Exhaust Noise Issues

[Griffin]

Bought my ST last August. At 4000 miles, the exhaust began to rattle and vibrate horribly when the engine decelerated through 1500RPM. Took the vehicle in and they replaced the pipe section which contained a mesh covered spacer. Noise stopped. But...at 10000 miles it started again. Bought vehicle back. They said it is turbocharger back pressure, but this time said it was normal and refused to change any pipe. Now at 11,500, it is horribly loud, and is frustrating and maddening. Most likely a design flaw. Has anyone else experienced this??

 

[Adrenalinejunky]

Some, if not all, of these have some sort of a atmospheric valve near muffler and this is what
You might be hearing as miles gather up. Just a guess as of all the forums I frequent this is a first.

 

[turntablekinetix]

are there other explorer st forums? this one is kinda dead

 

[Lancematic]

Check for cracked weld on catalytic converters. Mine is being replaced now for that reason. It was a notable loud exhaust note during low rpm engine loading.

explorerforum.com seems to have more traffic.

 

[turntablekinetix]

 

[JohnE]

Could be the waste gate not closing completely and the valve rattling inside the housing.

 

[AkExplorerST]

Mine just started doing the same thing. It's an intermittent fault, but when it is happening, I can crawl under the car, and see the left side exhaust system rattling. There is a flex joint that is vibrating rapidily, causing the noise. Stopped to talk to the local Ford dealer, and have an upcoming appointment to see if it can be fixed.

 

[Griffin]

Mine just started doing the same thing. It's an intermittent fault, but when it is happening, I can crawl under the car, and see the left side exhaust system rattling. There is a flex joint that is vibrating rapidily, causing the noise. Stopped to talk to the local Ford dealer, and have an upcoming appointment to see if it can be fixed.

Did they fix your exhaust? Mine is also only left side. I told them I was going to have an after-market shop remove those mesh spacers and add more hangers. They did talk me out of it saying they would not fix under warranty after that. They did say once the complaints add up they will address the problem. Just had a new module and reprogram of the transmission done. That has helped the downshifting and vibration some but it is still beyond ridiculous.

 

[AkExplorerST]

Did they fix your exhaust? Mine is also only left side. I told them I was going to have an after-market shop remove those mesh spacers and add more hangers. They did talk me out of it saying they would not fix under warranty after that. They did say once the complaints add up they will address the problem. Just had a new module and reprogram of the transmission done. That has helped the downshifting and vibration some but it is still beyond ridiculous.

Not yet. The dealer ordered the left side parts, should be in this week. Will see if that cures the problem.

 

[Griffin]

Not yet. The dealer ordered the left side parts, should be in this week. Will see if that cures the problem.

They replaced my left side exhaust up to the Y pipe. It fixed for 4-5K miles and the noises all returned. Took it back and they said the Ford warranty office would not authorize them to change it again. Hope yours works out better than mine has.

 

[GTP]

Mine had a horrible metal-on-metal rattling sound the day I drove it home. Determined it was outside, driver's side, in the very rear. Crawled under there to find 1/4" gap between the last exhaust hanger and the body.

The bolt would not tighten. I worried that the body insert was stripped. So I chased the 8Mx1.25 threads anyway and crossed my fingers. The long bolt then threaded in all the way. So I put on some blue thread-lock and tightened it just past snug (about spark plug tight), so as not to risk stripping the threads any further.

Been all good so far. Pic of everything I used to effect the repair.

 

[Griffin]

Ford finally put out a Bulletin on the exhaust noises. I had it performed, it did nothing. It was simply two clamps. I took the vehicle back and as we knew, the root cause is the flex pipe and mesh covers below the driver and passenger seats. Ford says they have no fix and would do nothing further. However, through a very good service advisor and tech at the dealership, they modified the exhaust by simply cutting out the flex pipe and mesh covers, replacing with straight hard pipe. The vehicle has 22K miles and sounded awful. With the conversion...bad vibration gone, annoying rattling gone, very smooth and quiet, and the performance remains the same. Since Ford warranty would not cover, I did pay $70 for the fix, but would have paid $300 I was so disgusted. Could not be happier with the result.

