whistling noise

I have a loud whistling noise that seems to be coming from the driver's side of my Explorer. It sounds like a dentist drill (extremely loud) and occurs in dry weather (I don't hear it until summer each year) when I'm on the freeway, starting at about 45MPH. I have taken it in SEVERAL times to the dealer and they can't find the problem. I'm thinking that it's wind related--when the wind blows across the front of the car, it whistles through into the interior. Anyone else had this problem? I'd appreciate any ideas!

I have a loud whistling noise that seems to be coming from the driver's side of my Explorer. It sounds like a dentist drill (extremely loud) and occurs in dry weather (I don't hear it until summer each year) when I'm on the freeway, starting at about 45MPH. I have taken it in SEVERAL times to the dealer and they can't find the problem. I'm thinking that it's wind related--when the wind blows across the front of the car, it whistles through into the interior. Anyone else had this problem? I'd appreciate any ideas!


I would have to guess that you are some where just over 45,000 miles on your car. We started with that noise last summer. The dealership had the car three weeks and decided it was wind noise. They recaulked the windows-- no help.
In the winter the tranny died three separate times (it's an 02), all work was done at the dealership.
The whistling noise started back up this year in late spring. (Only on hot dry days) The original dealership said "Turn up your radio- your out of warranty. we show we fixed this noise by caulking the windows and you didn't complain about it for 5 months"---duh
Went to a different dealer and while helpful --kept the car for 16 days total -heard the noise- changed the idle air control, air filer, checked vents and taped off moldings was unable to fix the noise which is now coming out of both sides of the car. We just traded in our car with a full disclosure and said goodbye to the headache! literally.

A friend of mine just hit 42,000miles and hers started whistling at her this weeek. good luck-- sorry that Ford has no idea why this is.

Thanks for your story. I'm at about 38K right now, so I guess that you were lucky that the whistling held out so long for you. Of course, it only starts after warranty...

How did you disclose when you sold it? I've been thinking of selling, but I wanted to be honest without blowing the deal.

We just told the dealer (the 2nd one that had worked on it) to get us out of it. Ford refused to declare it a lemon so we traded it back to them. I feel a little bad because they said they were going to send it to auction regardless of what shape it was in. But anyone who looks up the VIN will see a long list of fixes and complaints on the ford site. It also has a 100,000 mile warranty extended by ford but that is all that Ford corporate would do. I feel none of them have much of a conscience. Once they have your money they really aren't that interested. We got killed on trade of course but we couldn't sell it outright and have it come back to us. The dealer new and worked on it...Good luck

Thanks for your story. I'm at about 38K right now, so I guess that you were lucky that the whistling held out so long for you. Of course, it only starts after warranty...

How did you disclose when you sold it? I've been thinking of selling, but I wanted to be honest without blowing the deal.

I have a '95 Sport with the same whistling noise and it is driving me crazy. With so many Explorers on the road, you would think someone would stumble unto the root cause. Mine sounds like wind rushing through the body somewhere at about the same speed of 45 mph and up. I am not sure whether mine is only in the summer, but it is more noticable when the windows are down. I have so many unusual noises coming from this vehicle that if they finally give out it will cost me dearly. Bought new, looks great, but very noisy with only 76K miles.

I have a loud whistling noise that seems to be coming from the driver's side of my Explorer. It sounds like a dentist drill (extremely loud) and occurs in dry weather (I don't hear it until summer each year) when I'm on the freeway, starting at about 45MPH. I have taken it in SEVERAL times to the dealer and they can't find the problem. I'm thinking that it's wind related--when the wind blows across the front of the car, it whistles through into the interior. Anyone else had this problem? I'd appreciate any ideas!



i have had this Whistling Noise, too.......
it took a while to pinpoint it, but I beleive it may be coming from the roof rack......
doesn't always appear but will in summer time months.....

hope this helps.

I knew I read a solution to that in here somewhere. I searched "whistling noise". In that post it was determined it was the bug deflector. Specificall the slots where the deflector mounts to the vehicle. Check it out.

After hours of investigation, I have found the source of my whistling noise in the front of my 95 sport. When the vehicle was new my dealer installed a Ford labeled bug shield/wind deflector. This deflector has 4 small slits on the underside close to the screws that hold it in place. These slits are approximately 4.5" long and 1/4" wide. The air rushes up through the openings making the irritating noise. I taped them over with duct tape and have plans to permanently close them with silicon sealer. If you wanted to make your deflector whistle, the slits are the perfect solution. Maybe they doubled as deer alert whistles.