Stranded! Was I tempting fate?

[fusseli]

Broke down! Front end. vs. tranny? With video

I went for a couple hundred mile trip this weekend (02 4.6L AWD, 140k miles). Cruising along the highway, something mechanical let go. This was followed with a repeating metallic clunk that shook the whole vehicle at a regular (slow?) interval. I hit the brakes when it started and pulled off the road within a quarter mile, clunking was perhaps even worse coming to a stop. Had it towed the last 90mi home. Coming off the tow truck I drove a few short circles and it seems to have suddenly gone away? It glided right into a parking spot without making a noise. I'm hoping it won't be hard to reproduce, it was nasty. The engine idles normal in neutral and there was no loss in power so I'm fairly sure it's not engine related. I poked around underneath with a flashlight and didn't see a thing out of the ordinary. Tcase and front diff were normal hot to the touch.

I've been ignoring my transmission problems for over a year now, as I'd read around that some people outlasted the symptoms as annoyances. I have: regular flared shifts in lower gears, grinding torque converter with the "diesel" sound at low speed and loud rattling in gear at a stop, the chugging sound at startup on cold days, and it can't stay in OD. It "slips" back almost to 4th under any extra load and the vehicle shudders, toggling O/D Off snaps the tranny into gear and avoids this issue entirely. I've gone on multiple long highway trips over the last year with these symptoms drivng with O/D Off, accepting the mpg penalty... until tonight.

My guess is that my torque converter gave up the ghost? Seems like an odd coincidence otherwise. Though before I have someone look at it, what are possibilities: differential, or a CV axle maybe? I haven't read of many 3rd gens stranding people with a failure other than dead batteries. I'm not upset because I've been willingly ignoring my numerous tranny symptoms, but it is embarassing having to tell people that you needed a tow. Overall I love the Mountaineer and I'm hoping to keep her going to 200k, beats buying a new vehicle.

Video of the clunk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmS9KeJhRpI

 

[fusseli]

Here's a youtube video of the nastiness, accelerating from a stop. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmS9KeJhRpI My guess is that it's a CV axle or the front diff, with the window down it's clearly coming from the front of the vehicle. We'll see what the final diagnosis is.

Side note, the Ford dealer quoted $2650 for a reman tranny plus $710 in labor (3yr unlimited mile warranty serviceable at any dealer).

 

[EXPLORER04]

I didn't see the CEL on so my guess would be something in the front drive line. Most likely a broken CV. Front diffs really aren't know to fail. Have you looked under the vehicle to check for problems?

 

[fusseli]

When it happened I poked around underneath and didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Tranny, tcase, and front diff didn't burn me to the touch. I didn't think to try and wiggle the axles though...

 

[EXPLORER04]

my guess is either the cv axle or maybe the front driveshaft. Try removing the front driveshaft and check the cv

 

[fusseli]

Yeah, it seems that way. Haven't gotten a chance to check anything else yet, but this thread seems the closest description. http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=320401&highlight=cv+axle

When I was limping off the highway it did seem that the clunk settled down the most at a constant speed, without any accel/decel. The issue also originally manifested as a slight vibration for a few seconds while driving along in cruise, then suddenly developed into the nasty clunk.

 

[corkey]

do not drive it like that any more,,

if you do it may cost you a bunch more as whatever it is launches itself out , maybe even through your Vehicle,,

put the whole thing up on stands if you can, start it,, have somebody put it in gear as you look for the source of the noise,,

that sounds pretty bad,, and why make it even worse,,

 

[fusseli]

Thanks for the replies guys. Yeah I'm not driving it like that, I maybe went a total of 2-3 miles limping along at 10-20mph to get completely off the highway. Sadly I don't have more time to spend looking at it, today I'm having it towed to the dealer. My wallet's ready...

 

[corkey]

i looked at the video again,,
i had a similar issue a couple years back in my 2wd truck, it turned out, i broke one of the spider gears in the diff and a piece was stuck in the ring gear,, and every time the pinion gear got around to that point it would clunk,,

 

[fusseli]

No kidding? That could be it maybe. To me it seems much more harsh than the broken CV sounds everyone describes as a softer clicking. Mine is an all out clunk that shakes the vehicle...

 

[corkey]

jack up one side on the front, spin the tire if it is what i said you will sure feel it in a hurry

the diff will stop dead ,,

 

[fusseli]

Results are in, the dealership says it's the CV in the front driveline. Estimate is $350 to rebuild it.

I'm thinking I may let them do it, and bite the bullet on a reman tranny at the same time. I've been dealing with the sloppy shifts and no O/D for about a year now...

 

[EXPLORER04]

i wouldn't pay $350 to remove 10 bolts. You can buy a new shaft for around $200 and they just unbolt and drop down, about a 20min job. Save yourself $150 and do the job yourself. You can drive the vehicle w/o the front shaft to get it home.

edit:
if you want to save even more money and rebuild your old shaft instead of buying a new one, here is a video on how to do it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SzzA73rqGo

 

[fusseli]

Thanks for the link, I decided to just have the dealer do it for me earlier this week as I am too busy with work. I did not realize the driveline was so easy to remove, though. Now I know.

What an ordeal! The dealer says that the driveline fixed the clunk. On the "bad" news, they swapped in a reman tranny and wouldn't give the vehicle back to me. Supposedly the reman tranny is shuddering and they are going to pull it and try another new one, this is covered by the warranty. They source from "AER" in Seattle. In the mean time they've given me a 2012 Escape to drive while they sort it out.

 

[fusseli]

Apparently something in the valve body was sticking in the reman tranny, and a "clutch pack" burned out with <15 miles on the thing. They replaced both without charging me, and I had a new Escape at my disposal for a few days, got the vehicle back today. Took it out for a 20mi highway trip and all of the tranny and clunking driveline symptoms are gone, also averaged 21mpg The 140k 4.6 sure likes 5th gear at 60-65.

Lots of $$ spent, and I hope it proves worth it...