advice on a couple of niggles

[jcasey007]

Hi All

a couple of queries if anybody has any info or views/advice

1. Can anybody confirm or not that the outside temp/compass display should dim when you have the lights on (and vary with the rest of them)?

2. I have a thump on the off side-front when the suspension rebounds after going over a bump. So I replaced very single bush, bearing and ball joint on the off side, shocks are less than 10k miles. After 10 hours work, put is all back together just to find the thump is still there !
(suspension on the OS is now nice and taut so I will do the other side next weekend
Anybody seen this before, it is definitly suspension related as I can slowly take the wheel up and down a kurb and hear it on the way down when the suspension extends. The only part I didn't replace was the pad under the torsion bar elbow at the back, (what was it, leather?)

Cheers All

 

[petetheengineer]

on point 2 have you checked the dif mounts.

 

[jcasey007]

I removed the front DIff as it was knackered when I bought the car.

I'm looking at the steering rack as the cause as I have noticed the clunk also happens when I turn left to right, right to left as well as a suspension bump.

I'm going to replace the rack as the fluid in the steering pump resevoir is black and smelly, and I only recently replaced the Pump.

cheers

Jim

 

[petetheengineer]

did you replace the track rod ends

 

[jcasey007]

yes both sides

 

[petetheengineer]

probably best to jack the vehicle and put the front on stands and have a play and see if you can find where the play is. Could be rack as the ford rack are prone to failure but they will usually leak when failed so prehaps take a peek in the boots of the rack and see if there is an oil leak.

 

[janolsson]

Point 2
do you get any clunk just turning the steering ? Reason i ask this is the universal joint on the steering column can clunk when the boot is split and the joint is dry. This can happen a lot as the boot is next to the manifold.
I greased mine with a new boot and clunk gone!
The other thing to look at is the caliper. Make sure your bolts are tight.
regards

 

[jcasey007]

Thanks both.

I gutted the front suspension this weekend and replaced every bush, bearing and ball joint, so It can't be in the suspension.

On the steering, I replaced both outer track rod ends and checked the inners for play, The rack does not leak but the steering is heavy from the centreline and occasionally jerky. I had it re-tracked after, and just to show how these things wear slowly over time it was toe out 10 deg!

On the joint, I will grease it, the clunk occurs 7/10 times when I turn it, I guess it would be easier to do when the rack is out

Thanks both.

PS as I have now invested in a 10 ton bench press to do all the bushes, if anybody want's bearings and bushes pressing, I'd be happy to do it as it seams garages are not keen to just to the press work for the DIY mechanic...

 

[colingel]

Had this problem on my explorer a few years back.

Seem to remember there is a join between column and steering rack that was the problem

 

[BIGHVM]

drop links mate- thats what it is- mine made the same noise when they seized!

 

[jcasey007]

drop links mate- thats what it is- mine made the same noise when they seized!

Oh forget, I put in new drop links last month

 

[janolsson]

Thanks both.



On the joint, I will grease it, the clunk occurs 7/10 times when I turn it, I guess it would be easier to do when the rack is out

You don't need to take the rack out unless you were planning to. For the sake of diagnosis just throw a bit of grease around the column Uni joint o/s by the manifold. Just see if this works. You can take the thing off quite easily to service properly by 2 bolt IIRC.

Best of luck

 

[kevin p]

Have you tried spraying lots of WD40 on the torsion arms at the rear just to see if that is where the noise is coming from. If the noise isnt so loud, its a good chance the insulating pads are worn.

If I remember right I used a bit of a bike tyre on mine.

Also give the drop arms a good spraying and see what happens.

Kev.

 

[JonC]

Jim,

Display dimming? Yes! Mine's a 98 and I thought so but never really paid much attention. I checked this morning and it's a yes.

 

[jcasey007]

Thanks one

more thing to fix.

me thinks that the instrument light feed is shared with the feed to the rear wash wipe switch (ilumination) as that also is not working.

cheers

Jim

 

[Howard]

Check that you have the dimmer wheel up and not down.

 

[techboj]

................I have a thump on the off side-front when the suspension rebounds after going over a bump. So I replaced very single bush, bearing and ball joint on the off side, shocks are less than 10k miles. After 10 hours work, put is all back together just to find the thump is still there !

Anybody seen this before, it is definitly suspension related as I can slowly take the wheel up and down a kurb and hear it on the way down when the suspension extends. The only part I didn't replace was the pad under the torsion bar elbow at the back, (what was it, leather?)

Cheers All

I'm unsure if you've fixed this problem already and my suggestion may sound a bit stupid. But on my 99 Sport I had the same issues a few years back. First I thought it was the shocks bottoming out - so I replaced everything but the thump/clunk was still there. I checked all the suspension components as best as I could but overlooked the most obvious.

Apparently the bolts on the front stabilizer bar bushing clamp/holder (the semi u-shaped piece of metal holding the rubber bushing broke off). The heads of the bolts were still there (held probably by rust, paint and undercoating). So everytime I hit a big bump or made a hard left turn (the sheared bolt was on the off side/passenger side) I would hear a thump or two.

 

[jcasey007]

thanks for that, I also replaced the anti role bar bushes at the sames time. 2 days ago the bumping just stopped until tonight when it started again.

The only thing that is different is the outside temperature. It warmed up a couple of days to 10-12 dec C and it was fine, temp down to 2 deg tonight and bumps back - go figure!

with respect to the dimmer, yes it works fine

cheers

Jim

 

[JonC]

Hi All

a couple of queries if anybody has any info or views/advice

1. Can anybody confirm or not that the outside temp/compass display should dim when you have the lights on (and vary with the rest of them)?

2. I have a thump on the off side-front when the suspension rebounds after going over a bump. So I replaced very single bush, bearing and ball joint on the off side, shocks are less than 10k miles. After 10 hours work, put is all back together just to find the thump is still there !
(suspension on the OS is now nice and taut so I will do the other side next weekend
Anybody seen this before, it is definitly suspension related as I can slowly take the wheel up and down a kurb and hear it on the way down when the suspension extends. The only part I didn't replace was the pad under the torsion bar elbow at the back, (what was it, leather?)

Cheers All

Jim, you probably did this (you've done everything else!) but I found my fault yesterday which sounded just as you describe - every bump/pothole sent a resounding thunk through the truck - but I'll continue in case you haven't and for anyone else it might help.

I couldn't find anything for weeks and was starting to think I'd lost the edge! Been all round the front end and everything seems intact and tight until yesterday when I looked and found the bottom bush on the anti-roll bar link is knackered.

The reason I didn't find it before is I've always looked with the truck jacked up and usually with the wheels off. Of course - obvious now - the Explorer hardware is so heavy, unless somethign is actually detached the whole lot drops down and makes everything tight. When it's on its wheels, you can wave the link around like a d... in a wellie!

Clearly what then happens is that every road bump makes the bottom wishbone crack into the link and there's the noise. I'll be getting new links before I dismantle as you just know they'll break when I try to undo them!

Cheers,

Jon

 

[jcasey007]

thanks Jon

When I replaced the stearing rack a few weeks ago I noticed that the 'new' drop links that I have fitted (at different times) were different lengths (20 mm difference). They look the same but it is only when you take them both off and compare them can you tell they are different.

two new ones from the same source and no more bumping !

cheers

jim