Help! Scratching sounds coming from rearend

[jwheeler]

All, my car just started producing a shhh, shhh sound very audible at low speeds. I thought it might be that the parking brake was stuck, but it does not appear to be. The sounds is hard to describe. Mixed in with the shh shh sound is kind of a metallic sound. It sounds kid of like the sound an old spring bed would make if you were to jump up and down on it, or sort like an old creaky door. Its frequency increases with speed, and decreases when you slow down. It sounds like it could be the brake rubbing, and it appears to coming from the drivers side rear tire. But, it does not noticeably lessen with the application of the brakes. Could it be the U-joints or the bearings in the axle? I'm going to have a local mechanic(relation) that owns his own little shop in town put it up on the hoist tonight, so we can try to pinpoint where the sound is coming from. With my luck though, it probably won't make the sound without the weight of the car going down the road. I really don't want to take this to my dealer unless I can rule out the gears which I changed to 4:10's quite some time ago. I would like to keep my warranty intact for my remaining 15,000 miles.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

-J

[Petrograde]

a metallic noise that has a frequecy change in relation to vehicle speed would be a problem in the drive-line IMHO. do you still have your old gears? you might want to change them out and see the dealership.

when you have your car on the lift tonight, check everything! Make sure all the hardware is tight, it might be something as simple as a few loose nuts. For your sake, I hope thats all it is!


Tom

[67435animal]

Is it posi clutch noise perhaps? I don't know about what fluid is used in Fords, but GM has a posi additive to fix clutch noise in posi rear ends. Just maybe.....?

Bob

[jwheeler]

I sure hope I can rule out the diff. I really don't want them popping off the cover of the pumpkin and going, "Well what do we have here!" However, if the sound is coming from the axel or the wheel, I'll be taking it right to the dealership.

A little nervous...

:alone:

-J

[jgc61sr2002]

-J - Possibly a rear axel. There was a previous thread on possible rear axel defects.:(

[TAF]

My wife says she hears the same thing^^^, in the middle of the night...when I'm not out of town

Sorry...I had to do it.

[Rob1559]

TAF beat me to it.:D

[Marauderman]

It shouldn't take most of you long to know it was coming from someone very fast----(nice keys)

[Zack]

There is a TSB on this problem. Take it to the dealer immediately. You get new axles and bearings. Its free, win win situation

[BillyGman]

what I'm hearing on my MM also, but mine is only on the right rear wheel. I also notice that when I steer the car to one side which takes the weight off of that wheel the sound isn't there, and when I steer in the other direction which puts more weight on that wheel the sound gets worse. So in that case Zack might have a good point there. I think it's the axle bearing on both of our vehicle since this has to do w/the "Technicle Service Bulletin" (TSB) for the axles/bearings that it speaks of on the Blue Oval News website. I'm bringing my car to the dealer about this tomorrow, and for your information the "Dealer Operation Code" is 030505A which I guess the dealer needs.

[Dennis Reinhart]

I would check the dust shield on the rear rotors

[LincMercLover]

Mine's going in tomorrow for the axle TSB. Have I heard the noise? I don't think so... but I THOUGHT I heard a faint whining from the rear that varried with speed. Brought her in, told 'em about it, and they ordered the parts, no questions asked! If nothing else, take yours in for that and let them tear it apart and see what you end up with after that. Can't hurt it?

[SergntMac]

BTW, the kit will replace everything except the ring gear, pinion and diff. New bearings all around, new axles, bearing and so on...Nice time to install a stud kit and girdle, yes?

[jwheeler]

Well, guys thanks for all your input! It turns out it was a loose nut on the spot where the rear brake line entered the back of the rotor. I think it was the parking brake cable; it was the furthest one to the back. It was loose and causing it to rub. A couple of turns with a wrench, and problem solved. A 10 dollar solution for a million dollar worry!

With that said, I can sleep again!

:o

-J

[BillyGman]

mine was the parking brake cable also. When the meachanic at the dealer installed my Torque converter, he didn't mount the bracket for the emergency brake cable correctly. They fixed it within 15 minutes while I waited. That's a relief.:rolleyes: