Please Help!! Before I go crazy

[Big6ft6]

How many miles on the vehicle, I have a 2000 Explorer with 125,000, it still looks new underneath, but I still have to replace stuff. It is hard somtimes to determine what kind of treatment the vehicle got in it's other life..........

How about the fact that the noise ins't related to turning? I get no noise at all below 30mph..turning or straight, and no specail noise when turning at 30+ mph. Still think cv are worth looking into? Is there a diagnostic test I can do to determine if they are guilty?

I still need to pull the front ds, I thin this will help narrow things down as suggested by Mountaineer Green. Maybe tonight, but more likely later.

 

[Bigg_billy]

You still didn't post the mileage but cut and paste these sites for a little more info:

Road Test
http://www.staugustinefwd.com/Diagnosis/RoadTest/roadtest.html

Disassembly
http://www.staugustinefwd.com/Diagnosis/Removal/removal.html

Cautions
http://www.staugustinefwd.com/Diagnosis/Cautions/cautions.html

Exploded views
http://www.staugustinefwd.com/Diagnosis/Exploded/exploded.html

Bill

 

[Big6ft6]

You still didn't post the mileage but cut and paste these sites for a little more info:

Woops 122,000 mi. thanks for the links Bill I'll check 'em out.

 

[Turbo302]

I got the same issues on a 2000 XLS 4.0 SOHC Auto 4x4. 142,000mi

No major change turning left to right.

I thought it was tires, so we got brand new ones, still grumbly.

It has newer wheel bearings (changed 6mos ago in hopes to quiet noise, no change).

Has all new ball joints, shocks, tie rods etc...

The CV's look great, no rips, OEM Ford.

The front DS looks fine, no rips, OEM Ford.

Anyone ever solve this kind of issue? I have searched and searched but no one ever posted their solutions.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated...

Tim

 

[Big6ft6]

I still haven't solved the problem. I have rotated all my tires around and the noise still seems like it is coming from the front left in front of the driver. I only have a few option left. Since my tires are newer I don't want to buy new tires just to see if the noise goes away. So if I could find another explorer owner who would let me swap my wheels and tires with his and drive around the block I would know quickly if that solved the problem.

Otherwise I'm down to the axle bearings in the front differential..these are roller bearings that support the half-shafts where the enter/exit the differential...or if that isn't it.....I'm to the ring and pinion themselves.

I've gone as far as to remove my half-shafts from the differential and look at the roller bearings, they seem to move very smoothly...I've removed my front driveshaft and it made no difference.

This noise has for the most part ruined my experience with this explorer. I loved my first two...but now this one has been a bad bad experience.

 

[MountaineerGreen]

I have a front diff section with 3.73's if you want it- I'd hate to see it go that far though.

Id try a tire swap first- I have heard of tires that have a "ride disturbance" If its just one tire, the noise should move with the tire- two bad tires is very unlikely.

 

[MountaineerGreen]

Ok, I re read this whole thing- its been a while since it was started- disregard my tire swap thing.

Only thing that is left is a front diff or output shaft on the T Case.

So there was no change when you pulled the DS?

 

[Big6ft6]

Ok, I re read this whole thing- its been a while since it was started- disregard my tire swap thing.

Only thing that is left is a front diff or output shaft on the T Case.

So there was no change when you pulled the DS?

Hey Mountaineer Green, nope, no change when I pulled the front driveshaft...maybe a little quieter...but not sure. Sometimes I think the noise is a little quieter when with different tire rotations (back right to front left etc.) but the change in volume might all be in my head.

 

[Turbo302]

Still wondering if anyone else has solved their noises.

I went ahead and rebuilt the entire front differential with all OEM bearings races and seals... Noise still there

I even defected the two front bearing hubs with new ones even though they seemed smooth...Noise still there

It has gotten real real bad lately and is much louder when turning left. I can almost make it silent by turning right. This has always told me wheel bearing in any car I have owned, but 3 sets bad out of the box...I dont think so.

I am down to thinking CV Halfshaft, as this is the only thing in the front end that hasent been changed, and nothing has signifiantly made this grumble quieter.

Anyone have issues with CV halfshafts even though they look visually perfect??

SOMEONE PLEASE SHED SOME LIGHT!!! I have found others online that have had the exact symptoms, but have never come back to say what fixed their noise.

HELP!!

Tim

 

[Big6ft6]

Still wondering if anyone else has solved their noises.

Tim

Well,

I found a guy parting out another xplorer. I called him and for $20 he let me put his two front wheels/tires onto my truck and let me drive it around.

THE NOISE WENT AWAY!!

It doesn't make any sense, but it was definitly the tires. Even though I rotated all of my tires, and couldn't get rid of the noise that sounded like it was only coming from the front drivers corner. Changing to new tires (they were actually well used) made the noise go away.

I put my tires back on, and the noise returned. It seems so unlikely, that even today I second guess myself that the noise really went away during my short test drive, but I'm sure it did.

So mine ended up being tires. All my tires make the same noise when mounted to the front drivers side. For some reason that corner brings the noise, regardless of which tire of my four I mount there. But when I put different tires up there it was gone.

 

[Turbo302]

You know what... I endend up taking it all apart again, and I had a bad drivers side hub bearing. I must have had a bad one originally from old age, put my first pair of new ones (must have had bad one in box as still made noise), rebuilt complete front axle, still made noise when turning left.

Since it made the noise turning/pitching left, I used past experience that would generally lead me to believe the right front bearing is bad (loaded side during left turn). So I put another right side hub on...still made noise.

This led me to today when I was going to put CV shafts in it. I lifted the vehicle and there was no slop in either side. I procedded to start to take everything apart when I decided I would start on the Drivers side, as I had been focusing soo much on the passenger side.

When I got the hub off, i spun it in my hand, and sure enough, it was real rough.

I put a new one on that side, and NOISE IS ALL GONE!!!

I can't believe I had been fighting this for almost a half year, when it was a bad NEW UNIT right out of the box.

2 Lessons learned:
--Dont assume it is the loaded side of the vehicle to determine a bad bearing (first time for me, as it was always the loaded side in my other cars/trucks).
--Even though you just put a new part on, doesnt mean it is a good part

Glad I finally got it licked, and didn't put 2 new CV axles in.

Tim

 

[Rottie]

Could it be the slip yoke at the front of the main driveshaft? I'm just wondering because mine gets dry periodically and makes a similar noise (with a little vibration too) until I repack it full of grease. The sound is also worse while accelerating or decelerating - not cruising at a steady speed. It does sound like it's coming from the driver's side too. Maybe the noise could travel through the drivetrain up to the front driveshaft area?? I'm just waiting on the time to do new ujoints and the new slip yoke boot kit.

 

[Rottie]

Sorry about my last post, I didn't see the second page where you've already fixed your problem... Glad you figured it out!!