Ford - Explorer :: 2004 4X4 - Slight Whine At 55 MPH
May 23, 2012
I recently had to sell my 1990 Ford Bronco (hence my name) because it failed emissions six times and I gave up. I bought a 2004 Explorer 4X4 with 93K. I am very happy with my new truck. It is very clean and looks like new. I only noticed one thing - a slight whine from the rear end at 55 mph when I am on the gas. It doesn't really sound like a bearing. I read somewhere that Ford put a lighter weight gear oil in the diffs to increase fuel economy, and if you put in a heavier grade then the whine will go away. Is this true? If so, what should I use? The whine is barely noticeable and doesn't bother me, but if it could be eliminated easily by changing the oil I'd do it. I also read that someone did this and a week later the diff blew up. I'd rather have a very slight whine than a diff blowing up! What should I do here?
View 14 Replies
Advertisement
2007 sport trac w/ V8 4.6L
While driving down the road a slight whine is heard. Almost from the right rear but not sure. I shut the truck off at 30 mph in neutral and still have a whine. My tires are worn well below spec and I am starting to think the "whine" is a tire noise. My low air light was on and I aired them up to spec and the whine seemed louder today on the highway. I love this truck, but if its gonna turn into a money pit. DOWN THE ROAD IT GOES.
Also notice my transfer case appears to be wet with oil and can not see where it is coming from. I have had the vehicle a year.
View 3 Replies
I started to notice a slight whine when I turn the wheel. My fluid is at low but it's pretty dark and I'm not sure if it was ever changed or when. I have 100k miles. What fluid should I use?
View 10 Replies
I have a 2003 explorer with 6000 original miles, the truck was only used to go to the corner store by my past in laws, the tires which I have just replaced were the original Michelin with the date code 0303, the problem I am having is a fairly loud whine/hum during acceleration between 50mph and 65mph, I live in the Florida keys and trust worth mechanics are far and few between so I brought it to my Ford dealer which I buy body parts from all the time, after a test drive the service adviser said that they will have to remove the pumpkin put it on the bench and inspect it, I said ok, they called me back into the shop and showed me the unit, the tech said that I had metal filings in the unit and it was out of alignment, I saw the filings, which included the ring, pinion all inner bearings, the two outer shaft bearings and the two dust seals and oil, I verified this and the price seams to be right....my question is the labor they want to charge me 8 hrs to do the work. The rear end is a 355, not Limited and not traction.
View 3 Replies
I have a 2001 f 350 7.3 diesel r 400 tranny 320000 miles. . Im having transmission issues. It makes a slight whine/ grinding noise only in first And reverse. And it surges. Sometimes its fine though to. Check engine light came on. Only codes i get are #4 glow plug out and a low boost pressure. Checked boost before fixin Running fine at the normal about 20 psi. ive read a bad or dirty map or iat sensor can cause transmission issues along with the low boost error code. But in my experience and some reading it sounds like a stall converter.
View 9 Replies
I have a 2001 GMC Sonoma Highrider Edition it has the 4.3 Vortex and its 4x4 my transmission has been whining slightly it has 169,000 miles on it runs and shifts great it when's when ever its in park and whens threw 1st gear from what I can tell but it doesn't whine in Reverse from what I can tell. This is my first truck and I love it so far and Id hate for the transmission.
View 2 Replies
Ford Explorer has been making horrible noise (constant whine when accelerator is pressed)... The mechanic said he found metal in the power steering fluid and told me we need to replace the power steering pump and the rack & pinion system. Is he right about this? He said you can't replace one without the other... I've done a little research and I think we can get away with a new pump.
View 2 Replies
I have an '03 Ford Explorer (V8) and recently had a rebuilt engine installed (at 135,000 miles). As soon as I got the car back, the engine whined and it's getting louder. The whine starts immediately but it louder when the accelerator is pressed. The sound reminds me of a car with bad power steering, but it's so much louder and doesn't correlate to turning the wheel, but pressing the gas pedal.
View 6 Replies
I have a 2003 explorer where the pinion bearing has started to go, now the rear is starting to whine. the truck is a 2003, its a limited, with the 4.6 v8 in it. I would like to swap the rear with another used one, rather than rebuild the diff. the car is AWD, has a hitch receiver so I would imagine it has the tow package, my question is could I grab a rear out of a non AWD explorer, or one that had the 4.0 in front of it? something with the same gear ratio but out of a similar, non exact car, it has the advancetrac in it with the push button on the center console.
View 3 Replies
I get a whine when I'm driving hard under low speeds and accelerating (only when really aggressive). Is this cause for concern? Haldex whine I'm assuming?
View 3 Replies
Ford Explorer has been making horrible noise (constant whine when accelerator is pressed)... The mechanic said he found metal in the power steering fluid and told me we need to replace the power steering pump and the rack & pinion system. Is he right about this? He said you can't replace one without the other... I've done a little research and I think we can get away with a new pump.
View 4 Replies
First off, I just traded another vehicle for a 97 mountaineer, 5.0 v8 AWD with about 171k miles on it. Runs and drives real nice, but on occasion under normal acceleration i get a slight shudder when it shifts into high gear. The tranny fluid does look and smell a bit old, but not burnt. I plan on changing it if you think it would fix the problem and not cause more.
Also, I think the ball joints are shot. The camber is in on the front tires and i get some pretty good clunks when I go over bumps in the road. Steering wheel is tight. I jacked it up and tried wiggling the tires but i couldn't get them to move like that. I'm assuming ball joints still though right? And if so, how hard of a job is that for a DIY'er?
Also i noticed a bit of a whine coming from under the truck when turning into my driveway. Transfer case I'm assuming? What could cause a slight whine and how do i fix it? I plan on changing the fluid in that too.
View 14 Replies
So today i got my first check engine in the .:R. I was merging onto the freeway and i shifted into third rather enthusiastically (didn't redline in 2nd but i was probably at 6k rpm) and put it into 3rd gave it the gas and the tires squealed and I got the traction control light. Has me a little worried since the traction control light didn't go off afterwards. Got off the freeway and pulled into a parking lot and turned it off for a minute and when i started back up I got the check engine light also. Went to schmucks and pulled the codes and the only code I was able to pull up was P0102 MAF circuit low. I highly doubt my traction control light has anything to do with the MAF circuit. I notice when in 1st and 2nd gear (can't really tell about beyond 2nd because there is too much road noise) there is a slight whine. I cleared the codes and the check engine came back but the traction control light never went off.
View 9 Replies
I have an 03 wolfsburg and sometimes when i have the heat on ill hear this weird noise coming from the vent, i turn the heat off and wait a bit and turn it on and its gone. its very random, what might this be?
View 1 Replies
Took delivery of my 2015 GTI a few weeks ago. Overall the car is great, but I have a feeling the tires that came with it just plain suck. They are Pirelli P7 Cinturato A/S. According to Tire Rack, these are grand touring tires?! Not exactly what I'd expect to be put on a GTI. Anyway, I've noticed that at almost exactly between 60mph-70mph there is a "whine" sound coming from them, also just the slightest vibration in the steering wheel. At every other speed they are relatively quiet and the wheel is absolutely dead solid, no vibration. Could these tires just be of relatively poor quality? Should I have them put on a balancing machine to see if everything checks out? I'm assuming these were balanced on a Road Force machine at the factory since that is the OEM for VW/Audi, but I'm not 100% sure obviously.
View 16 Replies
There's a high pitched whine type noise coming from my Mass Airflow Sensor. I can get it to go away temporarily if I goose the gas pedal, but it comes back after a minute or two. Has not affected drive-ability, but it's pretty annoying. It sounds like the hot wire is probably vibrating. Is there any fix for it, or do I have to replace the sensor to get rid of it?? Have tried cleaning it, but that did not work.
View 6 Replies
My friend has tortured my R32 which he was supposed to buy. I had the motor replaced while i was gone as he blew it , again , dumb. I have been driving it and it has a terrible whine in the tranny I brought it to my mechanic and we took a sample to find metal shaving in my tranny.
He says the tranny is gone but I am lost on how it shifts perfect except the whine. It does this louder in the lower gears and has a slight knock at idle and disappears when I press the clutch in.
I bought a used tranny already to put in. I also if this is the case and the tranny needs replacing I was told to also do the clutch , should I go stock to save money or go with a different clutch and possibly a LW Flywheel , is it really a drastic power difference?
View 9 Replies
I bought a 97 4.0 SOHC about 2 weeks ago with 85k miles on it. I noticed a slight rattle coming from the engine after I got home. I bought it from an individual who I don't think was aware of the problem. I did some investigating on FTE and talked to a friend who has a 98 that locked up at 40k with timing chain problems. After listening to the engine and reading posts I determined it was either the tensioner and the chain guides or both.
I took it to my local dealer to have them check it out. I told him I thought it was 1 or both of these problems. And was aware of the Owner Notification Programs for these issues. And that the tensioner ONP 00M12 was expired but not the guide ONP 01MO1. He said it sounds like the tensioner, and that 99% of the time that was the problem. I said go ahead and check it out, but while your in there could you look at the guides and replace them if they need it since they are covered. He said " They will look at them and replace them if the need it". They ended up just replacing the top tensioner.
