Vehicle is a 2016 Explorer AWD, 2.3L. 45k miles on vehicle. We took it in last week because I suspected a bad wheel bearing. Sure enough, the shop diagnosed the driver’s side rear as bad. It was way louder than the rest when using the stethoscope on the lift. The tech also said that one of the front bearings made a bit more noise than the other side, but not enough to concern him and need a replacement (this is a shop mind you, so if there’s money to be made, I’m sure he’d recommend replacing it). Anyway, the noise does seem reduced now, but there is still an intermittent roar/humming from about 28-35 ish mph. Then it goes pretty quiet until you are at like 44-50 mph, then it gets noisier again. After that, it’s pretty quiet until you reach 74ish. The noise comes back but is higher-pitched this time and the loudest. The weird thing is, at most speeds when the noise is present, pressing on the brakes eliminates or greatly reduces the noise, especially at freeway speeds. Even a slight tap of the brakes will stop the noise until you let off the brakes again. At lower speeds braking doesn’t have as large of an effect on the noise. Changing steering direction doesn’t seem to have any real effect on the noise. If it did, I’d suspect a wheel bearing.
The vehicle has 45k miles, but the tires only have about 30-35k on them, since winter tires are used part of the year. The tires on the vehicle now are the OEM Michelin Latitude Tour HP and are just over 6 years old. All tires have nice even wear, and no odd wear like cupping, etc. The steering wheel tracks nice and straight.
The only thing I haven’t tried is putting the winter tires on and seeing if the noise is still present. Of course, with the temps as high as they are outside, this isn’t good for the tires and may create more noise. Any ideas?
Another thing to consider: we recently purchased this vehicle, and it is our first AWD vehicle. Could it be that some of the noise is just normal driveline noise that I’m not used to? Most everything else I’ve driven is front wheel drive.
The vehicle has 45k miles, but the tires only have about 30-35k on them, since winter tires are used part of the year. The tires on the vehicle now are the OEM Michelin Latitude Tour HP and are just over 6 years old. All tires have nice even wear, and no odd wear like cupping, etc. The steering wheel tracks nice and straight.
The only thing I haven’t tried is putting the winter tires on and seeing if the noise is still present. Of course, with the temps as high as they are outside, this isn’t good for the tires and may create more noise. Any ideas?
Another thing to consider: we recently purchased this vehicle, and it is our first AWD vehicle. Could it be that some of the noise is just normal driveline noise that I’m not used to? Most everything else I’ve driven is front wheel drive.
