Weird Noises?

[coliniscool]

Alright, so first off, I get this weird winding noise that seems to be coming from underneath me when I take my foot off the gas going over about 50mph. It happens right when the tacometer shows a downshift. Transmission maybe? And second, I just went snowboarding last weekend and on the way back I started getting this really loud low-pitch rumbling noise that sounds like a really loud flowmaster muffler. I think this might be the front wheel bearing becuase it seems to start gradually around 20mph and if I turn left the noise completely goes away; however, it does not go away if I turn right, weird huh? I have to turn the wheel about 1/4 turn left to get the noise to go away. Also, my gas mileage has taken a plunge since this started occuring. Thanks again in advance for your help everyone!!

 

[mwking]

I would really agree with a wheel bearing being the culprit for the rumbling noise. There is an inner and outer bearing and when you turn one way you will take the load off which ever side is the bad and the noise will go away. Check out this thread about the winding noise: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=136662.

 

[coliniscool]

ok a couple of things, first off, 4 wheel drive models have wheel bearings right? I went out and bought two bearings from autozone the inner and outer bearings for the left side. Am I going to need them pressed? And you think that the winding noise is the outer stub bearing? Where can I get one of those and are they easy to replace? Thanks for the quick response by the way.

 

[NHale623]

Yes, your truck has wheel bearings.

If its 4WD, you can't replace just the bearings however. You have to replace the entire hub/bearing assembly. Cost for the parts is around $200 for each wheel.

There's a sticky at the top of this forum that has good pics and instructions for what you need to do.

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=165429

 

[coliniscool]

OK so after replacing the entire assembly on the left side, the test drive showed no improvement over the low pitch really lod tire noise sonding noise. Im going to take it apart and retrn the hb assembly tomorrow. Does anyone have any other sggestions? Im getting really frsterated ARRgggh.

 

[coliniscool]

I know it's coming from the front, so I'm going to guess that it might have something to do with the front differential itself?? Maybe this is one of those times when I should actually take it to the shop. PLEASE PLEASE let me know if anyone out there has had this problem or thinks they can help me out.

 

[coliniscool]

OK so after replacing not only the front drviers side hub assembly and the front drivers side cv half shaft the low-pitch humming noise and the winding sound have not stopped. I think that this means the differential is the culprit. Does anybody have any advice on what to do at this point?

 

[NHale623]

Are you sure it isn't coming from your tires?

 

[Redneck0907]

the deaccerleration whine is most likely caused by the transfer case. i have heard many people with this problem happening. i suggest you check the transmission and transfer case forum for a awnser. i just was searchin in there to find out the slop in my rear t-case output to the driveshaft and happened to stumble on some people talking about this, hope this helps ur issue!

 

[coliniscool]

OK so the winding noise is probably under control now that I have a pretty good idea of whats going on. update on the humming/low pitch vibration: I tired topping off the fluid in the differential because I thought maybe the level just wasn't right, it was a little low but topping it off didn't do anything. So I was thinking maybe the internal gearing of the differnetial or maybe a stub bearing?? Are these things fixable for a diyer or should I definately take it to a shop? man this is driving me insane!

 

[jackndelphine]

My truck makes the whinning noise when I let off the gas, it kinda sounds like an old army Jeep, and it also has a bit of groaning noise too, and I know for a fact that it is the rear diff (pinion bearing) making the whinning, and one axle bearing on the passengers side that is making the groaning noise. I am going to eventually change the axle bearing, but as for the pinion bearing, I am going to let it go untill it gets worse, I have been through this before, and you have plenty of fore-warning before the pinion bearing will lock up, such as smoke, ha haa. The axle bearing can be a little risky but with the newer Fords they have pins that keep the rear axle from shooting out of the housing when you are driving, unlike the old Fords, although it should be changed, its not like one of those "Oh my Gosh I can't drive my truck to work!!" situations. Anyhow, thats my 2 cents and a little food for thought, sometimes noises sound like they are coming from the front and are really coming from the back, my 97 drove me insane for months with noises EVERYWHERE, then I changed my hub assembly, and now I just hear the rear, and some clunking in the front end (sigh) Hope that helps you out a little.

Jack

 

[coliniscool]

Thans sooooooooo much Jack, this helps enormously!!!!! So the winding noise is the rear diff huh? well at least that's a little easier to get to than the transfer case haha. As for the front you say it could be the axle bearing? is that located in the front differntial housing itself?

 

[jackndelphine]

Yea, usually from my experience, the pinion bearing starts to go bad, and that will give you a whinning noise from the rear, and I have had rears do that for many many miles before it got bad enough that I had to replace it, as for the hub bearing, it is located right behind the wheel, it is the outer bearing assembly that is bolted to the spindle, unfortunatly it has to be replaced as a unit, you have to buy the whole hub assembly. I have seen them go for 90 to 200 dollars, I just bought mine from a guy on e bay for 96 bucks, and so far, so good, I can give you his seller ID if you want to check it out. Changing it is really not too bad of a job, but you have to try to narrow it down to which side is bad, that can get tricky, because that noise seems to vibrate right through the truck so it is sometimes hard to pin-point. A lot of people say to jack up the truck and get the front wheel off the ground and grab the wheel with both hands, one on the top and one on the bottom and try to move it to see if it has play, sometimes it works, if the bearing is bad enough it will move, but sometimes you can mistake it for a bad ball joint as well. I had bad ball joints on mine already, so I had to change them, so when I was changing them I decided to pull the CV joint out of the hub bearing and try to spin it, since I really didnt find any play coming from the bearing, and to my delight, when I spun the bearing it made crunching and grinding noises, so then I knew that it was shot, and I replaced it, and now my truck is nice and quiet, to be honest with you, the noise my truck was making was so loud I had to turn up the radio when I was on the highway because I couldnt hear it over the noise!! Anyway, I don't know what your mechanical abilities are so I am not going to go any furthur, if you need anymore help let me know and I will be glad to assist you. Just let me know.

Jack

 

[coliniscool]

ok so after getting thoroughly ticked off by the loud low=pitch humming noise, I took apart the right passenger side front hub assembly. Guess what? It was completely shot, so that noise is now gone, I am still a little baffled by the winding noise when I let off the gas. It's so loud with my winodows rolled down that I can't tell where it's coming from, but if I had to guess I would think it was coming from the front. If it is the rear pinion gear for the rear diff, I can't tell. I'm thinking about topping off the oil in the rear diff, I think it might be low becuase there is definately a little bit of oil on the diff casing. Could the oil being low cause that noise?

 

[jackndelphine]

I am glad to hear you figured out the noise in the front, as for that whinning, I would put money on the pinion being bad, what gear ration do you have in your truck? Cause I just picked up a 95 ex so if you need anyparts from the rear, just let me know. Jack