Hi, my son in law has a 52 plate 1.6 focus and has recently noticed a clicking noise when reving the engine while stationary. The noise starts at about 1500 revs and fades arounds 1800 revs although can still be heard faintly above this, A mechanic has suggested worn small ends or piston slap. Im not 100% convinced and think as a first step the car should be run without the aux belt to eliminate possible worn pulley bearings etc.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this? would small end wear be noticable at all engine speeds,

Is it ok to run the engine without the aux belt for a minute or two ?.

Any other suggestions or ideas would be great.

Thanks, John

when was the timing belt and tensioner replaced a first sign of the tensioner failing is a clicking noise i would take it to a ford dealer rather than a garage as from experience they tell you any old rubbish and the truth is they dont know ford state 100k for the belt which is true however the tensioner has no mileage and its this that fails snapping the timing belt most recommend 60-70k miles to have a timing kit fitted

^{With the car being 10 years old the belt and kit should be changed anyway}

Hi again, does anyone know if its ok to run the engine for a short while with the aux belt removed, or is it possible to damage the ecu or cause other problems.

thanks, John

When I was trying to investigate a click a Ford mechanic suggested I took the aux belt off, so I'd assume its ok. Don't shoot me if its not though!