I got the vehicle out the next day and 50% of the noise was gone, but a rattle persisted. I took it back and pointed this out, their mechanic said it sounded like it could be the catalytic converter. but they would have to listen more closely to determine where the sound was coming from. Of course my suspicion is and was the chain guides all along. So this morning he called me and said it is a timing chain area noise, but they don't think it is the guides they think it is the middle tensioner. Big surprise, they don't think it is the guides, so I said go ahead and spend 5.5 hrs of labor to tear it down and see what the problem is. He said if it turns out to be the guides it is covered under the ONP. But if its the bottom tensioner "bend over" actually he didn't say that last part, I was paraphrasing.
So here we are, grabbing my ankles waiting for word on the cause. I told him when they get it torn down I want to come down there and physically inspect the problem, he was fine with that. Here is my deal regardless of the problem, they should not have charged me for the original 5 hrs of labor to replace the top tensioner, if that did not fix the entire problem, they could have replaced that one when they reassembled the engine after checking out the guides. And not only that but why are they so resistant to say it is the guides, Ford is the one who foots the bill. Not only that but if it is the middle tensioner as well how do they know the guides are not contributing to the sound, and if so they should be covered and they should only charge me for the parts for the 2 tensioners.
View 14 Replies
Well i picked up a 96 4x4 with the 4.0 a few weeks ago and been fixing stuff weekly that i find wrong. One thing i noticed was the rear diff was leaky but couldn't get the fill plug out so left if for now. Last night my wife was on interstate and it just started making a loud noise so she pulls over calls me. I get there and drive it and it makes a woowoowoo noise and it got louder as speed increased. She was 3 miles from the exit so i drove it about 15-20 to get it off interstate than another 2 miles to her sisters. We let it sit for a few hours and found a flatbed to haul it home, and when we finally got home i drove it off the flat bed and now it was making a loud clunky noise. Parked it in drive till today. Cracked open the rear and no fluid came out.
Inspecting all the gears looked good no metal in bottom so i went and got a new rear cover and 3 qt. of fluid. Put it back together and the woowoowoo was still there but seemed to slowly go away as i drove it around the block. So what else could be going on here or do i need to drive it and warm up the fluid so it circulates? I also noticed a sheeee sound like metal on metal when braking but i changed all 4 rotors and both pads last week but i noticed the brakes in the rear that look like drum brakes was bare but i assume that is only for the ebrake so didn't bother changing them yet. Could those be hitting the inside of the rotor and making the metal to metal noise?
View 14 Replies
I have a 2010 Explorer XLT that I bought in 8/2012 with 7,000 miles on it. I had had a problem with a groaning noise and slight vibration starting at 34 mph, under load. I don't hear the noise if I let off the gas at 34. I hear it a little past 35 or so and it doesn't seem to groan again until about 60 mph or so. I also have a feeling of the all wheel drive engaging when I back out of the driveway, put it in drive and turn the wheel slightly.
I took it to the dealer this week under warranty and he calls me today and says the tires are worn differently all around and that is causing the problem. He says the tires could be out as much as, or as little as 1/16 of an inch and that is what is causing the all wheel drive to catch and also the groaning noise. I understand what he is saying, but I can't believe that is the problem or more would have been written about it.
I asked the guys about rotating the tires and he said it would not matter, it would just take the problem from one end of the vehicle to the other. These tires are not worn like the truck is out of alignment, it is just normal wear. It now has about 21k on the odometer. What do you all think of this diagnoses? The guy says the PTU thinks it needs the all wheel drive and therefore engages it. This truck can also be manually put in 4 wheel drive by flipping the switch.
View 14 Replies
I'm in a situation where I may be having to tow my 3500# boat/trailer with my '04 Explorer 4WD (this is well within the max tow limit, per the manual). I have the 4.0L with the 5 spd auto tranny and 3.73ls gears. I've towed the boat a handful of times with this vehicle and had a good experience every time. Now I'm looking at this being my primary towing vehicle, towing once or twice a month in the summer. The car only has 48000 miles on the ticker and is in pristine condition, so mechanically it's sound.
I asked my mechanic what he thought of this arrangement and he hates the Explorers, so he's giving a biased response. Have any of you towed something on a somewhat regular basis with this, or a similar, vehicle? Any issues? My mechanic keeps going on about the transmission seal blowing when under a heavy load.
View 3 Replies
