Ford - Explorer :: 1998 - Knock / Thump From Rear At Highway Speeds
Dec 22, 2013
I have a 1998 Ford Explorer 4X4 two owner and only 63K miles. All service records including tranny flush. Tranny shifts fine, there are no "clunks" when shifting out of Park.The only symptom is an occasional bump or thud ( maybe more like a jolt )coming from underneath at the rear at highway speeds. Sometimes it is more pronounced than others. I don't believe RPMs change when this happens. Around town is fine and only at constant speeds above 55 which makes it difficult to recreate. I have checked for anything loose underneath ( incl spare tire ) and can't find anything.
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I own a 98 Deville with 125k miles and bad upper rear knuckle bushings, seems common. At highway speeds, the rear of the car floats noticeably and on a rainy road, it is down right dangerous to drive. My logic is that it is a BUSHING! They make all different sizes and surely there is bushing that is the size I need and a way to press out the old and press in the new. I have the right rear off the car now and will pay a visit to my local mom and pop automotive machine shop to see what can be done. Even if they need to bore out the inside diameter of the knuckle to accept an over sized bushing, there has got to be a way.
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Started up the 2002 EXP today and thought the fuel pump was failing. Get a consistent thump every 1 second. Later today i looked and noted the noise is coming from drivers rear fender well (i think). I took off the small plastic cover of the rear blower motor and thought it was in that area. Disconnected the motor and still thumps. Disconnected the blower motor resistor block and still thumps. Looked at the overhead consol and the rear blower was on HI. Turned the blower down and as you reduce speed the noise volume is lower. Turned the switch off and i thought the noise was gone. Pulled the cup holder above the fender well looking for a relay or something in that area. I cant isolate the noise but seems to be real close to that area. Later i heard the noise, very faint, and the blower switch was off. Turned it to 1-2-3 and it gets much louder. Turned it off and very slight noise. What am i looking for? My hearing is not accurate enough to find it.
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A friend of mine has a '93 Explorer 4x4 with an automatic. He's getting an intermittent shake at highway speeds. It shows up every 5-10 minutes or so. Apparently the problem has been going on for a few months now. I took it for a test drive the other day, and it feels similar to driving on rumble strips. It shakes in both 2wd and 4wd, but he says it seems worse in 4wd. The vibration feels more like it's coming through the seat than the steering wheel. The vibration will go away if you take the foot off of the accelerator, or if you pull it down into Drive. He's got about 220K miles on it. The previous owner said the transmission was rebuilt about 30K miles ago, but who knows. He's had it in the shop for a couple of days, and they've checked the usual suspects - u-joints, ball joints, and the sort.
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I have a very well maintained 1998 Ford Explorer 4.0 SOHC 4X4 with only 67,000 miles. Sometimes at highway speeds ( 65MPH ) there is a fairly pronounced bump / jerk. I will also happen occasionally when accelerating from a stop. IMHO, it's not a slip. Fluid has been flushed and is bright red. The best I can tell the RPMs are not jumping when this happens. I've all but counted out an engine misfire. There are no engine or OD light on. Where I should begin troubleshooting? I don't want to spend tons of money trying to isolate the issue but this Explorer is in exceptional condition so I want to have it fixed.
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I have a 1998 Ford Explorer. It was running fine until last Mon. On my 3rd start of the day , it wouldn't stay started long enough to get into gear; sometimes it sputtered violently. I tried starting over the next 2 days with the same outcome so I towed it to mechanic. They replaced spark plugs, wires & started (because it was throw lower voltage than normal). It ran fine the short distance home. The next day, it started fine but sputtered in corners/lower speeds. About 12 miles into the drive, which was at ~60 mph, my auto died and wouldn't start again. What's going on? Could it be the fuel pump?
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I have an '04 EX with 6.0. When braking at highway speeds the rear end shudders until I get the truck slowed down some. Around town speeds of 45 or less the problem is almost non-existent. It almost seems to be hydraulic instead of pads/rotor issue. Wouldn't a warped rotor show up at slower speeds as well? I have some good mechanics around, but have never found a great brake shop that I can trust. Go in needing pads and they try and upsell saying this or that is going out.
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It is a 2002 Explorer xlt 4x4 4.6l v8 with 139k miles. It runs like a top and is in great condition. However I have a few questions:
Most importantly is it feels and sounds like the rear-end is slightly grinding at low speeds mainly when I turn right. If I give it a bit of gas when turning it doesn't seem to do it. I have tried running a vin decoder to figure out if I have limited slip or not so I can drain the rear diff and inspect it, but I haven't found what it has as far as gears go.
Number two. The keyless entry and remote worked when I bought the car and then about two days later it just stopped working. I bought a new battery for the remote and put it in and it still doesn't work.
Also the interior lights will stay on after you start the car until I hit about 15mph, and also stay on for about 5min after I shut the car off. I am not sure what may cause this. I have owned tons of older ford's but am relatively new to anything newer than 2000.
And I know pics or it didn't happen, so there is one of the door sticker, one of the rear axle, and one of the car ...
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I have been feeling a vibration in my right rear at highway speeds (70+mph) At first i thought that maybe it was a wheel bearing but that would constantly be vibration and it wouldn't be off and on like it is. The car is on coils and a friend mentioned to check and make sure my right height is the same all around. I checked just by comparing the fender well gaps and it does seem as if the right rear is a bit lower. If this is the case, can ur car being a little lower on one side cause this vibration? if so, how?
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I have a 2001 w/94k. New tires and alignment (3k). Recently I have been hearing a humming noise which can start to be heard around 45mph which gets increasingly loud up to 65mph, and then seems to quiet down if I go above 70mph. From the driver's seat it sounds like it's coming from the driver's side rear of the car and from the passenger seat it sounds like it's coming from the passenger side rear of the car. So it definitely sounds like it's coming from the rear of the car. Bringing my car in to get looked at it is difficult with my work schedule, so I thought I would try here first. Around the city there is no noticeable sound and there has been no loss in MPG that I can tell (44-47).
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I have a 2009 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4x4 Laredo. For approximately the past 7 months there has been a noise coming from the left rear of the vehicle at speeds above approximately 60 mph. The sound is not metallic in nature, it sounds more like a seat belt flapping against something. The frequency is approximately 2 Hz and is very consistent at highway speeds. The driver can seldom hear it apparently due to interior acoustics, but the someone in the passenger seat or the back seat hears it plainly, over a period of time it is very annoying.
In addition, if you touch the left rear interior side panel (in the cargo area) it seems like you can feel a small vibration that matches the sound. I have had the vehicle inspected by Jeep, they find nothing. I have had the left rear interior panel removed to see if there was a problem with the sound system cable bundle that runs through there, but it was OK. We thought it might be the metal gas tank door vibrating in the wind stream, so we taped the door down, but the sound was not affected. What the source of this sound might be?
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I have 18k miles on my IS350 AWD Fsport. Brought it in for shake at highway speeds around 70-80. Dealer called and said steel belts are showing on REAR tires on my ALL Wheel Drive. My mileage is 2/3 highway. Went Hankook Ventus V12s on my 2IS and fronts would wear much faster...
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I have a 2003 Explorer EB that on deceleration of all speeds, the drivers side rear axle is popping or clicking. Could this be a CV joint? It does not happen on acceleration.
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My 1998 Explorer is making a terrible banging noise when driving. It appears to come from the rear. It only occurs when i step on the gas, gives a bang and the car shudders lightly. The bang can be gone for 10 - 30 seconds, and all of a sudden appear again. If I step hard on the gas, it will make a bang! bang! bang! noise.. If let my foot off the gas, it rolls quitely without any noise.
I have greased the slip yoke, inspected the U-joints, checked the rear calipers, opened the rear axle/differential plate - no metal parts or excessive wear were observed.. The transmission runs smoothly, there are no other noises apart from the bang. It is as if someone is hitting the car with a hammer from underneath...
