Ford - Explorer :: 2005 - Grinding / Growling In Front Differential
Mar 25, 2016
I have some pretty bad grinding/growling in the front of my 2005 Explorer XLT 4-door. It is ABSOLUTELY NOT a wheel bearing. The noise seems to be coming from the front left wheel, and you can feel it when turning the hub by hand. I've changed that hub twice now (took a chance that the first one was defective), but neither made any difference. Both were torqued to 184 FtLbs per spec.
I took the outboard end of the left front cv shaft out of the hub and turned it by hand, and something at the inboard end felt crunchy. So then I pulled the shaft out and checked it over, and both sets of splines and CV joints are good. Axle shaft bearing in the differential looks good too---rolls well and no visible damage to the rollers. I'm thinking that it's got to be something in the front differential like a carrier bearing. The odd thing is that when I drove it with my Chassis Ear tool hooked up underneath, the noise was picked up at the left front knuckle, with nothing really audible from three different points on the differential case. I'm stumped on this.
Is there any safe way to drive the vehicle with the front CV shafts pulled? I'd like to isolate the front diff to be sure it's the source of the noise.
The noise does quiet way down in right turns, but the FR hub bearing was pretty quiet with the Chassis Ear hooked up. The noise starts at 20mph and dissipates above 45mph. Not like what the bad bearings on my Escape did...those just kept getting louder.
Are these Explorers known for front diff weaknesses? How can I find out what gear ratio I have, in case I decide to replace the whole unit (a used one is half the price or less than the rebuild quote I was given by a local shop).
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I have a 2005 Explorer XLT with the 4.0L V6 and AdvanceTrac.
I've had a worsening growl in the front end that sounds like it's coming from the front left wheel. I can feel it in the steering wheel, and the sound goes away when I turn the wheel right of center. Center (going straight) or leftward steering, and the noise comes right back.
I changed the wheel bearing today, and there is absolutely no change in symptoms. Turning the CV shaft back and forth by hand, something feels kind of "grindy." It is the same at any point along the shaft, which has me worried that the bad bearing is in the front differential.
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2010 v6 4wd. I have some growling in my front end. I got the truck in the air and neither wheel has any wobble (to check the front wheel hub assembly). I got under the truck and disconnected the large plug going into the T/C. Still noisy.
This truck used to be so quiet, but a couple years ago I had uneven tires that caused the 4wd to be on a ton. I just replaced all 4 a few weeks ago and that did not change the noise.
Is it possible that a bearing is still the culprit even without wobble? I can weave right and left and cannot notice it getting better or worse.
Also noticing my gas mileage dipping over the years, I am down to low 18s/high 17s with somewhat highway miles (2 miles of my commute around 35mph and the other 18ish going around 55 with 1 or 2 stops).
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Front end has a growling noise. When pulling a load it is worse. When the front end has more weight the noise and vibration is less. When traveling dead straight now growl really but turn the wheel a fraction of an inch either left or and a growl vibration. Turns left or tight fully bring on the same hard growl. Steering pump is pumping fine. Either steering box or front wheel bearing is my guess. 2007 Explorer 4.6 ...
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We have an 01 Sport Trac as a backup vehicle and it has the 3 position rotary switch on the dash for 4wd.
The transfer case engages and disengages but the front wheels seem to stay engaged with the front differential.
There are no manual hubs and I really don't think it should ALWAYS be engaged like that.
What is the probable issue and ALSO can manual hubs be installed on this truck?
Someone mentioned vacuum engagement? but I didn't see any vacuum hoses near the spindles. Didn't see any wires either other than ABS...
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I have a 2002 f150 5.4 with 3.55 limited slip... For months now every time I hit a bump with the front right side there is a loud bang (sounds like a wore out bushing), and if I am driving slow at an idle you can here a thump every time the wheel goes around. And when I turn all the way it sounds more like a grinding sound.... The noise is getting very bad, what it is. I am very mechanically inclined but cannot figure it out.
