2002 rear end whine

i have a 95......bearings.....i had to pull the burnt ones out after ford said everything looked good......

Paul,

I have a 2002 with 58,000 miles on it and I just had this problem fixed. The whine had gotten pretty darn loud. There is a technical service bulletin on this, TSB#05-12-6. The TSB specifies a repair kit for the problem. It ended up being a $1,400 repair. However, I did enough complaining to my service manager that he got Ford to cover all but $275.00 of the repair.

From my understanding, the whine is coming from a bearing that has worn out. I would imagine that if you let this go long enough, the bearing may cease up and destroy more than just the diff.

Steve

Thanks for the replies. Definately do not want to pay $1400. Is there somewhere on line I can see the TSB?

I just had a bearing replaced in my 2002 explorer (44k miles) before thanksgiving...the whine went away for a week (drove aobut 1k miles) -- now its back (don't think its as loud). Very distrubing...I'm going to bring it back to ford next week...

marty

Mine's in getting the ring and pinion replaced. I hope it works, seems like a major job. They told me if the don't get a good "fit" when they put it back together they'll have to do it all over again.

I have an 04. Mine was replaced again 3 weeks ago . Whine returned within a week 150 miles. Dealer says all the ones with the "new" replacement parts are starting to show up with the noise again. This is the second replacement for me with the "new" parts.

Not that I have heard.

FYI. Evidently Ford has significantly changed the rear suspension including the rear differential mounts for 2006 to improve lots of things. I wonder if this will greatly reducing the whine complaints.

"Finally, the rear differential mounts of all 2006 Explorers have been reconfigured for improved isolation, greater durability and reduced NVH. The differential is suspended by four mounts: Two, close-set, vertical mounts are connected to the front of the differential casing, while two vertical mounts have a wider stance at the rear of the casing. Like the legs of a table, these wide set mounts better stabilize the differential, for improved isolation and durability."

I've always wondered if the increased incidence of whine complaints on the 2002-2005 cars were caused by the way the differential is hung in that IRS setup.