Vibration / Hum From The Dash

[BethesdaEC]

My Explorer has developed a humming rattle deep in the dash that seems to start at about 65 to 70 MPH. I have touched every piece of trim in the car hoping to dampen and isolate the source without any luck. It really does sound like it is originating from deep in the dash.

Has anybody had a similar issue? My Ex was built in late May and has 2800 miles. I intermittently heard this several times early on, but it is happening constantly at 65 to 70 MPH.

 

[Forkmachine]

My Explorer has developed a humming rattle deep in the dash that seems to start at about 65 to 70 MPH. I have touched every piece of trim in the car hoping to dampen and isolate the source without any luck. It really does sound like it is originating from deep in the dash.

Has anybody had a similar issue? My Ex was built in late May and has 2800 miles. I intermittently heard this several times early on, but it is happening constantly at 65 to 70 MPH.

Yes, sir. Sadly, I have had a high-pitched vibration/rattle coming from somewhere behind the center dash for months, at any speed and at varying road conditions. It drives me insane, but I haven't tried to have a dealer fix it for fear of having them introduce more rattles by pulling the dash apart... I figured I would have them look into it (after having them ride around with me to show them) when I get a chance to take it in for a MFT update.

For a moment I thought it was the A/C system because the rattle stopped when I shut it off, but that only happened a few times. I suspect that the A/C ducting or fan is one of the many things that is coupled to whatever it is that makes the rattle.

 

[BethesdaEC]

I shut off the A/C to hear it better and the sound stopped, but that only happened once. Must have been a fluke. I can deal with the buggy MFT, but this is really bothering me, especially in a $50K vehicle.

 

[Forkmachine]

I shut off the A/C to hear it better and the sound stopped, but that only happened once. Must have been a fluke. I can deal with the buggy MFT, but this is really bothering me, especially in a $50K vehicle.

I have a rule to never buy a first model year. I broke the rule, and unfortunately none of us in the 2011 thread followed the rule, so we get to be the beta testers, I guess.

I do hear and echo lots of the same complaints about having trouble with a near $50k vehicle, but I have heard of much worse problems from the likes of Audi, BMW, and Mercedes owners, so I try not to single Ford out.

 

[BethesdaEC]

I have a rule to never buy a first model year. I broke the rule, and unfortunately none of us in the 2011 thread followed the rule, so we get to be the beta testers, I guess.

I do hear and echo lots of the same complaints about having trouble with a near $50k vehicle, but I have heard of much worse problems from the likes of Audi, BMW, and Mercedes owners, so I try not to single Ford out.

I broke the rule too, but I figured a late 2011 would have fixes for some of the early problems and honestly I bought this vehicle on a whim when I was getting new tires for my wife's car. This was certainly not an uninformed decision as this vehicle was on my radar for later this year, I just walked in and they had the vehicle I was planning to factory order.

 

[SkullCat]

Are you sure it's from the dash? Listen carefully and see if it's coming from the right a-pillar. If it is, it's the outside trim piece flapping in the wind. Mine was doing it at certain speeds if the wind was blowing a certain direction on it. My dealer adjusted it but it's doing it again sometimes so I need to get a new one.

 

[BethesdaEC]

Are you sure it's from the dash? Listen carefully and see if it's coming from the right a-pillar. If it is, it's the outside trim piece flapping in the wind. Mine was doing it at certain speeds if the wind was blowing a certain direction on it. My dealer adjusted it but it's doing it again sometimes so I need to get a new one.

I thought the A pillar rattle was from the inside trim piece. If it is the outside trim piece than touching the inside would not dampen the sound. Good to know.

 

[SkullCat]

I thought the A pillar rattle was from the inside trim piece. If it is the outside trim piece than touching the inside would not dampen the sound. Good to know.

I took some duct tape, split it in half and taped the rubber part that comes off the plastic piece down to the windshield and drove around like that for a while and it never did it. When I figured it out and took it to the dealer, the service guy told me the owners demo was doing the same thing. Try it out.

 

[BethesdaEC]

I took some duct tape, split it in half and taped the rubber part that comes off the plastic piece down to the windshield and drove around like that for a while and it never did it. When I figured it out and took it to the dealer, the service guy told me the owners demo was doing the same thing. Try it out.

I took some Gorilla tape to both sides and unfortunately the vibration is still there. It is definitely in the dash, and I did check all the usual suspects, the glove box, armrest and the center compartment in front of the shifter.

 

[JDraper]

Have you taken it back to the dealer under warranty?

 

[BethesdaEC]

Have you taken it back to the dealer under warranty?

I have an appointment tomorrow morning for water in my right mirror turn signal. They are also going to take a look at this problem.

 

[BethesdaEC]

Update: I took it in yesterday, and the mechanic could not reproduce the problem. I went over during my lunch break and I took the mechanic out and was able to consistently reproduce it. It is not the A pillar and his belief and hope is that is was coming from the cowling area or under the hood near the wind shield. No luck, I am going to bring it back Monday morning and they are going to remove the dash.

