Gen III Tinny sound on cold start

[MrInternational]

Hey all,

After a cold start in the AM after the truck has been sitting all night, it started to develop a tinny sound when I start it up. It finally went away after driving a bit. Not sure if it is a heat shield that came loose? Granted if it was, I figure that should be constant all the time and not tied just to when it is cold out. Anyone have an idea? I will try and record it on my way to work tomorrow.

 

[Toasty]

Inspect your timing belt, Remove the plastic cover and check for slack. If it has slack your tensioner is failing or has failed.

 

[MrInternational]

Thanks for the heads up. I will check it out

 

[MrInternational]

Failing oil pump?

So the mechanic just called and said the oil pump is failing which is causing the noise. From what I have read, it's pretty rare for this part to fail right? Or did I just get lucky on this one...

2005 Montero w/135k miles

 

[DanielDD]

how many miles on your vehicle? (oops, missed that you have 135K)I just rebuilt mine (3.5L, 2.5 generation)with 250K and never had an issue with the oil pump. A new one will run you less than $150. Problem is getting to it. You pretty much have to remove everything from the front of the engine, and I mean everything, including removing the timing belt. Additionally, you will have to remove the oil pan as the bottom of the oil pump seals against the front of the oil pan. If I were you, I would either be looking for another engine and replace it, or if you can do the work yourself, pull it and fix it on your own.

Either way, its not going to be pretty. Sorry for the bad news....

 

[DanielDD]

Geez, sorry for another reply, should have included this in my initial reply...

Anyway, ask how they determined you have a bad oil pump. What procedure did they perform? Did they put a gauge on it and if so what was the reading? Does your oil idiot light come on?

A simple test is to remove the oil sending unit at the bottom of the oil filter housing and insert an oil pressure gauge and see if it meets spec. Never hurts to get a 2nd opinion either.

Trust but verify. Its your money - spend it wisely.

 

[Swank Force One]

The serpentine idlers/pullies will make all kinds of noise when they're on their way out, too.

Not the cheapest or most fun job in the world, but if you're relatively handy with a wrench, you can do all of them in about 45 minutes.

 

[normal_dave]

I'm with "them" while your mechanic is there and I'm here...I've not often heard of a Gen III losing an oil pump. Lifters? yep, due to oil leaks at cam seals, valve covers, timing belt tensioner and/or pullies? yep. I'd sure want proof before calling the oil pump bad, and generally speaking if the oil pump is failing/failed, it's a bad day for everything else. How long has it made this sound?

Have you got us "keyboard engineers" a video?

Edit: I had a few failing lifters on the wife's 3.5L Sport that sounded for all the world like a rod bearing starting to knock at startup and cold idle. Cleaned, flushed and replaced the bad ones, quiet as a mouse now. On further thought, my new to me Montero had one of the cams nearly 2 teeth off before I got ahold of it. Let that thing sit for a couple of days and it sounded like the "seven dwarfs hammering for gold" at startup until the lifters pumped back up. Timing belt job properly done, took care of that.