JStrider

93 ford explorer
4.0l v6 engine
automatic tranny
4 wheel drive


ok ive noticed occasionally for the past month or so a i really really faint high pitched sound coming from the front of my vehicle. just in the past day its gotten a bit louder

I only notice it when im not accelerating and between 15 and 35ish miles an hour, the engine sound and wind sound prolly drown it out all the other times.

it sounds like its coming from the front driverside tire, but that could be because i'm always in the driver seat...

I dont think its the belt, it doesnt really sound like a belt sound... the belt was replaced a little less then 3 years ago, ive gone less then 20 000 miles in that time... how often are you supposed to replace belts anyways?

Ive got a Drive from Texas to California on the 11th of may a lil over 1000 miles... so i need to figure out if this is something that i dont need to worry about or if it needs to be fixed before the trip

thanks a bunch!

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IanSturgill

Definitely check it out before the trip, could be a bearing, if you know a lot about cars just check it yourself and save some green

JStrider

well i dont know too much about cars...

and im in the dorms with limited tools. facilities
but i do enjoy messin with my car...
so assuming one of you guys can tell me what to do to check the bearings i can try...

the autozone in town will lemme park in front of their place and use their tools also...

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cj2112

I'd suggest pulling off the front tires and checking your brake pads....seriously. They have a thin metal tab on them designed to ride against the rotor when the brake pads wear. This is how you know it's getting close to time to replace your pads. That would be the first thing i checked. Keep in mind that it may look like you have 1/8 inch of material left on your pads, however their are a lot of pads that are riveted on and those rivets usually stick up about 1/16 inch or so. When your pads wear to the point that they are flush with the rivets then you start damaging rotors. The pads will run you somewhere from about 20 to 40 bucks. Start with that and let us know what ya find.

JStrider

i can do that... I replaced the brake pads at the same time as the belt, when i first got the vehicle... 3 years ago and less then 20,000 miles...

i hear the sound when im not accelerating... i hear it even if I'm not on the brakes, i'll sometimes hear it when im accelerating but the engine sound normally drowns it out

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soccerchamp76

Sqeaky belt?

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Brunay

possibly the dust seals on the inner wheel bearings. as they dry out, the tend to squeak.

tough to know for sure without actually changing them. ugh, fair amount of work.

JStrider

i checked out the brake pad on one of my front tires... looks fine, barely looks worn down much at all...

the belt looks fine visually and tension wise...

i can look in the chiltons guide and see if it says anything about the dust seals...

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shakran

I'm wondering if the squeak isn't there ALL the time, and if it's your water pump. Ford had some water pump issues around that time period V6's (the E150's I know had the problem - but I'm not sure if that's the same V6 as yours) where the pump would squeak as a preindicator of failure.

JStrider

it wouldnt surprise me if its there all the time... its not that loud... and its near the edge of my hearing range... so its easily drowned out by traffic and engine sounds...

is there anything i can do to check the water pump?

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shakran

well for one thing


Get out of the car, open the hood, and stick your head in there to see if you can pinpoint the location of the sound.

JStrider

well shakran... i would try... but i dont feel comfortable sticking my head under the hood of a moving vehicle

it only makes the sound when the car is moving...

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shakran

Well why the hell not!

There's a good clue - it's not the water pump. If it's ONLY when the car's moving I'd guess it's a bearing or a joint squeaking.

Nimisys

does it change pitch when swerving from side to side... if so think wheel bearings.
if its only on de-accel/coast and does not change pitch on direction chnages, it could be front diff bearings.

MSD

How the hell do you barely wear pads in 20k? I burn completely through carbon metallic pads in 6-8k.

shakran

Unlike you and me. . . Some people actually drive gently

maverick750

make sure that you check all the front brakes, you could have a caliper that is sticking causing one pad to wear far faster than the other 3

merkerguitars

Hmm to check if its wheel bearings jack up the front end of your vehicle, then spin the wheel, it should make a sound or won't turn to easily if its the bearings.

To check the water pump, take off the serpentine belt and spin it by hand, it shouldn't be extremely easy to turn, it should have some resistance, that indicates the seal is good, if it feels rough, then the bearings are going bad in it.

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waltert

also check if there;s any side to side wobble of the tire when you jack it up

this would also indicate a failed wheel bearing

DEI37

Usually, wheel bearings don't squeak, though. They growl. I'm gonna go with a brake noise on this one. Shouldn't be a problem, but is worth looking in to.

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JStrider

well the car made it from lubbock, tx to bakersfield, ca without problem

the sound is definently more pronounced...

i'll do those checks mentioned up above...

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SanFran.Evan

I drive a '98 Explorer and have had my "dust seals' replaced 6 times by 4 different Ford Dealers over a 6 year period, under both the MFG. standard warranty and my 100k mike extended warranty and I still have the same noise problem. My Explorer can be so noisy that people scurry to get out of my way, it's VERY EMBARRASSING when I get those dirty looks!

The bigger problem is this could lead to a SAFETY concern. These dust seals will eventually fail and not be able to keep the moving parts free from dust & debris. Those unprotected moving parts could fail and create a dangerous condition. Ford is aware of the problem and should not allow this. There is a TSB from the NHTSA so the Gov is also aware of the issue. With all of the negative news in the media over the last 10 years regarding the poor safety of the Explorer/Ranger, Ford would be well advised to do something about it.

My ESP expired in Dec.'04 and Ford washed their hands of my noise problem stating that "after 7 years, Ford wont offer MFG. support for any more vehicle concerns". Mind you I bought my Explorer brand-new with the longest extended warranty that Ford sold: 6 years/100k miles (as peace-of-mind insurance), I also bought the longest maintenance agreement and had my vehicle serviced at Ford dealer's exclusively after that for a total of 7 years.

I was a loyal Ford customer for 7 years. I guess I too wasn't aggressive enough about my Explorer's defective dust seal problem and now am stuck paying the price for being a nice guy. I was extremely patient, allowing them every opportunity to fix this problem when I should have put my foot down and been one of those irate people who make a scene when they are wronged.

The service manager at my local dealer offered to "repair" my noisy dust seals but he would have to charge me for the service. I was left with no options because I sure wasn't going to begin spending my money to fix a problem that "Ford Certified Factory Technicians" couldn't fix after 6 attempts. What was I going to do start paying for another 6 replacement dust seals out of my own pocket, I don't think so?

I was so frustrated that I "explored" my rights and discovered the California Lemon Law and got an attorney. I am now suing Ford under the California Lemon Law. You can too, my '98 Explorer has 94K miles and under the Lemon Law I am entitled to a "MFG. Buy-Back" where Ford has to buy my Explorer from me for the price that I paid back in '98 plus tax, title, reg, everything, then deducting a small percentage for use. The law is very clear with regard to product liability you as a consumer have rights. With so many of us we may have a class-action lawsuit against Ford.

My court date is in July '07, I will let you know how it goes unless we settle and I have to sign a nondisclosure agreement, until then I'll tell anyone and everyone who wants to know about it.

JStrider

since this thread was bumped up anyways...

I didnt figure out what the problem was untill just before spring break this year... the sound hadnt been getting worse or better, it was just staying the same.

I changed my rotors, and was repacking the bearings, when I noticed the outer driverside bearing had one roller with a chip in it. I replaced that bearing and the sound is gone.

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