hmmmm. all considered. i do not believe it is the exhaust headers. i just went out there a few min ago, and she has been sittin for a couple of hours and is cooled down. it does seem to be louder now that its cooled. it also only seems to be comming from the starboard (right) side of the motor around the belt and fan area. it is a constant tick, and its faster than seconds move. almost 2 ticks per second i'd say by my untrained ear. it still goes so im in no rush to get it fixed.

 

it might be the spring in your belt tensioner (assuming the tensioner is in the same location on the v6). you could spray a bunch of wd 40 in there and see if it still does it.

 

i just took a video of it, youtube permitting i am about to upload it.

 

i said "spraying my timming belt", but i ment belt tentioner. here is a vid of the ticking. it's pretty obvious

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlO2SYQa_s8

 

Sounds like your idler pulley is gone. It's hard to get an idea from the video but, at least it's a good effort on your behalf.

If the belt is worn, there's a splice that ends up making that noise as it goes around. If the belt has been on for a long time- years or so, I would get a new one of those and a new idler pulley as well.

Just took another good listen to that through my home studio monitors and, when you got closer, I could tell that the idler pulley is what is making that racket.

Ok, if your belt is new: DO NOT USE WD40. Clean that off with a degreaser type of detergent and water. Wipe it dry. Then, go out and get some Gasgacinch. You will use it as belt dressing. Coat both sides. Next, go and replace the idler pulley assembly as the whole thing is probably shot never mind just the bearing in the pulley.

You try that. I think that is the root cause for your noise. I wouldn't let that go. If that assembly lets go- you lose your belt along with your power steering, water pump etc.

 

the tensioner has a pulley on top and at the bottom of the arm is the pivot point and there should be a hole that you can see the spring through. did you spray it into that hole directly on the spring? mine had an intermittant ticking noise when the spring was sticking.

you can also check to see if it is the tensioner to begin with by using a piece of metal as a stethoscope. grab a pry bar or a long extension or a piece of brake line and put one end on your ear and the other on the tensioner housing and poke it around on a few different things in there to see if you can isolate the noise. you want to fold the flap of skin on the front of your ear down with the metal and just touch the other end to what you are wanting to listen to.

touch off on the tensioner, valve covers, the intake manifold, the fuel injectors the exhaust manifolds (on each exhaust port so you can see if its associated with just 1 cylinder) and the alternator. you need to find out exactly where the noise is coming from so you can fix it properly.

edit: did you spray the wd on the belt? i meant to spray it into the base of the tensioner where the spring is. the pulley for it has a sealed bearing and can be replaced without having to get a new tensioner (if its even bad). so i guess a good thing to do after the stethoscope would be to take the belt off and inspect it and all the pulleys. spin each one while feeling for any drag or noise. and don't use any belt dressing on a serpentine belt.

 

That's shot bearings in one of the pulleys on the belt train ... tension, idler, alternator, etc.

 

idler pulley is the one right behind the fan right? mines making that god forsaken ticking noise too and my tensioner is new

 

the guy at autozone said the same. idler pulley. ima get a real machanic to look at it though

 

The idler pulley is the smallest pulley out of them all. It is mounted on the tensioner arm / assy.