Please help diagnose drivetrain/engine noise

[ScottyDsntKnow]

Hi all,

I picked up a 2003 Eddie Bauer a few weeks ago and I've been liking it so far except there is a noise in the drivetrain, or maybe engine, that is making me pull my hair out. I thought it was a wheel bearing which is suprisingly easy to do on these things. Well it wasn't a wheel bearing... Vehicle has 78k on it, trans shifts super smooth, motor is smooth and pulls hard.

Noise comes from the front of the vehicle and comes and goes depending on RPM. The noise sounds basically like a washing machine on spin cycle and only occurs under VERY light load going 20-35 mph which I have to do often going through neighborhoods around here. If I am coasting at that speed and just give it a little throttle to keep it at 25ish it makes that noise and really annoys the crap out of me. It does go away immediately if I take my foot off the gas though.

It does not make the noise when I have it in park and rev the engine so I don't think it is any accessories. I've crawled under and yanked on the U-joints/CV joints and they don't make any noise but I haven't ruled those out. Not sure what else it could be since its not a wheel bearing and all the accessories are quiet. It isn't the exhaust because you can hear the exhaust tone under this noise. I am really stumped... I don't want to have to take it in already to get it diagnosed but I'm almost to that point. If anyone has any input or ideas at all please share, I want to be able to drive to work without hearing "whhhhhhrhryhhyhhyrrrrrr" whenever I tap the gas lol.

edit: After re-reading my own post I'm really thinking U-joints. I mean they are not hard to replace or very expensive so I might just do them all to rule that out and also to not have to worry about them for a long time. Thoughts?

 

[NewbieVet]

(BUMP) Can someone with some knowledge give Scotty some feedback on this?

 

[ScottyDsntKnow]

It would be nice but its either a U-joint, old/dirty fluids or a big ticket item. Not the bearings, CV joint boots are all intact and no movement there. Maybe an engine or trans mount could be bad? Trans shifts totally fine, 4WD works fine, no slippage in the rear or anything. No idea... Heck it might even be a shot resonator in the exhaust system (do we even have resonators?) going crazy at a ceratain RPM/load. I will be a little miffed at the dealer if it does wind up being something big... However, I can do all my own work and even fixing the trans with a better low mileage 4R75E wouldn't cost me any more than $1k (and torn to shreds knuckles) and then I wouldn't have to worry about it lol.

Lol my biggest issue is my OCD about whether I made the right choice to go with a smaller loaded Expo EB over a larger base model Excursion XLT that I could have got for the same price. When by myself or with just the family I know I made the right call but when I have the aformentioned plus our 3 English Mastiffs in the vehicle with me, even the Expo gets a little crowded lol.

 

[VooDooRacing750]

It could be a u-joint and it's never a bad idea to do some preventive maintenance. However if it was a u-joint, you would also hear a popping sound in reverse. Motor mount wise it would seem to be more of a banging noise and you would feel the motor actually pull back towards the truck. Now this may not be the case as when the bushings under the mounts get worn, it will Ofcourse start off with very little play. You could rule that out by having a friend get in the truck and put it under a load and watch the motor torque up. Is it 4wd? And what's your gas milage like? Reason I'm asking is there could be an issue in the transfer case.

 

[ScottyDsntKnow]

It is 4WD, mileage says 14mpg, I get about 400 miles a tank. I keep it in 2WD anyway, when I did put it in 4W high, it kicked back like it should on dry pavement. Sound does not go away or change when it is in 4WD but I will check that out again since it is raining like crazy and now would be a good time. It does have a slight clunk sometimes when going from no load to load so the U joints might be going. My very first instinct was transfer case actually but the more I drove it the more it didn't seem like it since the mileage was good.

Is there an easy way to tell if something is up with the transfer case? Should the front driveshaft be turning at all when it is in 2WD even if it is just free spinning?

Thank you for the reply btw.

 

[VooDooRacing750]

If your milage is good, and you see any fluids, then more than likely it's not in the driveline. Sounds like everything is ok. There's a difference with the transmission "clunking" and the u-joints "popping", if it's the u-joints you will get a constant "pop" when in reverse. If it's not making the noise with just revving the truck then you can rule out all engine issues because even in park or neutral you are putting the engine under a load. And if you put the truck in gear and hold the brake and put it under a load, if you don't hear the noise, then it's more than likely not internal as far as the tranny goes. Kinda sounds to me like a wheel bearing or something dealing with the front drive assembly. Could be a cv shaft, I know you said you checked the bearings, but it's got to be something along those lines. I mean the only other thing i could think of is maybe your air suspension compressor is kicking on??? Idk why that would be happening, but it kinda sounds like something minor. If the truck runs and drives and gets good gas milage, it's got to be something minor

 

[ScottyDsntKnow]

I have coilovers thank god, no air suspension.