Everything in the front end seem tight. When I lay under it if I get someone to spin te wheel the thump sound sounds like its in the front dif, kinda echoes through the front drive shaft but u joints seem good. I really think it's in the dif, and I'm hoping the banging noise I hear when I hit bumps is the same problem as the noise when the wheels go around....
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I am looking for 2002 explorer XLT front differential diagram.
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I just acquired a 2007 Ford explorer. I'm in the process of changing all the fluids and am wondering if there is room to pull the front differential cover off to clean the gunk out of the bottom of the front differential. It looks tight and I'm wondering if the differential or the steering rack and pinion need to be removed to remove the cover or if there is just enough room?
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For starters I have a 1999 F-250 5.4l changed all 4 ball joints about 15,000 miles ago. I have been hearing a grinding noise coming from the front end for the last month only when I turn left and at slow speeds. I was servicing the TC so I threw it in 4 wheel to check it and it wouldn't engage until I started moving. When it did engage it was a bad grinding/ clunking sound coming from maybe the differential.
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I have been hauling a lot of garbage with my 96 ranger this last week. The differential has been making a little more than usual noise like growling, but it has always been smooth, now all of a sudden it shakes like a tire out of balance up to about 55 then it is like a switch is thrown and everything quiets down and the shaking goes away, until i get around 55. I haven't climbed under the truck yet just checked the tires and grabbed the drive line they are all ok,i don't see any leaks so it is a head scratcher. Hopefully it will be something easy, but it hardly ever is.
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I purchased my first truck 2 weeks ago private sale a 2001 Explorer Sport Trac 4v4 4.0L. I noticed it had small leaks coming from transmission and front differential gaskets (the diff is silicone) but the oil levels remain fine. Within days I heard a loud hum coming from the engine for 10 seconds then immediately after i was slowing down for a speed bump and my truck tried to stall and since that point it was riding very rough at low speed/idle and sometimes giving it gas seemed to just kill it. Next day a check engine light comes on and I get it checked It was Bank 1 running lean and B1155 (Output shaft speed signal) which concerned me from what I found it is located by the transmission oil filter which has the leak.
A few more days later I broke down on the side of the road, the alternator had died and killed the battery, I replaced the alternator and belt, replaced the 6 spark plugs, 3 of which i removed way to easily with my hands and all 6 had an incorrect gap. Initially the car was still rough but now with the new plugs it is drivable but still a little weird on startup and idle and a little bit of the shakes around 60-65mph and seems to be over actively shifting soon as i let off the gas even a little bit. Today I had the check engine light assessed again, now Bank 1 and Bank 2 are lean, still have the B1155 as well as a new C1676 (Battery pack voltage out of range) which light research said it could be ABS module or it could be a false code from being jumped days prior and that code wont clear on its own.
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2005 Subaru 2.5 Limited Outback. If I drive my Outback for over an hour, when I make sharp turns at a low speed in a parking lot my front end doesn't seem to turn right. As a I turn it seems like maybe the front differential is not working right, both wheels want to spin a the same rate. what could cause this?
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I have a 2002 Ford Explorer Sport and after a brake job I noticed that while under braking at slow speed there would be a grinding sound on the front left. I replaced the brakes and wheel bearings the first time. After a while I ended up replacing the caliper itself but it still grinds. I don't notice any wheel shaking, pulling and it hasn't locked up although once I did notice a some smoke under hard braking but only once. I also don't hear any grinding while not braking.
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Alright so I'm having a problem with my 2003 Ford Explorer. I've recently noticed that when I get to above 40 mph, if my steering wheel is straight, I hear a loud kind of grinding or humming sound coming from my left driver side front. If I am going about 65 mph, it gets even louder and if I crank the steering wheel to the left, that's when it really gets noisy but as soon as I crank it to the right, the problems gone. When I do hear the hummin sound, I can feel it in the steering wheel. I have replaced al of the tires and it didn't work. Also, the car slightly pulls me to the right.
