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What the heck is going on now???

A

Aussie Ford

Hard-core CEG'er
Joined
Sep 3, 2006
Messages
2,033
Location
Portland, Orygun
So, I make a left turn into a side street. There is some construction going on with cones on the side of the road. I all of a sudden as I straightened out on to the street I felt a slight bump, and hear this noise that sounds like I'm dragging one of those cones under the car. (it was just after dark) I was heading to the park to take the dog for a walk (it is always about him). I started to stop and I felt the car start of jerk and the noise got louder. I was just a few feet from the park parking area so I pulled in looked under the car and nothing there. That was not a good thing….. When the dog and I got back to the car, I started it and it went into gear ok and other than jerking slightly when I turned left and the grinding sound it drove. So, I drove the dozen or so blocks back to my house and parked it. The grinding happens even when coasting. To me it seems to be coming from the right side front wheel, or drive shaft. I would think it was a wheel bearing, but it was just so sudden and that slight thump when it happened doesn’t really seem like it would be that

What are your thoughts????

Thanks
 
Aussie Ford said:
So, I make a left turn into a side street. ..... I all of a sudden as I straightened out on to the street I felt a slight bump, and hear this noise that sounds like I'm dragging one of those cones under the car. (it was just after dark)....I started to stop and I felt the car start of jerk and the noise got louder. I was just a few feet from the park parking area so I pulled in looked under the car and nothing there. .....The grinding happens even when coasting. To me it seems to be coming from the right side front wheel, or drive shaft......
Click to expand...
Broken passenger (right) side spring.
 
Or CV Joints, mine made some similar noise before it blew up on me and sent ball bearings and the ball bearing cage everywhere.

But I also had that broken (Right) Spring like Tony said which made a hell of a clank on a seperate occasion.

Frank
 
swissfrank said:
Or CV Joints, mine made some similar noise before it blew up on me and sent ball bearings and the ball bearing cage everywhere.

But I also had that broken (Right) Spring like Tony said which made a hell of a clank on a seperate occasion.

Frank
Click to expand...

I was thinking about the CV joint, if it is that it is different than the one that broke on my Chevy Euro Sport. That one thumped at every revolution. There is an occasional quiet thump but mostly this growling grinding sound.

I had no Clank at all.... :help:
 
TourDeForce said:
Maybe a brake pad came off the backing???
Click to expand...
Hello Buddy,
First, Merry Christmas,
I [FONT=&quot]thought of that as I was grinding my way home from the park.... I have mostly dismissed that because it is continuous and if it was the brake pad (I've warn a few sets down to nothing over the years on other vehicles) they usually tame down to a loose rattle when your off the brake. This is a definite growling grinding all the time. Under power and coasting. I started to put it in neutral once and it started to jerk so I left it in drive. Later it went in Neutral ok and while coasting the sound was the same. It did increase and decrease according to the speed. There did not seem to be any slipping in the transmission. Now that I think of it there was this loose rattle / tinkle a couple of times like parts were loose and getting mixed around. This was a very short duration.

Actually I am not ruling out anything until I pull a tire, and get a good look it is just too cold right now. We are having this storm and I have been working 18hr days, and on call the rest of the time since last Thursday. Last night when we were starting to get a handle on all of the power outages down to around 75k out from 254k, a couple of big transformers in a substation blew up and burned. They sent a fire ball about 500' into the air and burned for about 6 hrs. That put another 55k people out of power. within minutes of that we lost another transformer at another substation from the overload as we were rerouting the power. We managed to get those last folks back on in about 25 minutes.

With all that, my son (not the Marine), has been working on the rescue of those three climbers on Mt Hood. That is until Thurs night when his neighbors 90' fir tree blew over and landed on his 03 Dodge Ram. We were impressed with how that took the impact. It hit from the rear across the tailgate and down the middle of the cab. If you had been in the cab at the time you would have been ok..... you might have had to change your skivvies but, at least you would have been able to do that [/FONT]:laugh:
 
If the pad comes loose, it will likely lodge in the caliper/bracket area and stay in there causing the sounds you describe, and it would be continuous. I hope that is your problem as it is a fairly cheap fix if it hasn't bent up your caliper, piston, or bracket.

Good luck with all the bad weather & stay safe. Had my share of super-harsh conditions in northern Maine where I grew up, and been through some devastating hurricane seasons here in south Florida. Not at all fun for home owners.
 
My thought would be check the hub bearing and do it soon, the longer you run it bad the more likely you will tear up the hub or axle or both.
 
MaddMike2 said:
My thought would be check the hub bearing and do it soon, the longer you run it bad the more likely you will tear up the hub or axle or both.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I'll do that. It is parked right now until it gets fixed. I'd never knowingly drive a car with a serious problem. It is just too cold to work on it (I admit it I'm a fair weather wrench bender) so I'm stuck with my Dodge Ram 4x4, oh darn......:cool:
 
Just a suggestion but try checking the undershield - big plastic sheet that runs under the engine. I had the same symptoms you mentioned and could never find it until the undershield caught on a manhole cover and dropped down completely.

