Ok, this is a continuation of the thread I was posting to earlier: https://themustangsource.com/f813/20...494748/index2/

I decided to start a new thread because I'm not so sure that my current issue is related to bent axles.

Video which demonstrates (hopefully) the noise coming from the rear of the car: http://youtu.be/FLLg47-eKTM

In this video the passenger side rear seat is folded down. With it up, the noise is about half as loud and difficult to pick up with my camera. The noise can be heard from 15 mph on up. The pitch of the noise doesn't seem to change that much but gets a little bit louder with speed.

Recap:

3500 miles - Chirping sound from right rear pretty much all the time. Especially easy to hear when driving next to curb or cement barrier. Most likely the rotor is contacting the caliper and I did see evidence of something contacting the anti-rattle springs.

4500 miles - ~ Six 20 minute sessions on track with street tires. Chirping noise now gone, but the "dragging brake" type of noise as shown in the video is present. This was the first time that I had the rear seats down so this noise could have been present earlier but I just didn't notice it.

5300 miles - The "dragging brake" type of noise is still present.

Dealership #1
At this point I take it to the dealer because it's driving me crazy. The service guy makes the comment "it looks like you are driving the car hard...like it's meant to be driven." I say nothing. After 2 days they say the problem is bent axles (both of them) and they would be happy to quote that for me. What, not covered under warranty? Nope. Total cost with labor would have been ~$1000. I'm pissed.

Dealership #2
Tries very hard to identify the source of the noise. Obviously they didn't think it was normal. After 1/2 a day they contact Ford to get some assistance. Another day passes and by this point they have used "chassis ears" to pinpoint the noise. They turned the rotors because they thought some rust build-up may have caused the noise. They ran the car on the lift with the brake calipers removed. They determined the source to be the axle bearings. These are replaced but the problem is still present. They told me the axles were fine (i.e. not bent). By this point Ford gets back to them and tells them the noise they are hearing is normal and they shouldn't have done any work on the car in the first place. They have to eat the cost because they had told me earlier that it would be covered under warranty because I have "lots of warranty left".

Dealership #2 recommends I call the Ford Hot Line (800) 392-3673. Real nice guy named Darren takes down my details and promises a response in 24 hours. In about 1/2 hour he calls back and says he's been told that the noise is "normal". Wow that was helpful!

So I'm on my own now. Ford's warranty doesn't mean $hit.

Is the noise normal? If not, what is it?

BTW my car has the Torsen differential.

 

you need to PM Deysha, she works for ford CS.

 

PM sent to Deysha. Fingers crossed.

In the meantime I'll check the axle flange runout myself tonight just to potentially rule them out as the noise source.

 

All I hear is a clunking noise, almost like a loose upper control arm.

 

I had a similar noise. It was my ring and pinion. The ring gear was pitted. There were no other signs of trouble. All bearings were replaced at the same time.

 

The sound can best be described as a coat hanger dragging on the drive shaft. Of course that isn't happening. The only clunk sound I can hear might be the tires slapping over the pavement expansion joints.

Ring and Pinion replaced under warranty?

 

Renesis,

How many miles are on your car now? You mentioned 6 20 min track sessions... Was that a single event/weekend or over multiple weekends?

How many times have changed the diff fluid?

 

The car was taken to the track for the first time at around 4500 miles. This was also the first time that I had driven the car with the rear seat folded down. I had a 2nd set of wheels and tires in the car. It makes me wonder if the noise was present even before this track day since it can be somewhat subtle with the seats up.

The ~6 20 minutes sessions were done during one day. I immediately noticed the noise when leaving the track.

The fluid has been changed only once. It was done just a few days ago (5300 miles) by dealer #2.

 

Checked the axle flange runout. Driver's side was .005" total and the passenger's side was .010" total. Not sure what the specification is though. Anyone know?

Following in the footsteps of dealership #2, I ran the car on jack stands with and without the brake calipers/rotors. The noise that I hear when driving down the road is gone but I can distinctly hear noise from each wheel bearing which is probably normal. If the source of my noise is the ring and pinion I would imagine that it needs to be loaded before it makes the noise.

Funny story...

While running the car on jack stands I first disabled the TC and advance trac. I then shifted to 4th gear and put a heavy box on the accelerator pedal to hold ~ 40 mph. A few minutes later I looked inside the car to see all kinds of warning lights and messages. OK, that's probably enough of that. But crap, the doors are locked (they lock automatically above 15 mph or whatever). I was pretty sure my spare key wasn't in the car, but I thought how funny and somewhat inconvenient it would be to leave my car running on jack stands at 40 mph until it burned through 1/4 tank of gas. BTW, you can't use the cruise control in this setup because the tuning can't handle the lack of road load.





On a side note, the passenger side wheel was torqued to some insane amount by the dealership. I twisted off a socket extension while trying to break the lug nuts free. The lug nut recesses of my brand new TSW Interlagos wheels are all f'd up which is nice.

 

I would talk to the dealer about that over torquing business, might have messed up your studs.

 

I would like to give them a friendly reminder on how to properly put on a wheel but they're still stinging a bit from having to eat a $500 repair bill after trying to be helpful. I'll just add new studs to the long list of other items that I will end up paying for myself anyway.

 

A nice set of ARP ones would be nice.

 

Wait, you put your car on jackstands, and ran it like that? On top of that, you ran it with a box on the gas pedal and NO one inside?


You sir have more ***** than I do.

 

Yeah, I had a choice between the box or my 11 year old son. I chose the box. The box was resting on the floor and pushed into the gas pedal. The gas pedal spring tended to push the box back over time so there wasn't a risk of the RPM's going sky high.

This is what Ford has driven me to do. I have to diagnose the problem with the tools and equipment that I have available.

 

Its hard to hear from the video but is it a whining noise? My rearend gears were whining very loud and I had my dealer replaces them with a new set of 3.73's under warranty after the service tech took a quick drive just in the parking lot. This was at about 3500 miles

 

It's really not a whining noise. It sounds like a wire dragging on a spinning shaft. More of a dragging / slightly metallic kind of noise.

 

Did you check to make sure the ABS sensor that's close to the ring isn't touching the ring? I recently had a similar noise that was more noticeable as I ran along a curb or wall. I broke the sensor while installing new rotors and APR studs. While you're in there remove those dust covers if you haven't already.

 

Yep, I checked the ABS sensor and it looked OK.

Good idea to remove the dust shields while the brakes are off. Any downside to running with them always off?

 

Not that I'm aware of. If you're tracking your car just leave them off as it's supposed to aid in cooling and recommended in the FR track supplemental that came with our cars.

 

Pulled the differential cover off to inspect the ring gear. Looks OK to me. Everyone agree?