 

[Justin_2020_ST]

Ford finally put out a Bulletin on the exhaust noises. I had it performed, it did nothing. It was simply two clamps. I took the vehicle back and as we knew, the root cause is the flex pipe and mesh covers below the driver and passenger seats. Ford says they have no fix and would do nothing further. However, through a very good service advisor and tech at the dealership, they modified the exhaust by simply cutting out the flex pipe and mesh covers, replacing with straight hard pipe. The vehicle has 22K miles and sounded awful. With the conversion...bad vibration gone, annoying rattling gone, very smooth and quiet, and the performance remains the same. Since Ford warranty would not cover, I did pay $70 for the fix, but would have paid $300 I was so disgusted. Could not be happier with the result.
View attachment 2046

This is great info. I've had mine since september 2019 and its been making that same awful noice since about 1K miles. Dealer wouldnt fix when i took in for first oil change. I'll bring this pic with me and try and talk em into it. My $55K brand new car sounds like a 1995 Honda. REALLY ANNOYING!!!

 

[Danskau]

Same issues with my 2020 ST. 4800 miles. Been “repaired “ 3 times. First time was told it was a “flapper “ valve...”normal“. Second time they found the service bulletin and installed the clamps....no good. Third time they replaced Y tube....that was about a month ago. Rattle is returning....

 

[Justin_2020_ST]

Same issues with my 2020 ST. 4800 miles. Been “repaired “ 3 times. First time was told it was a “flapper “ valve...”normal“. Second time they found the service bulletin and installed the clamps....no good. Third time they replaced Y tube....that was about a month ago. Rattle is returning....

I climbed under the car yesterday and noticed that all the muffler tubes are clamped together and not welded. My pipes had black soot around the joints. I get all sorts of bad exhaust smells in the car if I/m just idling and the heater/AC is on using outside air. I'm taking mine back in tomorrow. Hopefully they will fix the rattles and those pipe junctions. Its just crazy that an almost 60K automobile has issues like this.

 

[Danskau]

I’ve filed a Lemon Lawsuit.

 

[STilver]

I am preparing to do the same. I am in NC and the requirement is the dealer has to have made 4 attempts to solve the problem - I need to schedule 1 more appt with Crossroads Ford Service Dept and have them tell me nothing is wrong again, then will begin the process to have the vehicle replaced or refunded under Lemon Law. It is a 1 yr old, 11,700 miles.

 

[Yungty718]

Ford finally put out a Bulletin on the exhaust noises. I had it performed, it did nothing. It was simply two clamps. I took the vehicle back and as we knew, the root cause is the flex pipe and mesh covers below the driver and passenger seats. Ford says they have no fix and would do nothing further. However, through a very good service advisor and tech at the dealership, they modified the exhaust by simply cutting out the flex pipe and mesh covers, replacing with straight hard pipe. The vehicle has 22K miles and sounded awful. With the conversion...bad vibration gone, annoying rattling gone, very smooth and quiet, and the performance remains the same. Since Ford warranty would not cover, I did pay $70 for the fix, but would have paid $300 I was so disgusted. Could not be happier with the result.
View attachment 2046

Considering doing this I have Borla stype exhaust and spd downpipes the mild rattling is annoying even with the worm clamp around the flex


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[wcoyne]

Mine rattles also and it drives me crazy. The fix for me is to roll the windows up when I am driving slow so I do not have to hear the noise.

 

[Phileas]

Even worse for me, the vibrations can be felt in the steering wheel. The TSB did nothing as indicated above, and same story, got from dealer "normal operation" with this BS about this flapper valve non-sense. Not sure what to do at this stage, will a replacement of the exhaust tube with the flex help at all?