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2007 Ford Fx4 with 6 inch suspension lift. Just rebuilt front suspension. I Had bad upper ball joints and one of the hubs was bad. Also had a bad tie rod end on one side. The tires began to wear excessively on the inside and quickly degraded.
I figured since I was in there, I would just change everything. I replaced upper control arms, lower ball joints, stabilizer bar links, strut assemblies, and inner and outer tie rods on both sides. Obviously everything is much better. But...
On test driving and running short errands near the house, it seems like I can still sense a slight thumping/clunking or bounce from the right side at slow speeds at times. It is hard to describe because there isn't really a sound associated with it. It is not constant; it feels a bit like a ball joint just starting to go. I cannot identify it with any of the new parts, they all check out and nuts are tight, etc.
I have not gotten an alignment yet. Getting new tires and alignment Saturday. Tires are in pretty bad shape. But, alignment isn't too badly off and at slow speeds around the neighborhood its more of a bouncing after a road seam or when accelerating from a stop, etc.
when I was doing the work, one of the half shafts had more play than the other. It was easier to move out of the way to install the shocks and lower ball joints. I could easily bend it over past the stabilizer bar link and use the link to hold it out of the way. Is this normal? I have never owned a vehicle with IFS and CVs before. Could the bouncing/clunking be caused by a worn CV joint, even in 2wd?
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2004 Explorer XLT, 4wd, 60k on the odometer, brake pads and rotors replaced about a year ago. When coming to a stop, usually a harder stop, Im getting a resounding "thump" in the floor. I can also definitely feel it in the brake pedal. Its like something is binding up and then letting go. Seems to be coming from mid-vehicle. What this could be?
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2004 sport track 4wd. never had issues..no oil burn, leaks, af use..nothing. was a great truck. going to work.heard a thump and truck shut down.
oil was high on dip stick..no AF left..it all went into motor on top. seized up engine and crank broke into pieces...done..
got a new engine put in this week.
Has this been an issue with these engines..or did I just have some bad mojo?
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Can the power window regulator motor on a 96 Explorer be repaired? I can hear the motor make a thump noise but it is bound. I have seen videos on earlier model Fords where the motor can be taken apart and the plastic spheres can be replaced but I didn't know if that can be done on a 96 model.
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I am having a very intermittent thump/bang/slip in my front end when coming off the highway or taking off at a stop. Believe it or not this is when i drive the car perfectly normal and don't stomp on it which I haven't done much with this car.
I was under the car the other day and noticed neither the dogbone mount bolts looked to have been replaced and i saw the back subframe bolts look to be moving around due to rubbing marks on the subframe.
Car has been in three times to seacoast volkswagen this last time the tech drove with me and they wont do anything because they cant replicate the problem.
I noticed its between 4 to 3rd down shift and 1st to 2nd up shift that it happens so far. It is LOUD and extremely noticeable and feels almost like a slip and heavy bang.
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On my way home from work tonight cruising on the highway, heard a loud thump followed by continuous thumps thereafter. Knowing this wasn't good pulled over to find a nice big nail in my passenger side front tire, great. thought I could make it home, I was about 6 exits away...one exit later nail flew out and tire was loosing air.
- luckily for me, I had a friend who lived nearby the exit the nail flew off and put on the spare.... now my question is I noticed some camber wear on the tire.. 15,200 miles to be exact on the stock oem bridgestones.
- I know these tires are complete crap but... is this camber wear normal? I've seen other posts about it but, is it the tires? or something to do with the car? I am pretty sure my alignment is fine. If I buy a new set of tires eventually will this end up happening again? Trying to gain some knowledge for the future.
Also is it true that with AWD cars, if you change one tire you have to change all 4? because it might mess up the drivetrain or something, at least that's what I was told.
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My boyfriend bought a 1999 ford explorer, he put about 2,000 miles on it in four months... I believe it now has roughly 110,000... Now the other day, he was pulling out and shifted from reverse to drive, we heard like a loud clunk/thump noise... It shifts into drive, and revs but won't move, it feels like neutral... If you shift to second, first, or reverse it's fine... Tranny fluid is good... O/D is always engaged...
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