Ford - Explorer :: 1999 - Clunk Noise Then Steering Kind Of Locked Up / Tires Dragging
May 17, 2012
I have a friend who called me today, she has a 1999 Explorer Sport with over 200,000 miles on it. She said she was coming home the other day and as she was pulling into her driveway she heard a clunk then the steering kind of locked up, and it felt like a tire was dragging. She moved the truck later and said that it goes forward and backwards fine but grabs and skids while trying to turn.
She called her local mech, and he thought the diff could have given out on her and is basically acting like a locked diff rather than open.. I think the front axle must have somehow engaged, and is stuck.. So my question is this, how does the front axle on a explorer engage.. I know on Jeeps and Chevys there is an actuator that moves an arm that moves a sleeve that engages both sides of the axle. Does ford work the same way?? It would seem to me that if the truck is going front and back fine the diff itself should be ok?? The xfer case was replaced about 3 years ago.
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I have driven my Venza V6 AWD for 1500 miles now. A lot of people commented the electric power steering feels numb.
When I am braking slowly (or lightly) to a stop because of a red light, I feel the steering wheel is kind of locked up and harder to steer compared to other Toyota I have driven (this is my fourth Toyota). When my steering wheel is not at exact 12:00 position (a few degrees off for example), I feel the tendency of the car move off from straight a head and I have to use a bit of force (more than the usual effortless power steering) to steer it straight. I am not sure if this is a normal behaviour or so called numbness of the Venza electric power steering or it is an alignment issue that needs to be corrected.
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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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A while back as I was driving, I heard some sort of clunk, and the steering wheel locked and would not turn left. It then unlocked after a few seconds. Ever since then, it has been very hard to turn to the left (and right, at slow speeds and on sharp turns, but much easier than turning left). This happened a few days after I replaced both front end struts and inner tie rod ends, and got an alignment - they were cheap quick struts (entire assembly), but seem to be of fairly good quality.
Initially after some consultation I thought it was the power steering pump, so I replaced that. It became easier to turn right, but still very hard to turn left. I took the front end off the ground and turned the wheel all the way left and right, no problem or resistance. I am nearly certain it is not the pump.
At this point, I am fairly certain it is either the steering gear or some part of the rack and pinion. I am planning on getting the assembly replaced. The fastest and cheapest way is apparently to just buy the entire steering gear/r&p assembly. Would bad strut mounts ever cause an issue like this? Any other possibilities besides the steering linkage?
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The truck. 2005 super d 6.0l. 200,000 miles
The problem. After start and warmup, and then a couple of miles driving, I make a slow 90 degree turn after a stop sign. The wheel in my grip seems to go stupid for a very short time. It responds by jerking and kind of stuttering. Yet it does this only once per trip. Also it does not do this every trip. Just sometimes. After the stutter the steering is Normal. There is no vibration at speed, and no wander from side to side. Everything seems solid and straight.
So what's going on? Should I start by draining the reservoir with a hose and refilling, repeat repeat, to "flush out old fluid". Or is my pump or steering box headed for a fail. Maybe hubs or knuckle joints.
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I took my truck to an alignment shop to have him look over my truck to find a steering wheel jerk and a loud clunk noise. He believes it's in the transfer case driveline. Said to remove the driveline then drive it around and see if it goes away, if it does then that's the problem. So to the question, how to properly take this out? Do I need to make marks with a paint pen anywhere to line things back up or does it matter?
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I recently replaced the 2 rear Pirelli 19"s on the back with Michelin Diamaris 4x4. I left the slightly worn 2 front Pirellis on thinking NO big deal. WRONG! By not replacing all 4 tires at the same time I noticed a "clunking" noise coming from under the vehicle while under 20mph.
After trouble shooting at 2 different dealerships the second one concluded that I need 2 new front tires. At first they thought that the left front drive shaft was bad but after installing a new one "clunk" was still there. Dealer removed 4 wheels/tires from a new Touareg and placed them on my '04 and "clunk" went away. My '04 has the 4 corner air suspension and locking differentials as well.