Here is everything I know about the problem:
- It generally happens above 60 MPH and is seems to be a wind driven buzz/hum.
- Once it starts it is constant, not like an intermittent creak.
- Seems worse in the afternoon when the vehicle is warm from the sun and heat.
- I believe it is affected by a crosswind.

 

[BethesdaEC]

Update 2: They did not remove the dash per Ford's recommendation. They replaced the passenger A pillar pieces and removed part of the cowl and reseated it. I took it out for a drive and it was greatly improved but it did started doing the vibration at about 75MPH. Previously it was starting as soon as 45MPH. Looks like it might be the A pillar after all but if they replace the problem part with the same part I don't think it is going to work. The vibration started intermittently about a month and degenerated to a constant vibration.

I turned around and drove straight back to dealer and fortunately the tech was still there so we went out for a ride and I showed him the problem was still there. My rental F150 hadn't been checked in so they gave me the keys and they are going to try again tomorrow. At least they are paying for the rental.

This will be 3 trips and 4 days for the same the problem, I believe I may be getting close to a Maryland Lemon Law case at this rate.

Per Maryland Lemon Law:
Any one problem that substantially impairs the use and market value of the vehicle that was not corrected in four repair attempts.

 

[harmsangha]

I had a rattle in my 2011 that just drove me bonkers. Everytime I went over the slightest bump it rattled like plastic on plastic. It seemed to be coming from deep inside the centre dash where the media centre is. I took it into the dealer and they said it seemed to be coming from the right side of the centre console. They wrapped up some wiring harnesses in foam tape and said they solved it, but on the ride home, the rattle was still there. So I took my vehicle home and had a good long look at the right side of the centre console. I popped it open and pressed down on the little bolt that is on the bottom of the right side console. I heard a little click sound. So I tried shaking the centre console a bit and that was exactly where the sound was coming from. I tried tightening the bolt to no avail, the sound did not go away. SO I thought, what the hell let me try loosening it up a bit. BINGO! The rattle completely vanished. I think this bolt might have been overtightened or whatever, but it totally solved my problem. I don't know if you have the same problem, but try feeling for a small 10mm bolt underneath the bottom of the right side centre console cover. Try tightening and loosening it and see if it helps. I totally understand how this would drive you crazy.

 

[BethesdaEC]

I had a rattle in my 2011 that just drove me bonkers. Everytime I went over the slightest bump it rattled like plastic on plastic. It seemed to be coming from deep inside the centre dash where the media centre is. I took it into the dealer and they said it seemed to be coming from the right side of the centre console. They wrapped up some wiring harnesses in foam tape and said they solved it, but on the ride home, the rattle was still there. So I took my vehicle home and had a good long look at the right side of the centre console. I popped it open and pressed down on the little bolt that is on the bottom of the right side console. I heard a little click sound. So I tried shaking the centre console a bit and that was exactly where the sound was coming from. I tried tightening the bolt to no avail, the sound did not go away. SO I thought, what the hell let me try loosening it up a bit. BINGO! The rattle completely vanished. I think this bolt might have been overtightened or whatever, but it totally solved my problem. I don't know if you have the same problem, but try feeling for a small 10mm bolt underneath the bottom of the right side centre console cover. Try tightening and loosening it and see if it helps. I totally understand how this would drive you crazy.

No this is more like when you were a kid and blew through the comb wrapped in wax paper. A kind of unpleasant wind driven buzz.

 

[cabman1939]

BethesdaEC, I have the exact same issue. It's in the shop now. The tech took a ride and heard the noise. They are going to look into it Monday. We think it's coming from under the hood and the noise will stop if you turn on the max air. That shows it's coming from the outside air into the a/c system. I just hope they can figure something out soon. We don't like the Ford Fusion they gave us to drive. I'll update next week. It's a combo of the a/c and high speed wind.

 

[cabman1939]

Update. My dealer fixed the bad wind/ac noise described by BethesdaEC above. They said that they removed the air intake box for the a/c which is under the hood back by the firewall. They reinstalled it making sure all of the connectors were tight and that did the trick. I took it for a test drive up to 85mph with no problem. If it ever does this again, I'm going to replace all of the plastic connectors with bolts and lock nuts. Good luck BethesdaEC, hope you get yours fixed too.

 

[AlexSport'00]

A good fix is giving up all hope, getting some aftermarket speakers, a couple subs in the back, rolling the windows down, and blaring music. At least that was my fix...til certain passengers like to actually talk and not just blare music (I will never understand women...), so now I am slowly finding all my rattles.
Good luck you guys!

 

[DR.J]

its the cowl.. the black rubber piece outside under the windshield along the bottom.....

take tape and put over the cowl onto the windshield if this stops it, its the cowl..... it comes or at least mine came from about 14 inches from the passenger side, i actually stuff some napkins down under it and it stopped it.... its the cowl

 

[xplanfan]

I agree the buzzing problem is probably caused by the cowl around the base of the windshield. This cowl on my Explorer was warped up in the middle towards the driver's side. I had a similar sounding buzzing problem which went away after the dealer replaced the cowl.