First, I have an exhaust leak tick that is the lower gasket. The chirp I am getting is when I put truck in gear, foot on the brake. I get a chirp chirp chirp at the same cadence as the exhaust tick. We I start moving it it chirps on initial acceleration the goes to standard exhaust tick. I wonder if it is torque converter chirp. It is not U joints, because it chirps standing still when in gear. When I put in neutral or Park the chirp goes away. Any ideas?

 

If you sure its not the front drive shaft it might be one of your pulley bearings. You can check them by removing the serpentine belt and spinning each pulley by hand to see if the spin freely.

 

Would my shaft chirp while sitting still in gear at idle?

 

No. The driveshaft only turns when the wheels do. The torque converter spins regardless of gear selection.

I think it is a pulley too or possibly a problem with the belt that is masked at different engine speeds. Another possibility is your flex plate. Mine chirped and when I checked it, it fell apart in my hands, literally. I know we have different trucks but those parts are the same.

 

I just got back from shop

1. Rebuilt heads
2. Head gasket
3. Water pump
4. New belt
5. Spark plugs and wires

Seems to drive just fine. Should I WD40 the pulleys?

 

I've done that to find a bad one. It will go away for a short time. But if the fan is spinning it goes everywhere.

I added to my previous post while you were posting.

 

That's what I meant. WD40 to locate the "squeaky wheel" pun intended.

 

Hahaha sorry. Long day. The squeaky wheel must get oiled!

Pay close attention to your air conditioner compressor. Sometimes the clutch squeaks. In fact, before you do anything you should repeat your experiment with the air con both on and off. When your turn it on, the clutch should lock up and when you turn it off, it should spin free. Mine squeaked once when it was supposed to be spinning freely. I took it apart and found a bunch of rust. A replacement compressor was a mere 29 bucks online... It lasted a couple of years.

Another cheap check is to stand next to the truck when it is idling and look for a wobbly pulley. I had another squeak recently and my crank pulley was wobbling.

I've had alot of issues.

Finally, some of the work you had done requires removal of some of the front assembly. It could just be a pulley that wasn't tightened down. Some of them have a bolt right in the middle, and some have three or four bolts on the face of the pulley.

If none of that cheap checking does it, I'd do as the other member suggested and remove the belt then spin all of the free pulleys manually and see if there is any catch. This is not a sure fire way to find a bad one but it's better than nothing.

Last and hopefully never to happen is the afore mentioned cracked flex plate. Let's hope it isn't that because it would require a major job to replace (remove transmission or engine, both of which are no walk in the park).

 

With all that work you just had done, I'd replace the idlers and tensioner just to be safe.

I had a idler fail on the interstate and before I could blink the truck had overheated and I was stranded 600 miles from home. The idler gave no warning it was going to fail; no chirp, no nothing.

Also, I would definitely pull the front drive shaft and check it thoroughly. The fact that the noise changes when you put it in gear gives me pause. If the front shaft hasn't been rebuilt, I wouldn't drive the truck until it's done. Front shaft failure commonly takes out the transmission.

 

Me too! I keep extta pulleys in the tool bins in my truck just for that.

Mordo I know you are one of the esteemed members and I am a work in progress so help me understand how it could be the driveshaft... Unless I misread, it happens when he is sitting still. The driveshaft should be immobile, no?