2000 Explorer THUNK

Your driveshaft where it goes into the tranny is supposed to be able to slide a little; it may need lubrication.

Bill Funk Change "g" to "a"

Previously in rec.autos.makers.ford.explorer, Big Bill proclaimed :

..or..check your gas tank level. My older (93) Explorer would sometimes make a thunking sound when I was less than half a tank. The gas would slosh forward or backward if I accelerated or braked hard. Even going around a corner sometimes caused the thunking. The thunking would never occur when the tank was more than 3/4 full.

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We have been down the 'drive shaft pop' investigation and found nothing.

This is the first thing I suggested to the service department.

Thanks for the suggestion,

The 'thunk' occurs regardless of the current level in the gas tank.

Tim

No problem. But it sometimes helps in a forum such as this to give us more information. Holding back will often result in sugestions for things you've already done, and it will give us more information to go on. So, what *has* been checked? :-)

Bill Funk Change "g" to "a"

Have you checked your brake discs, calipers and mountings? An old ford I had years ago used to thunk under brakes.

If you have drums on the back, sometimes the shoes can get a bit sticky especially if you have a fluid leak from the actuator pistons, but you would probably feel a bit of a grab as well.

Happy hunting.

According to the service writer at the dealer:

Front suspension, motor mounts, tranny mount, drive shaft, rear shocks and fuel tank.

The sensation is that the 'thunk' is from the rear of the car and it seems to occur with moderate 'weight transfer' on braking, that is the front suspension is compressed and the rear suspension is being unloaded.

There is no real noise associated with this behavior it is more of a sensation through the seat.

Although I suggested 'drive shaft pop' the reply was that the TSB did not include the 2000. I'm not conviced that they removed the drive shaft and output yoke for inspection.

I agree that all of the symptoms point to the output yoke not sliding freely on the transmission output shaft.

This may be a situation where I have to do it myself to see if it is a problem with lubrication.

Although the car is covered by a Ford extended warranty the dealer seems to be reluctant to correct this behavior under the warranty.

Tim

Is the seat moving on its tracks?

A TSB is no replacement for inspection. A TSB may tell the service people if this has been a known problem, but it certainly can not be taken to mean that it is *not* a problem in any single case.

Personally, I think you're takng the truck to the wrong people; the dealers have no lock on good mechanics. Simply being able to turn a wrench well enough to replace parts is fine *once the problem is diagnosed*, but relying on TSBs to diagnose a problem is nothing but piss-por diagnostics. Find an indie shop you can trust; they abound. Get the problem identified, and if it's a warrenty problem, *then* go to the dealer with the diagnosis in hand. Obviously the dealer is not able (or willing) to find the problem; it's time to find someone who will.

Bill Funk Change "g" to "a"

The car has rear disks and ABS, it is not a brake system problem, they have been inspected etc.

Thanks for the input,

Tim

I agree that the dealer does have a problem with service techs and tends to rely too much on the TSB information.

The car was in for the 75K service to assure that I was meeting all the owner service requirements for the extended warranty.

I am frankly disapointed with the dealer response and will either 'do' the drive shaft my self or take it to another shop.

I had a 94 Explorer Sport that did the same thing, only after a stop under hard braking and taking off from that hard stop... it almost sounds like its coming from the tranny or the rear diff... i never figured it out, and it never caused a problem.. i put 80k on it like that and it was fine.. i traveled 225 miles a day like that... i dont think you should really be concerned .. but it would be nice to get rid of it