I have a 1996 Ford Explorer Sport with approximately 78,000 miles on it. I service it regularly and take good care of it. Recently I've notice a hum coming from beneath my center console. I originally thought it was from behind the dash or engine, but as I inspected outside and underneath the car, it seemed to be centered right below the console, to the right of the gas pedal.

The other strange thing is that it only happens after I've been driving for a while (30 miles or so), or on extremely hot days, it will be very loud as soon as I start the car. Usually, it is gone every morning when I start the car up to drive to work.

On a separate occasion, the sound went away immediately after I had filled up the tank full with gas when it was VERY low on 'E'. I've taken the car to a shop, driven it around, and had the guys look all over it, and they were stumped. Some one mentioned it was possible my fuel pump was on its way out, but the sound has been there consistently for about 2-3 months, and I've had no problems.

If anyone can offer any suggestions, I'd greatly appreciate it.

THANKS!

 

I think your fuel pump is in your fuel tank so I don't think you would hear it by your gas pedal. Could it have anything to do with your A/C-Heat system? Your heater vents are right there. Maybe something is humming in your system and the noise is traveling down the vents?

 

I have a 95 Eddie Bauer, and have also noticed this sound starting recently. It seems to occur more regularly in hot weather, immediately after i start the vehicle, and i haven't yet done a double test to see if it's only when the engine is cold or already hot from a previous journey. it's only started to happen intermittently over the past 3 weeks or so, and it's infrequent, which makes it hard to run tests on.

I haven't figured it out yet, but here are the basic symptoms:

When i'm driving, there is a medium pitch, soft "MMMMMMMM" hum that sounds as if it's coming from either the center of the console (behind the heat/AC controls) or from with the console or engine compartment in front of the passenger's seat. My regular passengers have also noticed it as a "new" noise, so i know it's not just me. I have the digital climate control system, and this sound happens when the system is off. It hasn't happened recently, and i haven't thought to check to see if it's still there when i'm running the heater or the a/c. Next time i hear it i will try that though, and see if it makes any difference. It *does* sound like a fan, but why wouldn't i have heard it before?

The one thing that makes me think it's *not* engine related is that it drones on at the same pitch and volume regardless of engine RPM and vehicle speed. As i get up to 50km/h and higher, i usually can't hear it over the road and wind noise, and soon forget about listening for it, so i don't know when it goes away. I can't recall ever noticing it as i was arriving at my destinations though, so it seems to go away during the journey at some point.

If anyone has a good idea about what this might be i'd like to hear it cuz i'm stumped too. It sounds like a ventilation fan, but i don't have the vent fan on when it happens. I checked and it's not the main engine fan.

Mikal

 

There have been a lot of posts recently over at www.4x4central about the idle air control (IAC) valve making a humming noise. The pitch does not follow the RPMs. Several people have had luck cleaning it, some have had the noise come back a short time later. Another thing is there are a couple of felt filters under the black plastic cap. Someone popped the cap off and found the filter caked with dirt. He cleaned the filter. Cleaning the filter eliminated his noise. I haven't tried it on my '97 since I don't have the noise.