It had broken in the centre and I could not see anything looking underneath. When driving the wind would get under (or above in this case) and force it down until it touched the road. Stop and it would spring back into place.

Took the whole thing off and the noise went away...and it seems to allow more air around the motor too.

Never know this might just be it!
 
It is better to replace that shield, at least on the US models:) The A/C will work better, too. More important in trafic jams/hot weather.
 
GerryAttrick:
Thanks I'll look at that too. However I should say that I was going only about 5 mph at the time, and I don't think that is enough air movement to cause that cover to drag. But, good point something to check....

FavoriteMystaque:
You mention replacing this shield, with what? I'm sure it is there with the idea of keeping dirt off the engine. Not quite sure why that one rectangle part of it sticks down...

Thank you for your suggestions. Like I said just waiting for the weather to get a bit better and now I hear we have freezing rain coming.

Merry Christmas
 
he means if you ripped that big arsed shroud off you should find a replacement. It really is necessary to keep these cars from overheating, especially when stuck in traffic. I took mine off when I flushed the coolant out one summer, never put it back on and my temps went from "O" and "R" to "A" and "L" put it back on again and they went back to original.
 
Thanks for the clarification, some times I read slow:drool: Anyway my shield is still in place remember it only sounded like I had something stuck under it, and unlike your Tour my temp always stays around the A & L.
 
Aussie,

I had a similar occurance awhile back and it turned out to be the rear motor mount breaking apart. It allows the axle to 'sit down' on the subframe hence causing all of the grinding noises you hear. There was also a little bit of in-cabin vibration when you start to pick up speed. I'd look there. It should be easy to tell just by looking at the axles with the car in the air. Good luck!!!
 
Pale Horse said:
Aussie,

I had a similar occurance awhile back and it turned out to be the rear motor mount breaking apart. It allows the axle to 'sit down' on the subframe hence causing all of the grinding noises you hear. There was also a little bit of in-cabin vibration when you start to pick up speed. I'd look there. It should be easy to tell just by looking at the axles with the car in the air. Good luck!!!
Click to expand...
Thanks Pale Horse,
Yesterday the sun came out here for a bit and it was about 50, so I ventured out to the driveway and took a look at things. First, I checked the bakes and they were just fine. Then I looked at the CV joint boot and drive shafts, and there was nothing visibly wrong. I tried the 12/6 & 9/3 wiggles and everything was tight, I rotated the wheel forward & backward nothing......These things were done on both sides..... same results

This leads me now to think it is in the inner CV joint, oh darn!!!!
 
THE REST OF THE STORY .... ANOTHER DEAD TOUR :cry:


I took it to my mechanic today and got what I think is the death blow sad.gif Seems that the problem is from somewhere in the transmission, to wit; they test drove it down the street a block there was a real loud noise and it quit moving..... they had to push it back to the shop.

New ATX from Ford $3k + install..... none available from JY around here.

The guy said that 95 is an only year for the tranny, that it has to be a Ztech, and it has to be the right one of two different setups.

Is that about right, anyone have a conformation on that?

Labor alone to remove and install is $949.39

Damm

Costs as much as a new car to fiX, and this has the wiring harness problem too, but I have the replacement harness to solve that

I have so many parts & pieces to install on this.

New headlights from Team Ford.
Wiring harness from Team Ford.
New power antenna.
Facotry Fog lights, with the last NEW dash indicator light in the US.
Drivers door wiring harness with bubble switch and auto down & up. (0ne of a kind)
Rear pass door wiring harness with auto down.
Ford alarm.
2000 dome light.
Mystique rear dome light.
Taurus cup and change holder.
Dual cooling fans (just got them cleaned up to install with the wiring harness fix)
and many more things to tinker with. This has been a fun car to mess with, and farily simple to work on.

I'm gonna miss it and so is the dog.:(
 
I was just lookin' at a web site that had fresh Motorcraft re-man trannies for under $2k with a $600 core. There are also places with the CD4E transmission for around $800 plus shipping, but I don't know if the '95 version will be available. The innernet is your friend...

I'll see if I can find those links...

Here's one: http://www.drivetrain.com/motorcraft_auto_trans.html#Contour

Here's the other: http://www.phoenixhardparts.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=326

That'll save you some coin. One with a 3 year warranty - I like that. The other you pay extra for an extended warranty, but for similar coverage, the pricing comes out about the same in the end.
 
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Thank you for the info, I'll consider it. I found that I can buy a whole running car for $350 - $600. I could pull the tranny and sell other parts or just scrap the car, but then I got another chance for the same thing to happen. I have to consider this process a bit. On one hand the car did suit my needs very well, and I still got some fun stuff to put on it....
 
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