Noise from tranny or transfer case on deceleration

[bplein]

All-

My 97 XLT SOHC started having this problem today with its auto transmission.

I'd been driving all weekend in Yosemite Valley. During downhill runs I'd often use the Overdrive on/off switch to get some engine braking.

During our drive home, I did this and all of a sudden there was a noise from the general tranny area that sounded like a fan with a bad bearing, spinning up. Basically it (the sound) revved up quickly and then matched engine speed as I slowed down to stop on the side of the road.

So the noise was gone. I drove off, and the next time I backed off the gas, a few seconds later (again, engine braking, but without the help of the OD on/off switch), the noise occurred. This is a loud noise, can be heard above engine/road/radio noise. This time I tried blipping the throttle. As soon as the engine speed came up (from the sub-2k rpm range), and the tranny was under a slight load again (instead of engine braking), the problem disappears.

Basically, it feels like, if you coast (light engine braking), as the RPMs drop, at a certain point this problem "kicks in". It is as if a solenoid is engaging/disengaging, possible to change gears or disengage the OD (recall that was what first kicked this off) and the problem starts... a blip of the throttle gets it back to normal...

Since highway cruising is a series of on/off light throttles, I made it my way down the hills, and coaxed it back home on the highway, with the problem rearing its head every time I had to back off the throttle to slow for traffic up ahead.

I've got an appointment at Folsom Lake Ford tomorrow, but want to see if anyone here has any ideas.

 

[bplein]

On the way to the Ford dealer this morning, I couldn't reproduce the blasted problem.

To add insult to injury, my boss called me back to the office (I work about 50% in the field) so I had to get the car out of Ford before they got to it, and get back to the office.

No resolution yet.

 

[Big E]

I guess seams nobody else will reply I will Sounds like you have a gear problem in the transfercase. When you are using the engine for braking it is using the back side of the gears casuing the noise. Be kinda like having a ring and pinion depth problem in the rearend. Just a thought. Not sure why it is so loud though.

Eric

 

[bplein]

The strange thing was that whatever was whining or whirring came UP to speed when the problem starts.... in other words, it starts off slow and quickly (like in the next second) builds to speed. That speed is tied to engine speed (If I speed up, the speed increases).

It is as if something is static or still, and when it happens, needs to spin up. Like an unused gear. Or something else. Dunno.

Right now I don't have much of a choice.... I can't fix it right now. I'm going to drive it until it gets work or leaves me stuck. Or at least until it can be reproduced at will, 100% of the time.

 

[jc100]

Bad transfer case

I have the same problem. (plus some kind of a seal leak at the transfer case)I live in the mountians and use engine braking nearly every day. The dealer says that it is a bad transfer case, and (good news) that there is an updated replacement. (bad news) $1800.00 Dealer says rebuilding with updated parts would cost more. Any help or advice is welcome. JC

 

[bplein]

I'll let you know how mine turns out. I finally got it to a reputable local tranny shop.

Ford, however, was completely useless.

I brought the Explorer in, and explained, IN DETAIL, how it was hopping out of gear under engine braking, and even twice while under heavy load in reverse.

They wrote it up as "tranny noise". They road tested it, FAILED to reproduce the problem, then proceded to tell me it was "tire noise" and "possibly a bad rear differential" and wanted $$$ to tear down the rear end. When I told them that they f__ked up and didn't diagnose it at all, they said "OK, so that will be $781 teardown and diagnoses for the transfer case if we go there with it".

I paid them my $90 diagnosis fee, and took the car away. Folsom Lake Ford has lost any future work on this truck, and any others I own.

 

[jc100]

transfer case

My truck was very consistant, they had no problem seeing/hearing the problem.
I spoke with a guy at an independent shop who seemed pretty good. He said that they have aluminum shift forks with some kind of plastic pads that fall off or wear out. Gears not fully ingaged??? I have rebuilt 100's of motorcycle tramsmitions, and this sounds like a reasonable theory. This guy quoted $400 - $600. and a rebuilt from a "rebuilder" at $1100. I hope that this helps, let me know if you get more info. Thanks JC

 

[bplein]

I had two problems. It's in the shop right now getting rebuilt.

1) Transfer Case: A loose or lost pin allowed the fork to misalign. This allowed it to pop out of gear, etc.

Burned up the bearings in the xfer case, plus some other parts worn. $1350 or so, rebuilding my original.

2) Tranny: My Torque converter was losing metal. It was falling apart. No other damage. Remove the tranny, replace the Torque Converter, and clean the innards of the tranny (lots of metal throughout the tranny). No gears needed in the tranny otherwise. Apparently everything else is in A-1 condition.
$1100 for that.

About $2500 out the door. The good news is that basically I'll be operating on newly rebuilt tranny AND xfer case for that price.

Not good, not bad. Not expected and not in my budget

 

[machman]

I am having the same problem with whirring/ratcheting noise on my Exp. Sound drives me nuts. Took it in to the Transmission shop and there was another Explorer getting a new Transfer case after another shop had put in a totally new transmission. The guy said it didn't need a new transmission. I guess you can't rebuild them because of a bad design (according to him) and they were putting in a new one. Said Ford has a checklist of things to do before getting a new TC. First was to change the Solenoid. I may try doing it because it doesn't look too hard. How much are they? Has anybody been able to solve this problem with just the solenoid or do you think I need a new transfer case?

 

[bplein]

In my case, it was the transfer case. Apparently there are a couple of plastic guides that align the fork that moves the transfer case in/out of gear. Those plastic bushings (or whatever they are) had gone, allowing the transfer case to slip between gears. It burned itself up, so it needed to be rebuilt.

My tranny, on a related note, also needed a new torque converter and a thorough going-through to ensure that nothing else needed to be replaced.

Total between the two was $2500.

 

[machman]

They ended up rebuilding the tranny and also some transfer case work.

$2,300. I feel your pain.

 

[yeti]

YA I have the same problem, Ford looked at it said it was safe, but.. I had the problem for about 6 months and it hasnt got worse just very annoying. I hope those prices you guys are quoting are cheaper up here. I have a manual trany so Ill hopefully get away from screwing with that. I hope you guys keep posting about your solutions.

thanks and goodluck as soon as im out of school and the motorcycle is insured the X is goin in for some tlc.

 

[yeti]

Well ITs been Three days since ive had an alignment and ford ground my rotors re and re my calipers and the noise is gone! no grinding no ratcheting. Im crossin my fingers it doesnt come back. I drove to the mountains on the highway lots of shifting down to third in high rpms which ususally produced the noise and nothing happened so ill keep ypu posted.

Basically the noise sounds like it was the same you guys had but if i was deaccellerating and the noise happened i could put the clutch in hit the gas to make it go away.

Ill keep yu guys posted if the noise comes back
it sure is nice to have a quiet truck again.

 

[dpritch]

BEEN THERE .... And going back for more!!

Same problem the "Whirring" sound that I akin to an air tool winding out. The noise appears when @ highway speeds, 50 - 75 and under a coasting conditions. It was intermittent and increased in frequency of occurrence. Luckily, when wifey took it to the dealer it did it for them. The tech said when they took it out it didn't want to move (we hadn't had that happen).

The transfer case was R&R ($1,000) and one gear that rides on a splined shaft and meshes w/a planetary gear when 4WD engages was stripped of thirteen of its eighteen teeth.

Back on the road...after three weeks here we go again. Now we're in for a motor, pushrod and fork for the xfer case. They said it wasn't positioning correctly.

My question is why only @ highway speeds under coasting conditions? Shouldn't there be a speed limiter in their program to keep it from trying to engage the xfer case at those speeds? I'm thinking I'll be back for a GEM issue next!

What't the thoughts here?

 

[bplein]

Because only at highway speeds does the fork kick it into the wrong place! Thats a combination of the speed of the gears in the box, etc.

The transfer case isn't trying to kick in or out. The fork is 'effed up, and not positioned correctly, and allowing the gears to hop in and out on their own.

If they went through it and didn't replace the bushing or whatever that damned piece is, then you'll keep frying up your Xfer case.

 

[dpritch]

It sure seems that way. I'm hoping the bushing is with the fork assembly. I called the shop and asked about the possibility of the gear stripping out again. Their call on the gear will be when they crack open the case and see what condition it's in this time. My guess is it's soon to be fubar-ed again. The frequency of the noise is increasing to just about where it was last time .... about a month ago!

 

[bonnich]

I had the same thing when I always had it in 4 auto but I was lucky i got the extended warranty. I have it for 2 more years.

 

[mrboyle]

The noise (as you may have noticed) is a fairly common problem on the '95 and newer X's. I have a t-case that I replaced for a customer that was dooing the same thing as you have described and am in the process of trying to figuer out why they do what they do. I started this thread http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=41647 to collect info from thoes who have dealt with the problem already, and I would be greatful if you could help. If you could provide me with a parts list of what needed to be replaced in order to fix your t-case it would put me one step closer to finding out why this happens.

Thank You for any info you can provide.

 

[Big E]

Does this problem happen in the awd model transfercase too?

Eric

 

[mrboyle]

Eric
So far the problem seems to only occur in the BW 4405 auto t-case. I have not heard of it happening in the AWD version.