Squealing 292 Y-block - HELP?

I'm running the original 292 y-block in my '64 F100. Let me lay out all the facts:

- Engine squeals about 50% of the time when driving around. It'll just suddenly start to make this horrible squealing/whirring noise while your driving.
- Squeal gets louder as the RPMs go up.
- If you hold the engine at any constant RPM, the squealing will stay at a constant volume.
- I can hear it just beginning to squeal at around 13-1400 RPM.
- Sometimes the squealing will just suddenly stop and the engine won't make a peep after that (no matter what RPM)
- It doesn't matter what gear its in (including neutral) and whether or not the clutch is in or out - the engine will squeal when you rev it.
- Sometimes (about 50% time) the engine runs just fine, no squealing, whirring, whining - nothing.
- I can't voluntarily make it start or stop squealing. It just happens on its own.
- Occasionally it will sound like there are 2 or 3 different squealing noises. (Has a different pitch.)

The squealing is very annoying, and I'm hoping its not something major. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks --Matt

 

Is it squealing like a pig or whistling like a tea pot ??? >>>>.

 

Fan belt tight? Pull belt and spin W/P -generator feel any roughness etc.

 

"MMMmmmm you sure got a purty mouth"


Sorry, couldn't help my self..

Hows the oil pressure? Any "glitter" in the oil?

 

Disconnect all your belts, then start the engine, that will tell you if it's in the engine. Could be an idler pulley, alt bearing going bad,

HellRaiser

 

What he said. Pull the fan beltr and fire the motor for a short time to see if the squeel goes away. Check water pump.

 

sounds like a bad belt. Yes, disconnect the belts, fire it up for a few seconds. Best to do that cold. If it is internal engine it could be cam bearings spinning, these are notorious for upper end failure

 

I had some rockers squealin' thats why I mentioned the oil and not the belts.

Hope I'm wrong though.

 

I had a Suburban that had some loose carb bolts that caused quite a racket. It would squeal as the RPMs went up and it sucked air past the gasket. Try to tighten them up. The belt ideas are good too.

Let us know if any of this works.

 

Belts, water pump, gen or alt, (or any other rotating accessory) all come to mind...I've also seen loose or out-of-round pulleys that barely touch, intermittently, do this. If memory serves me, we once saw something like this happen with a loose/distorted motor mount...the engine would slightly shift around & cause something to touch/not touch...drove the guy nuts until we finally found it.

Is it possible to get somebody else to work the throttle while you investigate? Even a screwdriver or metal rod can make a crude stethoscope.

 

belts or water pump. or anything that rotates as said above. this is easy to find out. pop the hood and take a loook.

 

Both! Like I said, it makes different pitched squeals. Sometimes one, sometimes the other, and sometimes both continuously!

Thanks for all the tips guys. I'm beginning to suspect the belt, although I sprayed some belt liner on it and it didn't do anything to stop the squealing.

I doubt its the water pump or the alternator going bad because they were both replaced within the last year and a half.

 

I'm not sure if it sounds like a dry bearing squeal or not. What does that sound like? The transmission is standard shift.

Thanks for all the help so far --Matt

 

Check water pump, turn by hand, even if sorta new,,,clutch release bearing?? ,,, generator or alt.?

 

I had a similar situation once. The noise would come and go, and I drove myself nuts trying to find it. Finally I located it when the alternator quit turning. It was a rebuilt that didn't have a lot of miles on it.
Good Luck!

 

Like rmt said, check the inertia ring on the balancer. That being loose would explain the diverse range of sounds. Seems to me that a bearing in a water pump or whatever would be a more predictable sound. So my money's on something weird!!!!

Be sure to fill us in, for we are a hungry bunch, and knowledge fuels our fires!

 

Got oil to the rockers ? These engines tend to spin the cam bearing with the feed hole, hence the common overhead oiler conversions.

 

Yup, poor oiling to the rocker shafts/arms is a common problem with Yblocks. So common I think they're still available from Ford. Sounds more like belts or a pulley bearing though, if it's intermittent. Hoping that's all it is.

 

pull the valve covers, not too hard on these engines, any oil getting up there? If I remember correctly the oil passage from the block to the head is offset, it travels through a slot in the head gasket, that slot plugs up real easy. when it does, the rockers squeel.

 

How about throw-out bearing ? Does the sound change when you put pressure on the cluth pedal ?

 

Could it be a vacuum leak? I had a vacuum leak on the intake and it whistled like crazy. It stopped on it's own. What if you crank it up with the belt off? Can you hold a pipe down in there and listen to see where it is comin' from? (just don't get it tangled up in any rotating parts).

 

No.

I just did a valve lash adjustment and noticed oil is spurting out up there.

 

my 58 ford with a y-block tends to wear out fan belts the make a squealing sound that comes and goes

 

Check for pulley alignment as well.

 

I have a 55 Victoria with a 292 that does the same thing. The difference is that I'm running an automatic. I am pretty sure that the noise is coming from the tranny from what I can tell. Sometimes it makes the sound and sometimes it does'nt, depending on what kind of mood it's in.

 

Well another reason why I KNOW FOR A FACT it's not the transmission is because I swapped out the original one with a newer 4 speed and the squeal was present before and after.

 

About a dozen people have already suggested it,but i see no answer to it...Check the fan belt!!! If it is wore out or loose it will do just what you are describing. It is also the cheapest and easiest of all the possible causes.

 

Two days have gone by since you started this, what have you done to check it out??

 

Sorry if I've been annoying by not giving any informative answers.

Today when I got home I took a quick look under the hood and noticed that the belt was worn so that the worn sides were kinda shiny looking. I pushed the fan over by hand and it squeaked pretty bad. I'm beginning to think that the belt is the culprit.