2012 Ford Expedition EL Limited - Please Help Troubleshoot an Issue

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TXFishin

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Hopefully the brain trust here will help point me in the right direction.

I have a 2012 Ford Expedition EL Limited 4X4 with 151k miles on it.

When the vehicle is cold, for about the first 10 to 15 miles, I hear a growling noise, or almost as if I'm driving with semi off road tires, almost a tire noise kind of growl.

After 10 to 15 miles, it's almost like someone turns the volume down, and within a couple of seconds, all the sudden the sound just goes away, from then on quiet and smooth as silk until it sets and gets cold again.

It's not the IWE's. I'm well familiar with that issue, sound, how to troubleshoot. I even purchased a vacuum Guage when previously troubleshooting that issue. The check valve, vacuum leaks, low vacuum, bad solenoid, testing in and out of 4X4, disconnecting the vacuum, lifting the front end off the ground, the test goes on etc..

It sounds like a bearing, however, I've never had a bearing go from making noise to quiet after warming up, has anyone else ever had that happen? Usually the sound stays. Swerving, jacking the vehicle up and doing the 3 and 9, 12 and 6 tire wiggle, etc, everything seems tight and no wiggle.

It is speed related, the faster I go the louder it gets. Coasting in neutral, etc, in our out of 4X4, swerving, turning, nothing changes the sound, it slows down and speeds up with the vehicle speed, silent when sitting still.

AC on, off, not the compressor for air suspension, turn everything I can off.

Its a rotational noise, almost like off road tires, that completely disappears after about 10 to 15 miles when things warm up.

No vibration, no clanking when shifting into, out of gear, not the drive shaft slip yok issue I've seen before, not from what I can tell.

Prior to this issue, I have less than 20k miles on the following new replaced components

New IWE's

New hub / bearing assemblies

New coil/shocks

New used under 15k mile Transmission and Transfer case

Front end half-shaft seals, etc

New Michelin Tires (you can hear the normal tire whistle noise during and after the growling noise stops, the tire noise sounds normal)

New manifold gasket and replaced broken manifold bolts. It's not an exhaust leak type of sound.

New Ford OEM Heavy duty brake pads and rotor (does not sound like a sticky caliper or dragging brake pad. The noise does not change when brakes are applied light or heavy)

Other items, new Air filter, battery, driver seat, rear window, windshield wiper assembly, blades, oil levels are good, no leaks, new plugs, etc.

In 20k miles of owning this vehicle, I've literally replaced just about everything but the engine. Addressing old parts, neglected parts, worn parts, bad parts, to put the vehicle in as reliable condition as possible for road trips.

I would expect a bad tire, or bearing, to be constant and not go away after warming up.

No slop or change in the steering, etc., no vibrations.

I can feel the noise ever so lightly in the steering wheel and gas pedal, that is until the vehicle warms up, after about 10 to 15 miles, and the sound stops, then all is smooth.

About 5k miles ago, driving through a parking lot, a lady cutting through the parking lot hit the front driver side, starting at the wheel, causing damage to the front quarter panel, driver door, passenger door.

Could this impact damaged the front wheel bearing hub assembly, possibly? The issue only recently started appearing, about 4k miles after the accident.

Would bearing damage from such an incident, create a noise that goes away when the vehicle warms up?

It "appears" to be coming from the front driver side, where the lady hit the vehicle in the parking lot.

No abnormal tire wear, no front end out of alignment, the damage that was done was not enough to cause any major structural type of damage. I would assume a hit, or blow to the wheel that would be hard enough to damage the bearing would cause alignment or other issues.

I even considered, would it be possible that during the repairs, the dealer removed the hub assembly, and being 4X4 tightened the small front wheel spindle nut beyond 20ft lbs, or didn't tighten it enough, or reused the nut and didn't use lock-tite? I'm well aware of the criticality in the torque setting for this nut, recommended not to re-use, etc. But I don't know why the dealer would remove the hub for the type of repairs that were needed.

My next step is to jack up all 4 wheels and run stationary to see if the noise is present, use a broom stick / stethoscope to see if I can detect what is going on.

If it's a bad or damaged bearing, this test may not prove anything with the weight off the wheels.

I was looking to see if I could find some cheap Bluetooth microphone I could attach to each wheel area to isolate it to a particular location.

Or even use a piece of garden hose with a dowel in one end to affix to each wheel area, as close to the hub as possible, long enough to reach inside the vehicle where I could listen as I drive down the road, a make shift DIY extra long stethoscope so to speak.

Or take one of my Gopro's, or my Zoom stereo mic I use for making videos, and affix that to each wheel area away from as much wind noise as possible, with a 'dead cat' wind tamer in it for additional wind noise reduction.

So, if you read this far, does anyone have any tips, tricks, ideas, on how to diagnose this, or has anyone ever had such an issue before, where a bearing or something related, would only make noise while the vehicle is cold, or for the first 10 to 15 miles?

Regards,

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Boostedbus

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I’m thinking tensioner or idler pulley the whole time I’m reading this and it looks like Mr. Sticker is also or at least in that vicinity. Since you have updated almost everything anyway, put a new tensioner idler pulley, and belt on...... they’re not that pricey either. Or at least remove the belt when engine is cold and give them a spin by hand and listen. I think you may be pleasantly surprised.
 

Yupster Dog

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pull your rear rotors and check your parking brake.
 
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TXFishin

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I wouldn't think a tensioner or idler pully would be related to vehicle speed

It comes to a complete stop when the vehicle stops

Then as you accelerate, it slowly picks up in volume and tone

I have even done manual shifting, coasting in neutral without the engine, to try and eliminate anything related to that, or anything RPM related

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TXFishin

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pull your rear rotors and check your parking brake.
Ha Ahhh! Now this I did not think of, will do that!

This has some additional reasoning behind it.

I use this as my tow vehicle for my offshore boat.

I went out in February, and then again March just to run the engines, and last weekend.

Prior to February, I do not recall having this issue, it seems to have started showing up around February or March.

Backing my boat down is the only time I really use the parking brake, it hadn't been used since last season around October maybe

I will definitely give that a look

It sounds like rusty bearings, with that pingy kind of growl, but very well could be the parking brake dragging

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TXFishin

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After reading mixed reviews on store brand hub assemblies, I replaced the hubs yesterday with Timken

Much better feel overall and got rid of allot of the noise I heard

The old hubs still looked good, but something odd I've never seen before, and could have definitely caused or added to the noise I was hearing.

If you turned the small half shaft roller bearings with your finger, they were skipping for lack of better words

It almost felt like the squeaky clean feeling you get when you wash Tupperware, or run your finger over a balloon, hard to explain.

Felt smooth, everything was tight, but felt it vibrate like it was skipping or something

Has anyone ever felt something like this in a bearing, or is there a particular name / cause for this?
 
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parkway

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we have the same problem, 2010 expedition growling noise from 25 to 45 mph. replaced most everything underneath with no result.
 
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