Rear end whine

[gf]

Our 2003 Aviator stared a rear end whine just after we bought it. The sound starts at about speen 50 and stops and 60-65. They have put in two differential and the now its doing it again. Last time it go so lud you can barely stand to be in the rear seat. Not sure what we will do now as they get one more chance according to state lemon law. Anyone else seeing this?

[pro-five-oh]

Another Aviator owner on this site reported the problem. Sounds like bad axles. And judging by this article, you are not alone:
http://blueovalnews.com/2003/trucks/expy.03.frontaxle.t30604.htm

Go to the blueovalnews.com main page and look up the phone numbers of customer service reps in your area. If the dealer is not willing to help you, just call Ford directly.

Best of luck.

[Steve L]

Good one Pro. Ive been reading the same articles about the cheap a$$ axles ford has installed. Everyone on this site needs to add Blue Oval News to they're Favorites List. I like to keep up with all the inside info. because I have to repair all this stuff.

[gf]

Thank you for that info, helps. George

[DonL]

I have had the rear end noise problem since day one. I am suppose to be getting a return call from Ford custome service today giving me details of the problem and what they plan on doing to fix it. Same thing, starts about 40-50 and quits by 70. Drives me crazy.
DL

[pro-five-oh]

200 miles on mine and its still silent. ;)

If mine gets the dreaded whine, I am pointing my service advisor to this thread. smile.gif

[DonL]

I got a repy from the Ford Service dept. at
800-521-4140 x3x2. The answer is that there may or may not be a problem. They are aware of complaints but do not have a fix. If enough people complain then they have a recall. I was told to continue to call my service dept. on a by-monthly basis to see if they have received a fix on this.

[gf]

Well, when you cannot stand to sit in the rear seats that is a problem and if they do not fix ours we will use the lemon law. We were told to wait until 12/10 like there will be an answer then butI doubt it. You can post you complaint on the National Highway Saftey site.

[DonL]

Two questions. What is the address for the National Highway Safety site and how do I proceed with the Lemon Law action?
Thanks.

[gf]

This is the highway sifety site complaint link; http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/problems/complain/complaintsearch.cfm

You car info should inlcude your states lemaon laws or you can go online and get them. InSC they get 30 days down time total or three attempts to fix one thing. We have had two attempts.

[DonL]

Thanks for the help. I will keep the forum informed about this problem.

[pro-five-oh]

VERY interesting.

Well, if you guys can get them lemon law'd, please consider buying a 2004 model. This trucks are still NICE!

[carfixer]

I have been involved with this concern at the dealer. We have about 50% of our Aviator owners with the same concern. Ford has instructed us to do nothing until they have a fix. All the whining units that Ford has checked out shows the pinion bearing preload has backed off to zero thus changing the pinion depth. This is causing the whine. In a conversation I had with a Ford engineer, he told me if the truck has less than 5k miles, try tosimply tighten up the pinion nut to increase the bearing preload which will probably reduce the noise until a permanant fix is out. I haven't tried it yet but will post when I do.
We have so many Aviators and Mountaineers waiting for this fix and it is very difficult asking someone who bought a $40-46,000 car to live with the noise until we can fix it. I certainly feel your pain.

[DaveC]

I'm also having the REAR END WHINE with my AVIATOR. It's absolutely horrible!!! I'm also looking at getting an attorney if Lincoln doesn't address the problem correctly. We had this vehicle for 1 year and have less than 8,000 miles on it. We keep getting the run around from the dealer as well.

I put the Aviator back in the shop today. The service rep is now saying that Lincoln is actually saying the whining noise "is normal"!!! They are supposedly working on an a sound insulation fix. That's like putting lipstick on a pig ... unbelievable!!!

I'm really steamed about the poor way Lincoln is handling this and will probably not buy another Lincoln product ... I've owned 3 Lincoln products previously.

[DonL]

I checked with my local dealer Service Manager today. No fix yet on the rear end whine. He did not have any answer on "when" either.
Has anybody forced this issue yet?
Don
Corpus Christi

[pro-five-oh]

Hit 2500 miles on our 2004 Aviator, its dead silent in the back. Did a quick oil change and everything is hunky-dory. No noises at all.

You 2003 owners need to threaten a class action lawsuit or something. The Aviator didn't change anything but the color of the wood in 2004, this is just idiotic, Ford is obviously to blame.

[Aviator]

I'm not an expert but I've been told by experts that rear gear noise usually occurs because the gears were not "broken in" properly. The speed and load should be varied for the first 1,000 to 2,000 miles to avoid a wear pattern that can cause a whine sound.

Many people get a new vehicle just for a vacation or long trip. They set the speed control and crank off a few hundred or thousand miles. That creates a wear "Grove" where the pressure point from the pinion gear meets the ring gear. Because the grove is narrow, the gears will make the whine sound when they are not matched in the grove.

By varying the speed and load in the beginning, you create a broad wear pattern and very little gear noise. Once the gears take a "Set", you can't go back and break them in again.

Perhaps someone can check their owner's manual about breaking in the vehicle and post what it says.

[gf]

Thats absurd! Ours started within the first few hundred miles and we broke in correctly. They put in a new differential and it is worse than the firstone. We are to get a third one tomorrow.

[lemaviator]

That break end stuff is a crock.
I've had two rear ends in my aviator and still whines. this is my wifes car that she uses normally everyday.
Well this was my first Lincoln and last , I don't even want a FORD.
Mine has been in shop 10 times and tommorow will be 11th.

[DonL]

I posted a few weeks ago that my "rear end whine" was fixed with a new differential. Well that was premature. It is slowly coming back. As of today, it is about half what it once was. Tolerable but still present. This aviator is going for a trade in with a sequoia.

Don

[Nick]

Sorry to hear you're both leaving Ford. Usually, they are pretty good with problems. We had a couple items with our 1999 Continental, but none with our 2000. We had a 1990 Sable that should have scared us off, but staying with Ford hasn't been a bad choice. It's odd to see that Ford and its suppliers haven't found a fix for this.

[lemaviator]

Update on AVIATOR
Has been to shop 12 times
Last time still has whine in rear end around 55-65. They drove and said the 2004 do the same thing!!!!!! This is normal and they could do NOTHING...12 times at 17,000 miles ....what is going to do after 40,000.
Keep you posted.

[pro-five-oh]

quote:Originally posted by lemaviator:
They drove and said the 2004 do the same thing!!!!!!

Well that's a load of crap. My 2004 doesn't do that. I think the folks at Blue Oval News need to hear about this...

[Nick]

Try another dealer, even if it's just a Ford dealer. Another dealer might be more cooperative or might know what to do. Not all dealers are created equal. :rolleyes: