and canister) from the air filter to the throttle body. There was significant oil up to the canister piece that fits on the air filter canister (but no oil in the actual air filter), and significant oil inside all the hoses up to inside the throttle body (up to the butterfly which I could see),
When I disconnected these hoses I noticed the blow-by hose connected to the intake hose system was not connected to anything. And a tube opening on the valve cover was open without the a blow-by hose attached and, with no clamp. So I assume all that oil and came out of that blow-by tube on the valve cover, (white smoke created by hot oil hitting the engine).
So appears to me that its not a blown head gasket or worse, which I first feared.
I have the vehicle parked at home.
QUESTIONS: So what are the suggested steps to troubleshoot and repair? Besides reattaching everything and putting a clamp on the blow by hose? And installing new spark plugs and plug wires. I previously replaced plug wires around 60k, even though the manual recommended 100k mile replacement. (And a couple yeas back I had the dealer replace the PCV, which was recommended in the manual and included in the warranty. The timing of the initial check engine lights appeared shortly thereafter).
Is there suppose to be a large amount of oil in the air intake system after an incident like this and should I try to clean/flush out the hoses and the inline canister?
When I disconnected the inline canister from the hoses in the air intake system, unfortunately I failed to document the direction which the canister goes. It has outside markings "ADP with a forward arrow with some horizontal lines, and then at the other end upside down markings with a greater sign PP less than sign. Should the forward arrow point toward the throttle body or toward the air filter (I'm thinking in the direction of air flow, toward the throttle body). I've taken some photos of the engine with air intake hose system unattached, if that might work...
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1999 XTL 4.0 auto, was doing fine, replaced Interior light bulb, now wont crank over!!! i suspect the anti theft system... how do i fix or ByPass the security system, i can start the truck by Manually engaging the starter Relay under the hood.
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I have a 2004 Heritage Model F150 4x4 Manual Transmission V6
It started to make a thumping noise a while back when the brakes were applied hard, sounded like from the front end. I figured it was a warped rotor and/or bad pads or bad caliper bolts, the thumping and pulse seemed like that was what it was.
The front end was a mess. I ended up changing just about everything. CV axles both sides, one piece bearing/hubs, upper control arms, bushings, ball joints, tie rod ends, sway bar links, rotors, pads, calipers, hardware, maybe more things.
It all needed done, so no big deal, however the thumping while breaking is still there, it is getting worse and sounding more metallic. You can feel it in the steering wheel and under your feet. The drive shafts are very, very rusted, but seem to have no play in the u joints. I changed the back rotors, calipers, hardware and emergency brake parts and hardware a couple of years ago, they seem good. Taking it out of gear or pushing in the clutch or not pushing in the clutch seems to make no difference. You can go fast and let off the gas, no noise, you can aggressively downshift, no noise. Hit the brakes and you get a nice thump, thump, thump, like I said now it sounds even slightly metallic and getting worse.
I figure if nothing else before long something bad is going to happen and I will know what it is.
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I have a well taken care of '95 Buick LeSabre w about 80,000. Bought it a couple years ago from a man who kept it in his garage. Most components on car are original.
Recently I was driving down a very steep driveway at about 3 MPH, and bottomed the car out and scraped the bottom. Not too bad, but enough to make me cringe. As I drove home at about 45 MPH, I noticed that every time the car would engage the gear, there would be a thump coming from under the hood. This was at about 1300 RPM. After looking under the hood and having a buddy rev the engine while in drive with the brakes pressed down, the engine doesn't seem to move too much. Furthermore, the engine mount and Trans mount seem to be okay, and not broken. Rubber is solid.
Is the thumping sound perhaps due to 'old' mounts or could this be something else like the torque strut mount,etc? Also, will it be evident when one of these are damaged, or is it something you replace after a certain while like shocks, etc?
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When I get over 45MPH, I notice a whop, whop sound. It speeds up as my speed increases. I have had the tires check and rebalanced, but that wasn't it. I have tried just revving the engine when in neutral, but I don't hear the noise. Could it be u-joints, or is there something else?
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So my ranger was having a textbook wheel-bearing noise at around 50mph....when I turned to the right the noise went away implicating a passenger side wheel bearing.
So I replaced both of the hub bearings on the pass side and noticed that the front axle shaft u-joint right behind the spindle was really bad and was going to change it but couldn't get the spindle off so I said screw it.
