Ear Piercing Squeal

[marty in Ohio]

Hey, Barners,
Worked on a '30 coupe today. We changed the carb. and started it up to take a test drive. When it started there was a squeal that shook the whole garage and those of us in it. The engine was rebuilt last December and it seemed O.K. until today. We questioned where the noise was coming from so I took off the belt to rule out the water pump and generator. Still had the squeal! It sounds like it's coming from the front of the block. We then turned it over with the crank and it sounds like a "chirp" with every half revolution. The engine was rebuilt by Duane Roach in Mt. Gilead, Ohio who recently retired and sold his business. Duane always did excellent work and now we don't know where to turn.
Any ideas on the squeal?

[Randy in Illinois]

If you didnt have the noise before, you should have it now. Check for a vacuum leak at the carb base . Badgasket? Warped carb base, or manifold surface. Check manifold to block for vacuum leakes. Vacuum wiper conections. Use a spray bottle with water. Nothing flameabile !!!! The noise will change or go away. Good luck

[Smog Tech]

Sounds like front seal. Try any penetrating oil and see of the squeak stops. For a more permanent fix I use motorcycle chain lube.

[Tom Endy]

Did you oil the distributor bushings?

Tom Endy

[Brentwood Bob]

pilot bearing. Bob

[springerpete]

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Had the same issue with a friends newly rebuilt motor. Squeal came from the timing gear area as there was no lubrication. Motor had sat after the rebuild and all the lube was gone.

[ford3]

my guess is the carb or carb gasket simply because every thing was all right till the carb was changed, the chirp every half rev is one piston sucking air on the intake stroke

[super flat]

Originally Posted by ford3

my guess is the carb or carb gasket simply because every thing was all right till the carb was changed, the chirp every half rev is one piston sucking air on the intake stroke

That is my bet also and it is easy to spray that front seal too.

[1crosscut]

Marty it is not clear to me in your post if this is the first time that the engine was started after the rebuild or it has been running okay and just started making the noise after the carb work.
If it is the first start I would say that the spring between the timing cover and cam shaft has no lubrication. Pull the cover and lube it.

[midgetracer]

I second 1Crosscut. It sounds like the cam plunger was not lubed when put together. It makes a serious scream.

[James Rogers]

Retorque the head nuts. You have some that are loose and the compression is leaking. It will make a very high pitched squeel.

[ford3]

the simple thing to do is put another carb on engine and see if that stops the squeal

[Mike V. Florida]

Originally Posted by midgetracer

I second 1Crosscut. It sounds like the cam plunger was not lubed when put together. It makes a serious scream.

Pulley could be hitting.

[Tom Wesenberg]

Originally Posted by midgetracer

I second 1Crosscut. It sounds like the cam plunger was not lubed when put together. It makes a serious scream.

That was my first thought also because I had it happen on an engine I installed for a customer. I did several short runs trying to figure out what it was. I removed the side cover and saw there was a flood of oil going onto the timing gear, so I figured the pluger should get oiled in no time. Actually it took several short engine runs before the squeal quit. It was probably close to 3 hours total of run time before the noise was gone for good. Until then the noise would come and go at times.

Oil the flat spring on the front motor mount, in case it's dry and squeaking.

[marty in Ohio]

Thanks for all the suggestions. We'll try to pinpoint the problem. In answer to Dave's (1 crosscut) question - this is a recently rebuilt engine, but it has been run and has probably 100 or so miles on it. Lots of rain and flooding in northern Ohio today so we may have to wait a couple days before we can get to the car.
Thanks again for all your answers
Marty

[marty in Ohio]

Well, you guys have come through again!! The squeal was actually a bad gasket between the carb. and the intake manifold just like ford3 said. We started the engine this afternoon and it screamed like a banshee. I put my hands around the carb. and released them a couple times and the noise changed. We put on another gasket and the noise was gone. We left the Tillotson on and will rebuild the Zenith.
I can't say enough about the help I have gotten from Ford Barn. It's like you guys are looking over my shoulder telling me what to try next.
Thanks again for the help.
Marty

[Tom Wesenberg]

I like to use the thick copper gasket for the carb. It's much less likely to leak than the thin gasket.

[C26Pinelake]

I had the squeal you speak of. It was indeed the carburetor gasket that had recently been installed. I did as Tom suggests and put in the thick copper gasket and problem was fixed immediately. Hope yours is that simple.
Wayne

[CarlG]

Ear Piercing Squeal = the sound my 4 year old daughter made 5 seconds after she had both ears pierced at the same exact instant. Both were done at the same time -- we knew that if they weren't, only one would ever get done!

[ford3]

Marty in Ohio, altho its nice to know I was right on the carb gasket, but it was Randy in Ohio who correctly identified the problem first, I just seconded his opinion