bad vibrations and loud noise at various speeds
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From: arizona
bad vibrations and loud noise at various speeds
My 98 explorer sport vibrates at different speeds. The part that is so hard to figure out is that it will go away if I slightly accelerate, but starts up again at a different speed. I would say that it happens most around 70 mph, but it has happened at speeds as low as 45 mph. The vibration feels like it's coming from the front end, but I'm not positive. The vibration isn't real bad, but the sound is terrible. I can't really explain the sound, it's not really a clunking noise, but just a loud low vibration sound. I've taken it to a mechanic, but he didn't find anything. Does anyone have any suggestions. Thank you in advance.
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bad vibrations and loud noise at various speeds
[updated:LAST EDITED ON 03-Nov-02 AT 09:33 PM (EST)]I think we've been thru this before...start simple. are your wheels balanced??? are your tires worn, cupped?? is your front end aligned??? if the answer to any of these is "I dont know, or i'm not sure", then save yourself some aggravation and get that done.its cheap..unbalanced or worn tires and out of line f/e's probably cause more vibrations than anything else..next, check motor mounts, (they break) and after that have your mechanic check the ujoints (all of them) and the driveshaft. this is not expensive either.I cant remember the websire, but if you go to GOOGLE and enter "FORD EXPLORER VIBRATION" theres a whole article on diagnosing weird vibrations. Mine was an out of line drive shaft, took voodoo to finally figure out what it was...took nothing at all to fix it...lol PS LET ME CORRECT THAT ARTICLES NAME---GO TO GOOGLE, BUT PUT IN "SHAKEDOWN ON VIBRATION ISSUES", bet that you can find it and fix it...
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From: arizona
bad vibrations and loud noise at various speeds
OK, to put it mildly, I don't know jack about working on vehicles. After I posted my previous message, I did a search for other posts with the same problem. Since there are so many suggestions about U-joints, I decided to take a look under my explorer. Since I don't know squat about cars, I'm not sure if what I found is actually a problem. Here is what I saw, so if this makes any sense to anyone, please tell me if this could be causing the problem. On the front drive shaft ( I think that's what it's called ), it connects to a U-Joint at the front, and a large circular disc at the back. At the back, there is boot when it gets to the disc. Somewhere inside the boot it's pretty loose, but I'm not sure if it's supposed to be. I know that U-Joints should have no play, but I have no idea about the other end connecting to the disc. If anyone can understand what I'm explaining, is that a problem, or is it normal.
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From: arizona
bad vibrations and loud noise at various speeds
After reading the shakedown on vibrations issues (thank you for the article), I think what I was discribing is the center carrier bearing on a two-piece driveshaft. Can that bearing be purchased seperatly, or do I need to buy a whole new front half of my driveshaft. The only reason I ask is because it looks like I will have rip the boot off to get to the bearing, and I can't even see if there are any bolts in there with out doing that. Also, the boot that covers up what I suspect is the center carrier bearing is sliced open. Is that supposed to be cut to allow for periodic greasing, or is that most likely what caused my problem. Did that rip most likely allow for mud / dirt to destroy the bearing inside? As before, thanks for any help.
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bad vibrations and loud noise at various speeds
Sounds like your carrier bearing is shot. The boot should have no tears or holes in it, otherwise dirt and grime get in while all the grease goes out. It's a similar setup to a CV joint. I've never known one to go bad, so I'm not sure if the bearing is replaceable or if you have to replace one of the driveshaft sections. I would assume that you could get just the bearing, although it may be a dealer part. I checked the Autozone and Advance websites and they have no listing for the part. You might try calling the dealer parts dept and see what their price is and what their name is for it. Sometimes they are listed differently than what the manual says. Then you could try one of the local parts stores and see if they have one as Ford lists it. I had to do that on a few things before and it saved me a bundle...
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