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I have a 1996 Ford Explorer (4WD model). Approximately 4 months ago I had a new set of tires put on it, and in the process of replacing the tires the shop noticed that I had a bad ball joint and one of my wheel bearings was going bad. They said the ball joints were known for completely failing, but the wheel bearings usually didn't, so they recommended that the ball joint be replaced first. That is what I had them do. I haven't had the money to get the wheel bearing replaced yet. This past week it got worse to the point where I can hear it now.
At low speeds I can hear a grinding/rattling-type noise from the front drivers side (that's the side that has the bad wheel bearing). At higher speeds the grinding/rattling-type noise fades away due to road noise, but I can still hear a humming-type of noise that is a bit loader than normal - this noise just started a couple of weeks ago so I'm suspecting that this might also be related to the bad bearing.
I won't have the money to get this fixed for another 2 weeks. In order for me to have the money in 2 weeks I will need to continue working at my job 2 days a week. It's approximately 2 hours round-trip from my home to my job. Obviously with the bearing sounding significantly worse I don't want to drive it any more than I have to, but the only way I can get the money to fix it is to keep driving it back and forth to work.
Here's my question. What risks am I running by continuing to drive this? Am I running the risk of the wheel falling off while I'm driving down the freeway at 70 mph? Am I likely to experience other damaged parts in that area of the vehicle?
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Have an 06 2WD Explorer with 80,000mi and when driving down highway there is a bit of growling noise when any pressure is applied to the steering wheel. When driving straight not moving steering wheel its quite but when going around corner or curve tends to make noise. What I should be looking for? Brakes were replaced 10K miles ago. Ball joints or wheel bearings?
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Have 2005 excursion. Just did ball joints , wheel bearings all of them, axle joints and seals.Also warn manual hubs. Have a intermittent scraping grinding noise sounds like driver but could be both front.4wd works fine in high or low, no vibration just this annoying noise. took brakes apart and no funny wear or foreign object in dust shield.
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I have an 08 explorer 4x4 with 90k. I have a front end grinding noise. Noise is loudest at lower speeds and doesn't change with braking or turning. I have read that tires could cause this. I have the spare tire and rim on the front at the moment until I can afford a new tire. My other tires are all pretty new... And the spare is a different size rim but a brand new different brand tire. I'm going to check for play in the bearings tonight and maybe swap the spare to the rear .
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2005 X Limited 4x4 with 80,000 miles and I'm pretty sure my non serviceable bearing units are bad. Vibration and growling at 50 thru 70 mph. Only 80,000 on OEM seems pretty low. Front bearing assemblies....
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I have a 2005 Explorer XLT Sport 4x4 w/ 118k miles. I am having front end noise when I go over speed bumps, driveway aprons, etc.
I already replaced the Struts/Coils, and ball joints, the sway bar end links are newer. The noise is almost like a noise an old spring mattress would make.
What could the issue be?
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I just recently bought a 2000 Explorer, 4.0 OHV, 4x4 with about 150,000 miles.
I've had the vehicle for about a month, and ever since I bought it, it's had a grinding sound (sounded like wheel bearing) coming from the front right side. I replaced both right and left bearing/hub assemblies, and took it out for a drive. The initial sound that I thought was bearing noise is still there, and at about 65mph I started to get a little bit of steering wheel shake. I took my foot off the gas and it stopped. I accelerated up to about 70mph and it seemed ok.
I hit a VERY small bump in the road and the steering wheel started shaking like hell. So bad that I almost lost control. I slammed the brakes and the shake stopped instantly. I took it home and put it up in the air, half expecting to see something loose or broken, and everything looks perfect. I re-torqued everything that I had taken apart for the initial hub/bearing replacement, and took it out again. Same issues.
I never had ANY of these problems before I replaced the hub/bearing assemblies, so I'm completely confused. I was thinking CV joints, but I have no clicking at all when turning, in forward or reverse, everything is smooth. Outer tie rods were done about 6 weeks ago..
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