EXPLORER 1999. KNOCKING WHINING from the front drive?

[EzRyder]

HELP!!

Hi, this is my first post

I have, or should I say my mother is driving (like she stole it) my, Ford Explorer 1999 4.0L V6.

The problems I have experienced (in the passenger seat.. with my nails dug firmly into the dashboard) lol are:

from starting up 1st thing in the morning and pulling away.. (once I have released the hand break for her..)

1. A knocking and grinding noise when pulling away, which gets really bad when Turning Left and more so right. like the drive shafts want to dislocate?

2. Whining from drive shaft / CV area when driving along in strait line.. noise gets louder / faster when speeding up and vice versa when slowing down.

3. 4x4 lights keep coming on intermittently.

4. ABS light comes on when reaching exactly 80mph.

5. Fuel consumption is very very bad.. do a 15 mile trip and thats £10 gone!

Thing is I have taken my truck to the local mechanic and he cant find any problems when he had it on his ramp??! when he test drove it (after it had been hoisted up) it was smooth as silk for all of 48Hrs????!!!

I really need to get this resolved as my mothers driving is bad enough and I am going from grey to bald faster then the fuel guage is going down!! lol

Any help or sugestions would be greatfully recieved!!

cheers,

Rich

 

[BrooklynBay]

Welcome to this forum! I've moved your thread into the UK Explorer owners forum section. It sounds like you might have a problem with the transfer case or the differential.

 

[DuncanOfEngland]

Rich, Welcome to the boards!

I think that you are experiencing the joy of permanent four-wheel drive. Not that you should be, but because the transfer box may be jammed in 4wd mode or the gearbox ECU is telling it to do so. The grinding noise is both diffs working in part opposition and the dislocating noise on turning is the front differential winding up and then releasing suddenly, due to it being a limited slip diff. The 4x4 flashing lights are a warning from the ECU that all is not well. The excessive fuel consumption is also partly due to it being in 4x4, but it may also be because it's being driven hard.

I can't explain why the ABS light flashes when the speed reaches 80mph, but that may be due to differential drive shaft speeds.

Duncan

 

[kevin p]

Are you sure you hav,nt got the dash switch set to 4x4?

Switch should be turned to ' AUTO' for normal driving.

 

[EzRyder]

Hi!

Thanks for the replies and the advice!

I will look into the solutions you have mentioned Duncan and the 4x4 switch is definitely on Auto..

I will post the results when it's fixed hopefully..