New member with questions

[Trolfsen]

I have a 2005 Explorer XLT Sport 2wd with the 4.0 v6 that I purchased new. I have 2 problems with it right now. I just got my lower ball joints replaced and now my steering wheel shakes on the highway and the brakes make a terrible grinding noise when rolling to a stop. I had the place that installed them take a look at it again but they can't seem to find whatever the messed up. They told me that a belt shifted in my front tire, so I replaced all 4. Still have the same shaking. Any idea what they might of messed up? The other problem is I have this chirping/whistling noise coming from the front of the engine compartment. It's worse at idle and under acceleration. What is this?

 

[Exproblems]

I have a 2005 Explorer XLT Sport 2wd with the 4.0 v6 that I purchased new. I have 2 problems with it right now. I just got my lower ball joints replaced and now my steering wheel shakes on the highway and the brakes make a terrible grinding noise when rolling to a stop. I had the place that installed them take a look at it again but they can't seem to find whatever the messed up. They told me that a belt shifted in my front tire, so I replaced all 4. Still have the same shaking. Any idea what they might of messed up? The other problem is I have this chirping/whistling noise coming from the front of the engine compartment. It's worse at idle and under acceleration. What is this?

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Since you just had new lower ball joints installed and new tires(assuming they were balanced right) all around, get a wheel alignment inspection or a wheel alignment done on it for starters. The wheel alignment inspection will tell you if anything else is bad on the front suspension or if you just need a plain alignment. On the chirping noise from the front of the engine, most likely a cracked serpentine belt or possibly a belt pulley with bad bearings. Have the belt checked first, they tend to make a lot of chirping noises.

 

[Trolfsen]

I had the alignment done with no results. They still say that can find anything wrong. Should I just take it to the dealer?

 

[Exproblems]

I had the alignment done with no results. They still say that can find anything wrong. Should I just take it to the dealer?

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Did the shop that repaired the lower ball joints also install your 4 new tires and do the wheel alignment? If so, take it to another shop for a second opinion that can check wheel alignment issues or do computerized wheel alignments and if the only other place you have in your area to go to for that type of service is the dealership, then go there. Only take it to the Ford dealership as a last resort because they charge the most for repair services or labor rates.
If the braking noise you hear is coming from the front of the vehicle when applying brake pressure, it could be that your front brake pads are totally worn down (no pad surface left) and you have a metal on metal issue going on, causing the grinding noise you hear when applying the brakes. If this is what is happening, your front rotors are probably shot now and have ground in lines cut into them from the worn out brake pad rubbing against them. This is an easy thing to spot, don't know why that shop couldn't see it. If the braking noise is coming from the rear of the truck, same issue could be going on as described for the front brake pads and rotors or the "Parking Brake Shoes" that are located on the inside, center part of the rear rotors could have broken apart and are scraping against the inside, center area of the rear rotor as you drive, causing the grinding noise. It could also be a lot of rust debris inside the center (Parking Brake) area of the rear rotor making the noise, but you would hear this type of noise while driving and the wheels spin, not so much while applying the brakes This is usually the source of any brake grinding one would hear. The brake noise problem you hear should be an easy thing for a reputable shop to detect.

 

[LTCPipkin]

I had a similar chirping noise and it turned out to be the "harmonic balancer". That's just a fancy name for a multi-component crankshaft pulley. To reduce the vibrations, the large crank shaft pulley on the bottom is a two part design with an inner puller, a layer of what looks like a rubber, and then the outer pulley. Over time, the rubber loses its elasticity and the two pulleys start to rotate at different speeds with the rubber layer in-between causing what sounds like a belt slipping.

Be careful because it's possible for the outer pulley to actually rotate itself off the inner pulley and you're left with a 5 pound disk spinning at 2000 or more rpms inside your engine bay. It's not costly to fix...i got the part from Advance Auto and had my local mechanic replace it - I didn't have the necessary pulley puller tool to remove the harmonic balancer from the crank shaft. Recommend you buy a new serrpentine belt so he puts on a new one whilst he works in the pulley area.

Michael

 

[kayak willy]

new member

i have a 05 exlporer i just had the traany rebuilt from a tranny shop i had upper and lower ball joint done from a diff shop also sway arm bushings and controll arms replaced as well as front bearings . but now im getting a clicking noise at low rpm when i hit a bump or sharp turn ..i took the truck back and the guy said there was nothing wrong ...but i now my truck its not right i still have warranty till 100.000 im at 92.500. .but im still also getting a slight humming noise from the drivers side more so when im when driving and hit a dip i have not done the shocks yet .and its been 2yrs on the back brakes . i need help please

 

[mjp3262]

You're getting scammed by that repair shop. They're gonna keep having you dump money into it till they replace the warped rotors which is probably what's wrong.