Rear Differential Whine

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I have a 2003 Eddie Bauer 2wd w/8000 miles. There is a loud rear differential whine bet 50 & 60 miles an hour and the dealer says this is normal. The noise is very loud. Does anyone have any information on this?
 
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I have the exact same problem with my 03 EB. It is not normal. Take it back and mention this TSB. If they don't acknowledge it you might have to find another dealer. Good luck.

TSB 02-25-7, whisch adds an "s" spring to the front differential, fixed it, plus the dealer replaced the rear differential due excessive wear on the ring and piston gears.
 

bnvus

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Whoops forgot to log in. That TSB some one else on the forum gave me and the dealer here in Virgina was not aware of (for the 2003 anyway). He fixed the problem under warranty and all is good.
 
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My '03 had 4K miles on it when the whine/grinding started. The dealer told me it was the clutch packs in the diff that were to tight. They removed the diffs, changed out the packs, new fluids etc. Also replaced a tire for excessive wear, they had the truck for 3-4 days luckily gave us a rental. It been fine ever since except for a slight noise at low parking lot speeds when turning. I am going to have them check this out at my 6K oil change and tire rotation.
 
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Im about to have the 4th rear end put in mine, i used to work at a dealership and ive personally put 2 in it, now im going to have them order another. That will be #4 including the one that came in it, and im just at 7000 miles. It always starts with the grunting when taking off turning, and then soon comes the unbearable tip in whine at 50mph.

If you have a 2wd, the s spring tsb doesnt apply, a 2wd that grunts when turning is the rear end diff clutches. But mine always has such a bad ring and pinion whine that i have to put a whole rear end assy in it.
 
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Add another one to the list....

:mad:

My '03 had 3500 miles when I noticed some pretty obnoxious gear whine... The dealer agreed that the back end needs to be replaced. This was a month ago....

:rolleyes:

As of today, the dealer still hasn't received the parts - they said that Ford is backed up - aparently there is an increase in demand for this...

Hmmmm.
 
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now that i dont work at my dealership anymore, they are trying to hold out on me on ordering a rearend. i guess now i need to call ford and complain, but i hate to make enemies at the place that i worked for 9 years. this definately sucks that ford cant build a quiet rearend.
 

Karl in MN

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The tech that I deal with at my dealership has grown so frustrated over the years with rear differentials from Ford that when the rear end on mine started to whine he insisted on tearing it apart and redoing it himself. It's been great for 5 months now.
 
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The problem with that is there is no slts operation for anything other than r&r the center assembly. So if he tore it apart to put just a ring and pinion in it and set the backlash, etc... then his warranty administrator must have been paying him m-time. Thats not how we have done it here.
 

Karl in MN

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kidtriton:

I don't know what m-time is but I know that is what he did. We had detailed discussions on the tolerances and the shims (if that's what they are) that he used. Regardless, it is fixed and I am happy, at least with this issue on my 03.
 
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m-time is when ford does not have a labor operation to pay the machanic, so they just charge ford for the timeclock punch time. But too much of it throws up a red flag and ford will investigate to see why typical labor operations arent being used.

We used it a couple of times in early 2002 on explorer IRS axles to put ring and pinions in without replacing the whole thing as a unit. Our rep said something about it, suggesting that since there was a part available and a labor op to replace it as a whole, that we shouldnt need to go into one to do anything. We always had better luck with the pre-setup units anyway. I think its more of a quality issue with the gears than a setup (backlash, preload) issue anyway.

All i know is i have a 03 expy with 7500 miles on it and its had 3 rear axles and each one only stays quiet for ~2000mi.
 

Karl in MN

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I think the guy is well respected within his dealership so he may have more flexibility than others when it comes to things like this.

Thanks for the education.
 
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I have a '03 Expedietion with 11K on it and am experiancing the same problem. The dealer said that there is no fix for this problem yet and to try back in a month. This is upsetting because this a 40,000 or more vehicle. Anyone else have a dealer tell them this one yet? I guess if they can't fix it we should hit them with a class action law suit.
 
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I know where the rear differential is..hey and the front...
I have a 97 EB with about 120K on it.

I pulled into the ****** mart to get sodas, I left it running in Park (wife in the front kids in the back...)

After about 5 or 10 minutes, I got back in put it in Drive and made a left turn. "Did you feel that?" my wife said... it felt like we ran over a small cattle guard. I made a right and straightened it out and felt it again. We think it is coming from the back end. So far it seems random.

Any one have a clue yet?
 
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In other news, our 97 EB seemed to run smooth and quiet, that is until last March while I was away on business; durring a snow storm, my wife slid and hit the RIGHT FRONT tire with a residential curb at less than 5mph, being that it was a radial tire she replaced it and the bent alloy rim.

I have since noticed the suttle "whump whump" sound.
Since the new tire had different tread I prayed it would go away, when we rotated like tires from the back to the front...
No dice...still we hear the suttle "whump whump" sound.

The absolute kicker is it is definately on the LEFT FRONT axle!

The truck also pulls to the right.
Our biggest concern is not the suttle "whump whump" sound but whether it will develope into something..

We saw the new Expeditions on a TV commercial with the POWER folding seats, I told her I know she wants one.

She said nope, I want the "whump whump" sound to go away and that feeling of the cattle guard (See my last post) to leave.
 

Fred69

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TSB 3-18-8 Covers the Rear end groan (binding sensation) of the 2003 Exped's while in 2H mode disturbance noted on low speed turns.... it shall consist of the following part #'s

1 3l1z 4947 aa
2 2l1z 4b422ca
1 xl-7
1xl3
4 xy 75W90 qfehp
+ R&R both front knuckels, R&I both half shafts, and driveshaft. R&I 3rd member, backlash & runout Overhaul clutches & set proper preload..
 

Kizler

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So, does this damage anything?

I've got 24k on my 2003, and had the whine from the start. Eventually the dealer got the TSB on it and did the rear end part swap. I think this might have been TSB 3-18-8. Anyway, the whine is actually worse now, and more and more seems to be up front. Going to mention TSB 2-25-7 to them and see what happens.

So, my question is this- anyone know if 24,000 miles of this mess has set me up for some nice premature failure down the road?

Also, I have a new transaxle... nice, huh?

The ADVTRAC light came on and the dash said to CHECK ADVTRAC.... so they did and I got a new transaxle....

And guess what light came back on the other night?

So, any isnight into if I need to get this fixed and get out or get it fixed and not worry about future early failure?

I do love my Expy- just wish Ford could get a transmission and drivetrain right on an SUV. I should tell you about my 96 Exploder... but this isn't Exploder forum. :)
 

Kizler

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What is 2-25-7?

I guess this TSB refers to the noise from the front end, and suggests a new S Spring in the transaxle to remedy. (see BNVUS post earlier this thread) I'll have the service advisor look it up Monday when I bring my 2003 in- and hopefully it will describe my issue and help to get it solved. :)

But with the problems that the rear rack and pinion fix addressed, and this issue up front, I am wondering if 24,000 miles of running it broken will cause premature failure due to premature wear down the road. Any insight from anyone would be appreciated.

Thanks!
 

bnvus

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These gears wearout every 10,000 miles it seems. The last time I brought mine in for the whine (3rd ring and pinion) the service manager told me there is new gearset part # that Ford released. I have about 8,000 miles on it now. Just got it back because they had to replace the clutch pack in the rear diff because they were causing a binding feeling on turns. I was hoping it was not the brake job I did because it felt like the brakes on the front wheels were grabbing. Yeah, I got 40,000 on her now.
 
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