Took it for a drive and the noise is still there. Could a worn u-joint possible replicate a wheel bearing noise? I am used to them making a clicking/popping noise while turning when they're bad, but not a whirring sound.
1993 ranger 4x4 manual locking hubs.
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I have a 89 Ranger, 2.3, 2wd, Mazda 5 spd. Last year, 10,000 miles ago, I replaced the clutch, pressure plate, slave cyl, and pilot bearing. Today, it started making a terrible grinding sound/vibration when you let off the gas. The noise is coming from the clutch/transmission area. It is so bad that any amount of "engine braking" sounds terrible and I have to press the clutch in and the noise immediately stops. What to check for?
The only thing I can think of off the cuff is
1) bad pilot bearing,
2) low/no tranny oil. I replaced the oil and put silicone on the known leaky spots while I had the tranny out,
3) Input shaft had some "wobble" in it when I had the tranny out to replace clutch 10,000 miles ago.
This could be it but why would it start 10k miles later?
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Had the top half of the intake off (2.3L) and fixed some vacuum leaks and replaced a power steering pump. Started truck and it ran funny like missing on one cylinder then cleared up then started making a loud knocking noise and running rough. Assumed that it swallowed something when I had the intake off and it got into a valve or into the cylinder. I pulled the plugs and there are no obvious signs of a problem. I also did a compression test and all 4 were around 150psi.
Put the plugs back in and started it and the same noise was there. Removed the serpent belt just in case it was power steering pump related and the noise was still there when I started the truck. Sounds like something is inside the engine still. Going to get a friends bore scope to check further. I guess I will split the manifold again and run the scope in there. Pending that I may also look down the plug holes with the scope. This is a major bummer. Not what I needed.
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This is probably a dumb question but what is going on here:
YouTube.....
This is with the AC running. That wheel spin and loud click (it's a lot louder in person) is starting to annoying me. When I am sitting in traffic or at lights and I have the AC running the noise is very noticible in the cab. If the AC is off the idle settles down and the click goes away. So what causes this - AC compressor going out? It needs lube? Freon?
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I had my 94 Ford Ranger recently repaired, new water pump and coolant. Seems to run okay, but after 10 minute drive, the coolant system loudly thumps and visibly pulses as if there is steam or huge bubbles in the hoses. They are timed irregularly, but about once every 2 seconds and they quickly go away after a minute after shutting off the engin. Water temp is showing normal on the idiot gauge.
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I have a 2001 Ford Ranger XLT 2.3L RWD AUTO.
I've never had this problem but now I can hear what appears to be a electrical noise or grind/whine. This just started happening on Monday. Prior to that I've never heard nor seen my speedometer bounce like this.
I've read that it's the rear diff ABS sensor possibly going bad. So I should have a new one tomorrow via amazon. I have also read that it's possibly the battery? I know the previous owner said he replaced the battery but this was at LEAST 2 years ago. So I know there is a solid 24 months on the battery now, since I've owned the truck...
I've also read that it might be the speedo? These actually go bad? Makes me wonder because of the noise you can hear towards the end like a whine noise. I have noticed that the battery gauge looks a little lower than before... normally it would be at around the MIDDLE of the battery icon and as you can see in the pic it's not now... however, the truck starts up perfectly fine, no hesitation at all or trouble, or having to do it multiple times.. so that makes me wonder is it really the battery?
I have projector HIDS and LEDS inside and have had them for at least a year now, I've noticed today pulling in the garage that the right hid was not flickering on and off persay but the beam wasn't steady like it was.. it was kinda dimming a little along with the interior cabin LEDS.... Battery? Alternator? I'm truely at a loss.
I've also heard there are sensors on the transmission that dictate the speed to the speedometer, problem is I don't know which ones to get.. I don't mind replacing all of them as long as this STOPS.
I did change my rotors and pads, and calipers. This was friday and this didn't happen. I will note that my ABS light is not on nor is it flickering so it makes me wonder as well if that sensor in the rear is bad? I didn't see any bare wires everything is taped and loomed, so I don't think anyone cut the wires back there that I could see at all...
Attached the picture of the battery gauge. And link to the video that I took with my phone...
Ford ranger gauge bounce - YouTube .....
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