This is exactly what happens:

-Engine sounds fine at idle, I rev it to 4k and no noise besides engine

-Put in gear and starts off quiet and normal sounding

-At appx 20 mph and ONLY under the lightest throttle I get a noise like a wheel bearing

-If I let off the gas it stops, if I increase throttle it stops, if I keep the light throttle and get past 35mph it stops.

I would think if it was a wheel bearing it would keep making noise regardless of throttle. It is dead quiet coasting at idle from highway speeds down to a slow roll, no noise whatsoever. I CAN feel it in the pedal just slightly when I give it the light throttle and it sometimes gets slightly worse going around turns. It sounds like it is coming from the front of the motor but sometimes it sounds like its coming from the rear so I dunno. Hard to tell with noises like this.

Like I said, it gets normal mileage, trans shifts smoothly and accurately, motor has plenty of power, I have coilovers so no air suspension to worry about... As I said before, its either one or more U-joints, bad fluid, a CV joint or there is something more major wrong but I can't imagine what major thing would be wrong that wouldn't be affecting driving/shifting/anything else.

Gotta hunt this sucker down, its driving me nuts. Then I can finally start modding...

 

[2000eb]

sounds like a wheel bearing i got same problem. my buddy works at a garage and says he gets alot of expys in for wheel bearings he said it a quick easy replacement. he also told me not to worry bout mine because he says it will start getting really loud before it goes and he said you can put 10k miles on it with a slight noise. idk mine is driving me crazy too its so annoying lol

 

[ScottyDsntKnow]

The truck does not make any noise when coasting, the noise is RPM dependent so I do not think it is a wheel bearing. If all the stuff I do this weekend does not fix the issue I will do the other 3 hubs though. Like I said I already did the front left and that wasn't it. Yeah it only takes about 30 minutes to do one. Very simple.

 

[JUST4FUN]

sounds like a fan clutch moving air,take the belt off do a quik test drive not to far see if its quiet. the water pump will not work so be carefull

 

[NewbieVet]

sounds like a fan clutch moving air,take the belt off do a quik test drive not to far see if its quiet. the water pump will not work so be carefull

That's a sweet idea i'd have never thought of that!

 

[panda24619]

you can do that? also the alt wont charge, so go around the block and BACK! and put the batt on a charger, power steering will suck. no a/c so dont try. haha just take the belt off, start it, drive up the street and back down, and see if it does it. if it does just change the fan to an electric. haha or get a new clutch fan. could you maybe get a video of it???

 

[JUST4FUN]

what happend with this

 

[uschaz]

Still baffled

All of the above applies to my problem. I just tried the drive belt removal deal with no joy.. by the way make sure you have season tickets to the gun show before trying to horse it around without power steering. I also tried removing the front driveline, new hub bearings, new brakes, drained and filled the front differential, ball joints, all with no effect. I have tried hanging out the door while a friend drove around a parking lot, sitting on the top of the radiator with the hood open while going around and around in a parking lot. I am open to ANY suggestions..

 

[flyin]

I know you said it sounds like the front but in 2wd and only when you are on the throttle(not at coast) sounds like a rear pinion bearing. Jack it up on stands place it in gear and run the driveline while listening to the front of the rear differential with a stethescope.

DON'T RUN YOURSELF OVER.

 

[ericnyce]

Try troubleshooting the front hub locking actuators and solenoid. They are vacuum actuated and apparently failure is common.

I'm 4 wheel bearings and ujoints unto my search and soon as I have the time I'll be changing this but i am 99% positive...my half shaft rotates in 2wd...hoping the half shaft doesn't need to be fixed with the added wear this caused.

 

[WSS1]

A couple of things I have encountered is 1) both front wheels made a ticking sound at different speeds but were the same sound and also the same solution. It was the stamped nut lock that is held on by the cotterpin rattling (splined shaft that holds the hub onto the cv ahaft). I removed and crimped it to fit a little snugger and it fixed the annoying ticking sound. 2) a couple of broken exhaust studs would make a ticking sound under load. At first it would go away after it warmed up, but eventually it got to a point that it was always there when shifting into 3rd and then included at a stop w/ foot on brake.

We lost a rear diff (under warranty!!) around 45k and the first sign was an awful smell in the cab, smelled like propane enriched sewage, it was creeping out of the vent into the cab, strangly up front in the passenger seat was the worst. The small was shortly followed by a low growl while under slight accel.

Just info, food for thought

WSS1

 

[ericnyce]

Any solution? I just put in a new transfer case and from u joints with no luck fixing the noise!!