Engine/Exhaust Tick

[Trooperbsb]

Good Evening!

I just discovered this forum and was happy to find other Explorer/Mountaineer fans! Last October I bought a 2005 Explorer XLT (to replace my Mercury Moutaineer with 222k!) with 47k on it. Everything has been good until about two weeks ago. I noticed that during hard accelerations (stop lights, on ramps, etc) I'm getting a tick coming from what I believe to be the exhaust. Now I'm not sure if it is the manifold itself, the cat, or the connection between the cat and the manifold. Again, it only occurs during hard accelerations or on steep hills. Any help would be appreciated as it is driving me nuts!

 

[zerodevil]

welcome to the forums! you wont find a better source of information on explorers/mounties than this site!.

If you want to test for a failed cat, put the truck in gear, and start to run the motor up with the break on(Dont roast the tires)(mine started to tick at around 2500-3000 rpm)...and have a friend check for where the rattling is coming from...it should be fairly easy to tell if the rattling is coming from a cat...there is one coming off of each manifold on the y-pipe...one before the muffler(literaly right under the drivers seat) and on stock explorers there is one just past the rear suspension arm.

hope you get it worked out.

 

[Trooperbsb]

Thanks, Zero! This makes a great deal of sense actually. When accelerating onto the highway I'm usually around 2500-3000 rpm. I'll give it a shot tomorrow. Now, by federal law, if the cat is bad, doesn't Ford have to replace it because it has less than 80k? Someone feel free to correct me here.

 

[zerodevil]

idk...i thought cats were only good for 80,000 or so miles...feel free to check though...mine went at 90 thousand..right under the drivers seat.