squealing noise

Their seems to be a continous squealing noise coming from my front end. It starts at about 10mph and on up. I have come to the conclusion that it is either the brakes or transfer case. The noise seems to not change when i hit the brakes just keeps going until i get below 10mph. It sounds like when your pads go out and the wear indicators are doing their job. But i just replaced the pads last weekend so i know it is not the pads i kind of think it is a frozen caliper maybe? But i have no idea how to check and see if that id the problem any ideas. My truck is an 01 with the 5.0 and it is AWD with four wheel disc brakes. thanks in advance for any help.

Your symptoms ring a bell, Something about a front hub/ bearing grease seal spinning causing the squeel.

I Have A 2000 Mountaineer 5.0/awd! I Don't Know What Could Be Causing Your Problem But When Had A Squeeling Noise I Had To Replace The Top Idler Pulley. It Cost Under $10 And It Only Took 20 Minutes To Replace.



Ag, Illinois

Your symptoms ring a bell, Something about a front hub/ bearing grease seal spinning causing the squeel.

Do you know what the fix is or if there is one? I think someone said the bearings are sealed if i remember correctly. It only seems to happen when it is wet outside.

I Have A 2000 Mountaineer 5.0/awd! I Don't Know What Could Be Causing Your Problem But When Had A Squeeling Noise I Had To Replace The Top Idler Pulley. It Cost Under $10 And It Only Took 20 Minutes To Replace.



Ag, Illinois


I appreciate the advice but it is only when i am moving.

Do you know what the fix is or if there is one? I think someone said the bearings are sealed if i remember correctly. It only seems to happen when it is wet outside.


I did some resrearch,,Found the answer.
Ford has a tsb on the issue. TSB # 01-11-4 Titled -
Noise-"squeeling" or Whistling noise from front axle area - driving at speeds of 10-40 mph -4x4 vehicles only - Revised front outer halfshaft dust seals.
TSB applies to Explorer/ Mountaineer 1998-2001 .

The noise may be caused by the front halfshaft excluder (dust) seals as they rotate against the inner front hubs. The noise may be more pronounced in cold weather conditions.

You have to replace the seals with Ford # YL2Z-3K070-AA , 2 required , one each side. Both half shafts have to be removed for installation.
The seal is pressed on the outer race of the outer cv joint , then spread 1/8 "thick bead of hi-temp wheel bearing grease on new seal lips before reinstalling c/v and axle thru the cleaned knuckle.

Any more questions, please contact me. Have fun.

I did some resrearch,,Found the answer.
Ford has a tsb on the issue. TSB # 01-11-4 Titled -
Noise-"squeeling" or Whistling noise from front axle area - driving at speeds of 10-40 mph -4x4 vehicles only - Revised front outer halfshaft dust seals.
TSB applies to Explorer/ Mountaineer 1998-2001 .

The noise may be caused by the front halfshaft excluder (dust) seals as they rotate against the inner front hubs. The noise may be more pronounced in cold weather conditions.

You have to replace the seals with Ford # YL2Z-3K070-AA , 2 required , one each side. Both half shafts have to be removed for installation.
The seal is pressed on the outer race of the outer cv joint , then spread 1/8 "thick bead of hi-temp wheel bearing grease on new seal lips before reinstalling c/v and axle thru the cleaned knuckle.

Any more questions, please contact me. Have fun.


i tried to email you but your account is set to wher i gues you cant recieve them. So is it a recall or will i have to pay to have it fixed? Just email me

i tried to email you but your account is set to wher i gues you cant recieve them. So is it a recall or will i have to pay to have it fixed? Just email me


Your account also is set up so you can't recieve e-mails

This repair is not a recall. It says on the TSB that the repair is eligable under the provision of the basic warranty coverage which I believe was 3 years. Perhaps it would be covered under the Ford extended warranty
if you have it.
I would suggest getting it repaired at the Ford Dealer since they probably did this repair before. I Guess about 2.5-3.0 hour repair.

Hopefully bye-bye squeel, Good Luck.

Your account also is set up so you can't recieve e-mails

This repair is not a recall. It says on the TSB that the repair is eligable under the provision of the basic warranty coverage which I believe was 3 years. Perhaps it would be covered under the Ford extended warranty
if you have it.
I would suggest getting it repaired at the Ford Dealer since they probably did this repair before. I Guess about 2.5-3.0 hour repair.

Hopefully bye-bye squeel, Good Luck.

Thanks I appreciate it

Do you still have a noise problem? I can help. I drive a '98 Explorer and have had my "dust seals' replaced 6 times by 4 different Ford Dealers over a 6 year period, under both the MFG. standard warranty and my 100k mike extended warranty and I still have the same noise problem. My Explorer can be so noisy that people scurry to get out of my way, it's VERY EMBARRASSING when I get those dirty looks!

The bigger problem is this could lead to a SAFETY concern. These dust seals will eventually fail and not be able to keep the moving parts free from dust & debris. Those unprotected moving parts could fail and create a dangerous condition. Ford is aware of the problem and should not allow this. There is a TSB from the NHTSA so the Gov is also aware of the issue. With all of the negative news in the media over the last 10 years regarding the poor safety of the Explorer/Ranger, Ford would be well advised to do something about it.

My ESP expired in Dec.'04 and Ford washed their hands of my noise problem stating that "after 7 years, Ford wont offer MFG. support for any more vehicle concerns". Mind you I bought my Explorer brand-new with the longest extended warranty that Ford sold: 6 years/100k miles (as peace-of-mind insurance), I also bought the longest maintenance agreement and had my vehicle serviced at Ford dealer's exclusively after that for a total of 7 years.

I was a loyal Ford customer for 7 years. I guess I too wasn't aggressive enough about my Explorer's defective dust seal problem and now am stuck paying the price for being a nice guy. I was extremely patient, allowing them every opportunity to fix this problem when I should have put my foot down and been one of those irate people who make a scene when they are wronged.

The service manager at my local dealer offered to "repair" my noisy dust seals but he would have to charge me for the service. I was left with no options because I sure wasn't going to begin spending my money to fix a problem that "Ford Certified Factory Technicians" couldn't fix after 6 attempts. What was I going to do start paying for another 6 replacement dust seals out of my own pocket, I don't think so?

I was so frustrated that I "explored" my rights and discovered the California Lemon Law and got an attorney. I am now suing Ford under the California Lemon Law. You can too, my '98 Explorer has 94K miles and under the Lemon Law I am entitled to a "MFG. Buy-Back" where Ford has to buy my Explorer from me for the price that I paid back in '98 plus tax, title, reg, everything, then deducting a small percentage for use. The law is very clear with regard to product liability you as a consumer have rights. With so many of us we may have a class-action lawsuit against Ford.

My court date is in July '07, I will let you know how it goes unless we settle and I have to sign a nondisclosure agreement, until then I'll tell anyone and everyone who wants to know about it.