More on Rear End While

If you had it you would know. Seriously. Plus I would think if you were going to get it, you would have gotten it by now. It appears from the rest of your experience that you got a darn fine vehicle. I just had the rear diff assembly replaced (after being rebuilt 18 months ago) on my 2002 for this whine and the car was 30 miles short of being out of warranty. It seems quieter than its ever been now, knock on wood. I also received a new upgraded rear driveshaft per some service message to fix a vibration I didn't even complain about. My dealer, Morrie's Minnetonka Ford, has truly bent over backwards to fix this thing and I didn't even buy the car from them.

Glad to hear that you are satisfied and that I probably don't have the problem. Yes, you are right...the vehicle has been very good. A huge quality improvement over my prior 1999 Explorer...knock on plastic-that-looks-like-wood!

Well, based on my experience, I would recommend the new ('02 and later) vehicle. Yes, my '99 had every problem in the book and like you most of it was early on under warranty so I can't really complain about the cost since it got fixed under warranty. I sold it to a friend and she has had no problems (although she only drives 5000 miles/yr). Anyway, the newer vehicle is great and I suspect the rear end problem involves only a limited number of vehicles and, even if you are unlucky, it will be fixed. I also suspect (but don't know) that the later '04's were built after the problem was known and have corrected parts.

I bought mine with 28000 miles on it. I only noticed the whine after about

As for replacing a replaced differential after the warranty is out. I think I was told by a Ford dealer that repairs were warranted for 12 months. So, if you got new gears at 35,000 miles and a couple of months later you heard the whine again, you might be able to get it repaired even though the warranty on the vehicle is out if the repairs are less than 12 months old. Mark McCoy McCoy's Market Bumpus Mills, Tennessee

Took my '02 Mountaineer (35K miles) to the local Mercury dealer with the same problem. They fixed it by replacing the 2 pitted rear bearings ($680 job at no cost to me thanks to the factory warranty). The new parts are good for 12Mths/12K miles ... Now my SUV runs smooth&quiet. HV-ClearLake,TX

out. I think I was told by a Ford dealer that repairs were warranted for 12 months. So, if you> got new gears at 35,000 miles and a couple of months later you heard the whine> again, you might be able to get it repaired even though the warranty on the> vehicle is out if the repairs are less than 12 months old.

warranty is out. I think I was told by a Ford dealer that repairs were warranted for 12 months. So, if you> got new gears at 35,000 miles and a couple of months later you heard the whine> again, you might be able to get it repaired even though the warranty on the> vehicle is out if the repairs are less than 12 months old.

It's "the rear axle bearings"