Help me out please

[5046ford]

Hello all, I have 97 ford explorer awd, and last weekend it started making this awful pinging/grinding noise when going straight and seemed worse when turning, I thought it was the driveshaft and tightened all the bolts that hold it in place and it went away for about 30 miles and came back, I have checked brakes, rotors, bearings and can not figure it out. it has about 150,000 miles on it. I took the driveshaft out for the time being and it went away completely,Any help is appreciated this is getting really aggravating.

 

[IZwack]

Welcome to the forum 5046ford.

You mean you took the FRONT driveshaft out and it went away completely?

 

[5046ford]

yes the front one

 

[IZwack]

Check the driveshaft's joints -- of which there are two, the U-joint at the front of the driveshft and the CV at the back of the driveshaft.

 

[5046ford]

I did I even took the bearings out of the back where the drive shaft "rotates'
and everything looks fine, U joint is fairly new I replaced that last year about this time.

 

[IZwack]

I did I even took the bearings out of the back where the drive shaft "rotates' and everything looks fine

Are you talking about the CV joint on the back of the driveshaft? Or the bearing at the back of the front differential? Just to make sure we're talking about the sme "CV" here, the CV-joint is the spherical looking thing on the back of the driveshaft - maybe about 3-inches in diam.

 

[5046ford]

yes the one on the back of the driveshaft

 

[IZwack]

Rotate the flange that the front driveshaft hooks up to at the transfer case -- see if you hear any odd noises.

 

[5046ford]

No, is there a way to check axles thats come out of the transfer case that go to the wheels? I mean I have been driving it without a driveshaft and that spline rotates when Im driving and there is no weird noises.

 

[IZwack]

No, is there a way to check axles thats come out of the transfer case that go to the wheels? I mean I have been driving it without a driveshaft and that spline rotates when Im driving and there is no weird noises.

There are no axles that come out of the transfer case that go to the wheels. Are you talking about the differential? Cauz the front differential is the one with the axle half-shafts that go to the wheels.

 

[5046ford]

yea my bad, but still they both rotate when driving even without a front driveshaft, and there is no weird noises

 

[IZwack]

yea my bad, but still they both rotate when driving even without a front driveshaft, and there is no weird noises

Yeah thats why I originally thought the culprit had to be the driveshaft. BTW, there's not 'play' in the front pinion is there?

 

[5046ford]

Thats what I kind of thought too, but I just do not see what goes bad on them?

 

[IZwack]

The only two things that go bad on the driveshafts are the joints since these are the only moving parts. And btw, U-joints do go bad prematurely. But they dont usually dont make a grinding noise unless they are rattling in the driveshaft yoke. Typically, when the needle bearings in the U-joints are dead, the U-joint starts making a chirping noise with every revolution as the needles are being grinded down. Btw how did you take "the bearings out of the back where the drive shaft 'rotates'" ? Cauz the CV is not meant to be opened.

 

[5046ford]

with a little force

 

[IZwack]

If you have a junk yard nearby, I would look for a spare driveshaft and see if it gets rid of the noise. Or borrow one if you know another Explorer owner.

 

[5046ford]

cool thanks for the help

 

[410Fortune]

I suspect the transfer case as well, did you try rotating the front output of the T case by hand?

 

[Turdle]

Is there a rubber boot at T/C end of front driveshaft?
Is there a hole in it?
if so--it is your noise

 

[5046ford]

yea, it does not turn by hand the t/c, To describe the sound a little more it sounds like a hammer is tapping on the driveshaft when Im driving or like a binding metal noise.