Hello, my truck has been squeaking real bad whenever I coast, lightly accelerate and reverse the truck and it gets pretty quiet after I hit above 15 mph. Two days ago, I found out that my serpentine belt was getting chewed up from rust on the idler pulley and tensioner so I got those 3 pieces replaced and that fixed squeaking coming from my engine; however, there is still bad squeaking as mentioned above (so it was coming from 2 spots). I have been under my truck numerous times and I cannot pin-point an exact location but it is definitely coming from the front end of the truck somewhere below the engine. I have had 2 mechanics look at it and both are unsure. The truck shifts gears very nice, no leaks, it definitely has rust so maybe some WD40 somewhere? and it seems to have gotten louder over the past 2 weeks. I would really appreciate if anyone has any knowledge on what this could possibly be. Thank you for reading this and have a blessed day.

 

i had the squeak problem and changed two belts...which would fix it for a little while. However, the squeak would come back and then finally the harmonic balancer ripped apart. Luckily I was close to home and made it into the driveway. I will tell you that driving these trucks without power steering will test your arm strength. Lol.

Check your harmonic balancer and see if you notice any kind of separation occurring or the pulley off center. The rubber inside these thing deteriorates and dry rots with age and it will eventually come apart. Changing the harmonic balancer is an easy job and you can get the puller from Autozone for free. No squeaks since.

 

If it is related to speed, it will be in the drive train. If it is related to engine rpm, it will be related to the engine. Since we are squeaking at a coast and about 15mph, doubtful it's a harmonic balancer. That would also squeak sitting in the driveway.

PGC, you say it's coming from the front of the truck.... we know it's a 2003 F150, but that's all we know. Is it a 4WD? 2WD? Auto? Manual?

 

My neighbor and I figured out that the problem was a loose heat shield on the catalytic converter. I fixed the issue simply by attaching 2 5-7" metal gear clamps (Home Depot for $2.50 each) and I haven't had any noise since. Maybe this will help someone out. I posted a photo below.

Gear clamps on catalytic converter heat shield

 

I would call that a rattle rather than a squeak. Nice find though.

 

Could this be the problem i have?? Hmm exhaust shield, i should get under the car and hit things to listen any similar sound to the engine rattle i hear!

What did you do to find it?