Engine makes whirling noise

[Greg Jorczyk]

My 2003 2WD with 138,000 miles periodically makes a whirling type noise (best I can describe it) when starting out. Sometimes when I am accelerating from a stop it make the noise up to about 40mph, sometimes it does not.



Its the sound you hear from a dump truck or garbage truck when it is accelerating from a stop in low gear. The Sport trac sounds like I am towing something very heavy and you would think the RPMs are going way up, but they are not. The Sport trac shifts smoothly with no transmission slip and RPMs appear normal through the shifts, nothing seems out of wack



Any ideas?



Thanks



Greg

 

[Lloyd Chaudoin]

It is most likely your cooling fan. It is either going bad and locking up or you have the air conditioning/climate control on and it is locked up to pull more cool air across the A/C condensor

 

[Mark Keefer]

I second the last post,, about the fan, Mine has been doing that recently when its hot out:banana:

 

[Vic Sorlie]

Fan clutch - either normal operation or maybe not. You might check YouTube for DIY help.

 

[Scott Tanner]

could also be the trans going through 1st and 2nd gear- normal for the vehicle

 

[Vic Sorlie]

Found this video - all you want to know about fan clutches.

 

[Wayne Partridge]

Fan clutch

 

[Greg Jorczyk]

I checked the fan blade with the engine cold. It moves freely with just a little resistance. The blades all have cracks so I am replacing it. I wonder what else could cause the noise? The noise is not always there.



Thanks again for the help

Greg

 

[RedRanger 7]

There was a post recently how a cracked fan blade doesnt cause any problems, they are made to last for years without self destructing. I believe there is fluid in your fans clutch mechanism and that makes the fan drag when it shouldnt when at temperature. :fire:

 

[Yardsale]