flushing sound when accel.

2002 mountaineer AWD
every-time i accelerate after starting, my engine makes a flushing sound.
it happens while entering the freeway and stops when the RPM reaches 2.5.
what could this be? should i be worried about it?
thanks.

Welcome to the forum!

Has the Mountaineer always done this, or did it recently start? Does your Mountaineer have an electric or belt-driven radiator cooling fan? Does the noise change as the engine warms up? Does it do it everytime you enter the freeway?

Any chance the "flushing sound" could also be described as a "marbles in a tin can" sound? Will it make the noise if you rev the engine with the transmission in park? Which engine does your Mountaineer have?

-Rod

Welcome to the forum!

Has the Mountaineer always done this, or did it recently start? Does your Mountaineer have an electric or belt-driven radiator cooling fan? Does the noise change as the engine warms up? Does it do it everytime you enter the freeway?

Any chance the "flushing sound" could also be described as a "marbles in a tin can" sound? Will it make the noise if you rev the engine with the transmission in park? Which engine does your Mountaineer have?

-Rod

Thanks for the fast response, sorry for my delay.

I just purchased it in May and it seems like it's been doing it for a month. It has 80,000 miles on it. 4.0L SOHC V6 Engine. Im not sure if it's electric or belt drive cooling fan. A picture from the owners guide is below if you can tell.
The sound doesn't sound like marbles in a tin can. But could be described as marbles rolling around on a hard surface. The noise does not sound with the transmission in park.
Also, there seems to be a grinding sound or metal to metal contact when I steer the vehicle sharply (like from a street into a driveway). Do you think this has anything to do with it?
Thanks.
http://i9.tinypic.com/4qnwen5.jpg

According to the factory service manual, your 2002 Mountaineer with the V-6 has a cooling fan and clutch. Based on your description of the sound, I suspect the flushing sound is due the cooling fan and clutch assembly. This would be completely normal.

Without hearing the "flushing sound" and noise on sharp turns in person, I'd have a hard time telling if the two are related.

-Rod

When you turn the wheels sharply, does it feel like your front wheels are hopping? I have been experiencing that problem with our 2002 AWD. The transfercase has a clutch mechanism in it that allows it to slip when the wheels are turned sharply. The problem I was having was that the clutch was not slipping and I would hear a loud pop when turning sharply on payvement and the front wheels would hop. I would suggest changing the fluid in your transfercase and add the synthetic fluid back in. I replaced the transfercase in ours with a salvage one for $450, rather than spending $1400 - $1600 to rebuild it. After 12k miles I am experiencing the same problem and just had the fluid changed, and it was burnt. Time to get rid of her!!