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2002 ford explorer 4x4 150k miles when i put it in reverse a loud clunk noise but when put in drive no clunk noise. But on highway when its shifts a very loud clunk and like a real hard shift !!!!!o/d light is flashing also .transmission shift solenoid ? rear ?
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Truck is 2011, F350, 4x4 CC Long box with a 6.2, 124,000 km on it. Was driving home last night towing my jet boat when I heard a sudden noise from the front end, kind of shudder, first reaction was a flat so headed to the curd. No flat, nothing running hot, no play in wheels, all looked good underneath the front end. Pulled out and drove away, got about 15 km and it happened again, looked all around nothing obvious so pulled out and drove home (25 km) no issue.
This morning wanted to investigate further. Drove truck down the block and heard a definite rotating type sound. Not a grinding more like a scrape sound. After a minute it went away. Went into a parking lot and drove in tight circles but no strange noise. Found that the auto locking hubs were not working but hub would lock in manual. No strange noises with hubs locked in either.
Jacked up truck rotate front wheels, no sound and no play or wiggle on either side. Pulled the hubs and the passenger side had water in it. Hub was not rusty but it didn't look as good as the other side. Not sure how water got there as I have never driven in water, although I am not original owner but have had it two years and put 25,000 km on it. Could the water have gone in deeper and caused a bearing to fail?
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My car is not my daily and I only hear the sound after it's been sitting for a day or so, at low speeds right when I pull out of my driveway, I hear what sounds like the rear tires dragging over gravel and "sticking," the sound is more pronounced the sharper I turn. As I go a mile or so down the road and make turns, the sound goes away. I don't notice any vibrations or clinking sounds.
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The steering wheel is locked on my 99 F-350. I messed around with the stupid thing for quite a while this evening and it won't budge! I need it to haul hay tomorrow....
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My wife informed me about a noise coming from the chassis of her truck.
2007 Explorer XLT 4x4, 4.0 OHV, AT, 89,000 miles on the odometer.
We took the truck to dinner last night so I could investigate the problem. This occurs while only making left hand turns at slow speed.
There is a definite clunk sound AND feel. It actually sounds and feels like we are driving over a loose manhole cover, and IT DOES feel like metal to metal contact on the driverʻs sids of the truck.
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Yesterday while traveling about 30mph and starting into a slight left turn the steering wheel locked, when the brake pedal was applied it was rock hard and would not engage braking resulting in a single vehicle crash, no injuries. 8300 miles...
How would I make Ford aware of this incident and get them involved? Is it likely that such events may have been logged somehow in the computer? The truck is at our collision repair shop waiting for an insurance adjuster to inspect.
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I just got my truck back from the dealership where they said they tightened the nut on my pitman arm and now when turning either left or right when I approach full lock there is a massive pop or clunk that comes from the steering box. I have crawled under the truck and watched and felt everything as the wheels turn and the draglink, tie rod, sway bar links and cv joints as well as the front drive shaft are all fine. The noise is definitely coming from the top end of the pitman arm or higher. What it could be or how to fix it? I have an 03 6.0l f250 with a 4 inch lift all new springs and new sway bar
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Had a friend at vw change my haldex fluid and the next day I'm driving my tires locked then let go and skidded a bit now my car is making a very weird noise from the rear and where the haldex is located I'm getting a bit of leaking.
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So now, what I'm noticing is a bit of a clunk in the steering. It's minor, very minor... but like any problem they usually start that way. The sound is very faint, you can't hear it under the truck, only slightly in the cab but you can feel it in the steering wheel, not so much when driving but when sitting still in a parking spot it's pretty obvious if you rotate the wheel back and forth. You can also feel it in the floor. Sometimes I'll notice this if I hit a bump while I'm driving.
