High Pitched Whistling Sound in 98 Ford Explorer Sport

[promark32]

Over the weekend I noticed a high pitch whistling sound inside the Explorer while driving above 50 mph. Have no idea what it could be but tried turning off radio, heater/defroster to no avail. There are no cracks in windows/windshield. It gets pretty loud and annoying. Anyone have any idea what this might be?

[eyoung0470]

Did you ever find out what the problem was? I am having a similar problem with my 2000 Explorer. The warranty is now up and they are telling me it needs a new engine due to "sludge" in the engine. They say it is due to lack of maintenance, but that just isn't true.

[promark32]

Eyoung0470,

Haven't found out yet. If I do ever get it figured out, I'll post on here what it was and what hopefully fixed it.

[mote01]

I have the same problem in a 2002. I was told it was the serpentine belt. had it replaced under warranty and it still does it. Mainly when its REAL cold outside.

[promark32]

I think I've solved the mystery of the whistling sound in my Explorer. As I was driving home from work today, I noticed that the plastic casing around the bottom of my radio antenna was up about 2 inches from the bottom. I stopped and slipped it back down into its correct position and the whistling sound went away. This must have happened while I was at the car wash over the weekend.

[e57]

I had a whistle and a very sharp Minikie Muffler tech knew just what it was. The muffler has drain holes that getsrust chips stuck in them and they whistle. He opened the drain hole with his torch and fixed the problem. I was so greatful because the noise was driving me crazy.

He told me a funny story. He often stopped in traffic next to the same Explorer on his morning commute to work and it had the muffler rust hole whistle but he never got to tell the driver because it was in busy traffic.

[Dom1]

Hi. I have a 2001 Explorer Sport that whines at about 2100 rpm when it's real cold out(below 20 degress F). After about 15 miles it goes away. Took it to the dealer and they also replaced my Serp Belt under warrenty. The noise is still there when it's cold. Could it be a bearing in say the power steering pump? When the fluid warms up maybe it quiets the whine. Dom

[cromptonco]

So, I know this is a pretty old thread but anyhow...

That muffler whistle you're referring to: does it change with engine speed or with road speed or with neither? I have a whistle that comes in at about 50mph and goes away again at 60. It's related to road speed, not engine speed. It also goes away when the car is good and hot (not simply when it first gets up to normal operating temperature). I've tried everything I can in terms of wind noise: I've pretty much eliminated that. It's a very pure tone, sounds like a whistle... what could it be? Driving me crazy...

[denisb]

IACs on explorer are supposedly very common to give whidtling noises. Mine has a whistle that souds like it literaly clicks of as you alsmost come to a stop. I read up on it on an Explorer site and all symptoms seem to point towards IAC. Just waiting for the weather to get better so I can take it apart and clean it.

Denis