My wife and I noticed that our 2003 Mountaineer V8 seems to have gotten very loud. It's hard to tell what's going on, if anything....perhaps it's just getting older....it was purchased in September 2002 and now has 68,000 miles on it.
The tires are Michelin MS LTX and have about half the tread left (maybe even less). Could it be the worn tires that got louder? I looked for exhaust leaks but could find none on a casual inspection. Any ideas would be appreciated.
I guess there are some questions that need to be answered, such as - does the noise change with engine speed or with vehicle speed. In other words, if you are hearing the noise and you take your foot off the gas, does the noise go away? If it seems to be the tires, another question would be - can you look at the tires and see any uneven wear or cupping?
I had this problem with the original BF Goodrich tires on my '05. The tires were just plain noisy even though there was no obvious wear pattern. I finally replaced them to get rid of the noise.
It does seem louder with engine revving. Unfortunately it's hard to really get a handle on. Yeah, I realize that if the noise is still loud when stopped the tires are probably NOT the problem. I can't say for sure this is the case. I'll have to drive it some more and pay even closer attention.
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