I read a post where an xj6 had a rattle that sounded like a timing chain tensioner, but it turned out to be a loose harmonic balancer. I need to chech mine, not exactly sure where to start. Will there be something obviously loose on the crankshaft? Mike

 

Hi Mike,

I had delamination of the balancer on both my 2000 Excursion Dsl and the 03 S-type. In both cases, each made a high-pitched squeal/squeak type noise, like a belt squeal, short duration, intermittently - most noticeable on cold-starts....and it started about 4-6 mo. before I experienced any belt problems. On the Excursion....one fine day it just started tossing the belt off on shutdown. No damage. When running, it was bouncing all over the place, when you shutdown, it would be off. On the S-type. I changed the belt due in half part as an attempt to eliminate the noise, and in the other half...just because I thought it was time..normal pm. After installing the new one, it started shredding....went through several belts and could detect a slight mis-alignment with the alternator, but could detect no problem with the crank-pulley. Gave up and took it to Motorcarman. It vexed him for a little while, but he finally spotted a bit of wobble in it.