99 windstar knocks at idle

[crowleycat]

my windstar knocks at idle it only happens in park or neutral. Any ideas?

[tempfixit]

Originally Posted by crowleycat

my windstar knocks at idle it only happens in park or neutral. Any ideas?

What year, mileage and engine.

Have you taken off the serpentine belt just for a very short time 30 seconds or so just to eliminate any compotents that are belt driven. Like belt tensioner or idle pulley, water pump, etc.

[crowleycat]

it's a 99 I have replaced the tensioner but the noise is still there it takes a little while for the noise to start it also revs up good and is smooth. It has 184000 miles. No check engine light. The intake plenum was replaced at the dealer around Thanksgiving. That was due to the lean codes 171 and 174. It has new plugs, wires and coil pack and fuel filter.

[tempfixit]

Have you tryed holding a hose to your ear and looking for the knock that way?? Is the alternator still original or aftermarket? I would wait until the noise appears then remove the belt just to eliminate possiblity's. Has this started since the intake was replaced?

[crowleycat]

yes it started just after the plenum replacement. I was gonna take it back to the dealer for repair but before I took it back I read the code it said NR 3 cyl had a miss fire. I had the same problem on my son's ranger and found the bad coil pack. So I did the tune up ie plugs, wire and coil pack. soon after that the knocking started. The alt is original and putting out 14.5 volts no noise.

[tempfixit]

I would remove the belt when knocking starts and if it is still there I would check the camshaft snycronizer.

[crowleycat]

I'll give that a try when I get home. A buddy said to check the flywheel bolts also.

[crowleycat]

well upon futher inspection! I removed the belt the noise was still there. I removed the flywheel torque converter access cover to check the converter nut torque and found the flywheel has a crack coming from one of the crank bolt holes. This is gonna be a pain.

[tempfixit]

Originally Posted by crowleycat

well upon futher inspection! I removed the belt the noise was still there. I removed the flywheel torque converter access cover to check the converter nut torque and found the flywheel has a crack coming from one of the crank bolt holes. This is gonna be a pain.

Thanks for posting what the problem is. This info may very well help someone else in the future. Keep us posted on the progress of the repair.

[crowleycat]

We received the windstar back from the shop. All is well starting great and running fine. Thanks for the help fellows.

[parkerb]

what would have happened if you hadn't found that? was the flywheel going to come apart- i don't believe i've ever heard that.

my '00 w/ 178k will knock when it's warm, but it's done that off and on, since that pcv mess started ~50k miles. chaulked the noise up to carbon buildup in the cylinder.

wow, very very interesting stuff.

[crowleycat]

I ask the shop to give me the flywheel back so I could check it out. It came back in two pieces. The center part that bolted to the crank was broken off the center of the flywheel disk. I guess in time it would have just spun in two and probably tore up the back of the block and torque conveter. My buddy said he had a knock in his and got rid of before he found out what it was. I don't like anoying noises in my cars I have to find and fix em.