Here's what I know, if you grab the tie rod, either end, you get a slight bit of rotation. Not just one end moving, but the whole thing has a small amount of forward back rotation (I'm not sure if this is normal) I had my girlfriend turn the steering wheel while I checked different components and there didn't seem to be any left right play on the tie rods. The boots look good on the tie rods ends, pic included, looks of similar quality of drivers side.
Then the kicker, here's where I noticed the gobs of grease on the top end drag link, pic also included. This was the last link I looked at, and I guess least expected.
So I guess I'm thinking this drag link is bad, but this is my first stop on the advice train. I wiped off the boot that was covered in grease on the drag link and it looked like its in fine enough condition but I also seriously doubt the shop that added the leveling kit just decided to slob grease all over the outside of this drag link boot. I have my truck oil undercoated before every winter but, that was some bit ago, and this looked more like grease to me.
Truck background: 2012 F250 6.7, I'm at 42,000 miles, 34in tires for most of that, and more recently added a 2 inch leveling kit (40,000 miles) and replaced the suspension all around and added a dual stabilizer. I had some noise coming from the drivers side wheel-well a while back and found that one of the end links on the sway bars was simply loose. Tightened up and all good to go. At 30,000 I got some death wobble. Replaced tires, the stock stabilizer had also gone bad, and had an alignment. Everything good since, but I'm thinking some of these problems now might be remnant of the bad tires.
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Experienced a weird clicking sound when the steering wheel is fully locked either left or right, when turning at low speeds? Its more of a pop than click. No issues driving straight, or in regular turns, just when fully extended.
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While I was trying to park, I heard a clunk, wheels stayed in the same position. The steering wheel is loose as hell, it literally feels like its buttered up and wont turn the wheels at all, what to buy to fix it? I am thinking I just need a new gearbox....
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I had a 03 trailblazer ltz; last week while driving low speed ( 30 hm-50 km ) ,the rear tires had locked,and sliding,but the engine didn't stop and steering wheel didn't lock.I restarted the engine but the transmission at D , it didn't work. When the transmission changed at R ,and after that at D i can drive it. Nowadays i'm hearing noise from left rear tires like turning shaft. Before that i jumped from the ramp while fast, because of that the sound began.
After that,this issues have began. Yesterday while I'm driving at low speed it happened again. When I pass the 30 kmh the sound are too loudly come from rear tires. I Checked that but nobody can find the issue. I check the hand brake parts,because i didn't work. but yesterday it made it again.
Is it possible to being after jump from speed bump ?? Because i passed it fast and jumped. After that, the sounds began.( i think it's like a rolling sth. ). I used the car about 2 weeks after that and never used about two weeks. Now i can drive it ,but sounds always there.last time i drived it on flat road,no brake and sounds came like squeezing sth. And the transmission no longer to be useful,but the car can still in idle ,it never stopped the engine and never give me an alert.
While slow down, I changed transmission to park,and changed to reverse.so ,i can drive it,but sound always there.there are no oil under the car.after first time the dealer said '' your problem is parking brake shoe ''. Because parking brake shoe come away from it's location. He corrected,but sounds still there. After 2 days, it made it second time. So it is on park now ....
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I have a 02 F250 4x4 5.4. As I drive and when pulling into a driveway I hear a clunk that can be felt in the floor and the steering wheel. I've replaced the wheel bearings and seals, shocks, ball joints, sway bar links and bushings, tie rod ends at the gear box and "right hand inner". The other two tie rods are tight and so is the track bar. I cannot duplicate the sound if I jack it up and move parts around with a pry bar. I can however move the steer box sector shaft upwards about an 1/8. I've adjusted the screw but it didn't do anything. Could it be the steer box or the springs? I've even mounted a GoPro underneath but everything moves and I can't tell why it is.
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A few weeks ago I noticed a 'clunk' noise when turning the steering wheel. It only did it the first turn on a trip. Over time it has gotten worse - the sound is the same, but it happens for several turns, maybe 10 or so, before it stops. After the car sits, turned off, for a while, the cycle starts again.
I replaced the rubber coupler on the MDPS, but my old one looked fine, and it made no change in the noise.
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