Is it normal for the differential to whine? Mine seems particularly loud between 55 and 65 MPH and it's been this way since new.
Since my original warranty expires next month, I took my Explorer to the dealer this morning for the repair of a couple of rattles and I mentioned the differential whine. At this point, the dealer isn't sure if the noise is normal or not. Anyone else have this problem and if so, what was the solution?
Dave '02 XLT with tow package (3.73 LS axle, 2 x 4)
I bought my 02 Explorer XLT V8 4x4 3.73LS in NH in Nov 01. I drive across the country twice a year, and put a lot of miles on this vehicle. By the time I hit 32K in the spring of '02, the diff was whining at most speeds whenever I had my foot on the gas - it went away when I came off the gas. I took it to the local Ford dealer in AZ, and they immediately replaced the entire diff, no cost. By 38K (warranty expired!), it was whining again. I couldn't find a source - any source
- that would tell me it was a problem, rather than an annoyance, so I decided to live with it, rather than pay for a new diff myself. Yes, I probably could have taken it back to the AZ dealer that replaced it, but by then I was 3000 miles away, and by the time I got back to AZ, I was close to 50K. Anyway, it still whines now at almost 70K.
For this and other reasons (I suspect a bad tranny is coming up, but none of the dealers agree), I bought the 100K Extended Warranty at about
40K miles. Now you watch. Like the old story of the one hoss shay, the entire vehicle will perform flawlessly until about 105K - and then will fall apart in little pieces.Judging from other threads on this board, there were so many of these whining diff cases that Ford no longer authorizes service or replacement. But you still should contact your dealer before 36K, ask him what he can do, and get a written record of your query and his answer.
Bill Jeffrey =====================
dstaffor[SpamNot] wrote:
No it's not normal. Just look at this site for many more of the same problem. I know my dealer has 8 cases of the same noise and Ford still hasn't come up with a solution; or so they tell us.
I posted about the rear end whine problem around a year ago. At
87,000 miles and never been fixed, it still whines. However, either it whining less or my hearing is going (probably from the constant whining). Now the transmission has got me worried. See my 5/6/04 post and give me you opinion on that problem. I have never had to trade a vehicle with less than 100,000 miles. This Explorer may be the exception.Don Hazle Port Matilda, Pa
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