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We have an intermittent problem with our 2007 Ford Explorer. This has only happened twice, about 6 months apart, but we are n ow concerned with the reliability of the vehicle. We have experienced an issue where the vehicle gets a really rough vibration which sounds like it is coming from the drive train. This goes on for a few miles and then it gets better and finally everything is ok. No OBD codes, nothing. We had it tuned up at the dealership and they ran a full scan on it but still nothing. Of course, it was running fine at that time so I really didn’t think anything would show up. A friend mentioned torque converter shudder to me but I am not very familiar with that problem. Any ideas or suggestions? I am adding a word file that I wrote and gave to the dealership when they had the car recently. Hopefully, this will give more info. Thanks!
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Here’s the file I was trying to upload:
February 21, 2013
We were driving along on a secondary road, about 25 miles from home and going about 50-55mph, when suddenly, the car started riding very roughly and it sounded and felt like we were running over a rumble strip. This noise and vibration sounded like it was coming from the rear end and it kept coming and going for about another mile or two while we looked for a good place to get off the road. When we stopped, I checked the tires (no low air pressure signal) and the brakes (not hot) and everything seemed ok. It did feel as though the engine was idling a little roughly; not too bad, but not quite as smoothly as normal.
We turned around and started home. As we continued on, the noise and vibration got worse at first, but then gradually, the symptoms went away. By the time we got back to the interstate, about 11 miles later, they had disappeared completely. We got on the interstate and came home at normal interstate speed.
We never got a check engine light and the car idled smoothly when we got home. As a first step, our neighbor ran his scan tool on the car for us, but no codes showed up.
This exact same thing happened to the car once before. It was last September; 6 months ago. Same symptoms, etc. We made it home then, just like this time, with the car getting better and better as we drove along. Since then, it has been running fine…. Until today.It’s difficult to say if the torque converter was at fault. To know for sure I believe you would need to monitor torque converter pressure as the problem occurs. Problems like this are VERY difficult to nail down via a forum because without seeing the problem in action it’s hard to tell where to start. This video series might help point you in the right direction.
Solving Performance Problems 1
Solving Performance Problems 2
Re Performance Problems
Thank you for taking a look at my posts, Eric. Unfortunately, I have to agree with you that a problem like this, that has only happened twice in 6 months, will be extremely difficult to find. I will review the videos you suggested and we’ll just have to continue driving the vehicle and see what happens! Thanks again, keep up the good work, and Stay Dirty!
How is the state of tune on the vehicle in regards to spark plugs and so on?
Maybe this problem is related to an intermittent engine miss due to the secondary ignition. This can occur without setting any codes.
If the plugs have been in there forever as Ford recommends then they’re certainly a suspect and an iffy spark plug can even lead to coil failure; which in your case should be a COP, or coil on plug.You could be right! We bought this vehicle used in 2010 and, to be honest, it hadn’t been tuned up since we’re had it and who knows how long it had been before we got it. As part of trying to fix this issue, after this most recent episode, we took it back to the dealership and had a complete tune-up done: plugs, wires, filters, etc. Since then, it’s been running perfectly… but since we’ve only had the problem show up twice since 2010…. we’ll just keep driving it and keep our fingers crossed! Thanks for your reply! If you think of anything else, please be sure to let me know!
Eric:
Our Explorer has been running normally since the last episode. Since this happens only every now and then, can you think of any specific things I should try to looks at if I am in the vehicle the next time it happens: engine sounds, RPM changes, etc? I would appreciate any advice you can give me on this. As you noted in your last reply to my topic, this is going to be a tough one!
Thanks,
Monte
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