Odd noise from '011 EL Limited, 85K, mostly OEM parts

[BigOleFordFan]

Well, I'm looking for suggestions/ideas before jacking it up to look underneath, which I'm not really physically able to do, or heading off to a repair shop or stealership....

A few weeks ago, I went out to start my Expy, which had been sitting in my driveway for about 12 hrs, and as soon as I hit the unlock button on my fob, I heard this strange noise, which is just loud enough to be annoying, and seemingly coming from the area somewhere around the passenger side 2nd door....

To me it sounds like a whirring sound, perhaps either a pump or motor that is trying to spin up, or maybe a stuck valve, relay or switch struggling to engage.... but once I start the engine, it stops... note that if I drive somewhere, make a quick, 5-10 min stop & then come back out & unlock it, the sound does not happen...

My 1st thought was the pump or the bellows for the air suspension system, but the ride height & quality has not been affected and stays constant all the time. But then I thought maybe it could be the fuel pump going wacky, as I've heard that on some vehicles, they are located close to the fuel tank, instead of hanging off or attached to the engine block like they used to back in the day, but it has not effected the engine or the starting performance at all.

Any ideas ?

 

[eddytheexpy]

Since you’ve got the EL, the auxiliary heater core lives right behind the passenger side rear door.

This HVAC Unit Case Evaporator for the auxiliary heater, 9L1Z18D283A has blend door actuators in it so there’s a fair chance it’s one of those guys acting up. Put your rear heat and see if it’s doing what it’s supposed to do.

Could be something in the unit acting up or maybe an erroneous command. A pretty cave-man trouble shooting option is pull the battery to clear the memory (remember to do a throttle body/fuel trim relearn afterwards). If that doesn’t change its behavior I think you’ll have to start pulling interior trim to get a look at it. I hear getting that trim off isn’t too bad but that’s not from first hand experience.

As for other things you mentioned, the fuel pump is on top of the gas tank so you’d be either hearing it come from the driver’s side or central to the vehicle, not from the passenger side.

Good luck and let us know what you find!

 

[BigOleFordFan]

Thanks for the info eddy, I am going to be looking at it/poking around in more detail this weekend (IF the weather cooperates, that is) but this gives me some starting points

 

[JoeBerg]

I had a clicking in the same area. It was the blend door actuator.