1997 Explorer ALL WHEEL DRIVE with Poping sound on left front side

[triumph guy]

POPING OR CLUNKING TYPE SOUND AND SLIGHT JERK WHEN I START TO PULL FORWARD OR REVERSE THE SOUND GOES AWAY IN NORMAL SPEED .
I thought the problem was the cv joint in the front drive shaft , so I bought a new one from Ford ,but it did not stop the poping sound .With the front drive shaft removed the sound goes away . I would leave it off but the vechile creeps while in park on a slope and you must remember to put the parking brake on . Thus I put the new shaft back on.

Could the problem be the front axle cv joint ??

Vehicle has 85,000 miles.
IT SOUNDS LIKE SAME PROBLEM AS POSTED ON 7-10-2004 WITH 2000 EXPLORER

THANKS FOR ANY ADVISE FROM ANY ONE !!!

[Gizrat]

Originally Posted by triumph guy

POPING OR CLUNKING TYPE SOUND AND SLIGHT JERK WHEN I START TO PULL FORWARD OR REVERSE THE SOUND GOES AWAY IN NORMAL SPEED .
I thought the problem was the cv joint in the front drive shaft , so I bought a new one from Ford ,but it did not stop the poping sound .With the front drive shaft removed the sound goes away . I would leave it off but the vechile creeps while in park on a slope and you must remember to put the parking brake on . Thus I put the new shaft back on.

Could the problem be the front axle cv joint ??

Vehicle has 85,000 miles.
IT SOUNDS LIKE SAME PROBLEM AS POSTED ON 7-10-2004 WITH 2000 EXPLORER

THANKS FOR ANY ADVISE FROM ANY ONE !!!

Sounds Very familiar. Make sure that all four tires are properly inflated and that they are the same size. In my case when I bought my explorer used the dealer sold it to me with brand new Goodyear wranglers on the front and used Trail guide R/T's on the Back. The truck ran fine off the lot but over time the rear tires wore more than the front and are now actually 3/4 in. smaller than the front tires. My mechanic told me that the rear tires are spinning faster than the front and that my computer is seeing that as slipping and is trying to engage the 4 wheel drive the popping you here is the transfer case trying to engage four wheel drive. He told me that automatic 4 wheel drive vehicles must have all four same tires and have all even tire pressure. So what I did for a quick fix is, I rotated the back to the front and eliminated the noise from the transfer case.