Random Grinding/Rattle/Vibration Noise That Ford Diagnosed As Normal

[migsorona]

My 2021 Ranger Raptor has this driveline rattle that has been occuring since 28,000km. The truck is currently at 49700km. The occurence has become more common. There are no warning lights coming up on the dash, and several Ford dealers have described this situation as "normal operation".

There are no indications aside from the noise that there is anything wrong either. All 10 gears are usable, the engine RPM climbs like normal, and the truck pulls hard and cruises smoothly.

It's just a very annoying sound and I want to track down the cause and remove it, if at all possible. I know Ford has a TSB for a shuddering issue ( https://www.ranger5g.com/forum/thre...vibration-when-accelerating-from-a-stop.8908/ ) but I don't know if this is applicable to my unit.

I would appreciate your feedback, if you have any.

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[airline tech]

Hard to really hear the sound due to sound quality, but I think I hear some heat shield vibration / rattle from the exhaust. ( place in gear , hold foot on the brake and give it gas) do you hear the sound you are questioning?

 

[migsorona]

Hard to really hear the sound due to sound quality, but I think I hear some heat shield vibration / rattle from the exhaust. ( place in gear , hold foot on the brake and give it gas) do you hear the sound you are questioning?

Hey there, you will be able to hear the rattle loudly when I drive beside a parked vehicle. If you heard the rattle there, that is the exact noise. Is it really just the heat shield?

 

[airline tech]

It’s hard to really hear the noise, but to me it appears to sound more like exhaust noise that fluctuates with the gas pedal.

 

[Canadian Ranger]

When diagnosing any vehicle issue start with the simplest possible cause first. Have you changed all your driveline fluids with good brand name fluids? Both diffs, transfer case and transmission?

 

[airline tech]

This is a sample sound of what I hear and leads me to think that this may be the source of your noise.
But very hard to tell for sure from your video.

Sometimes exhaust sounds like this only occur when under acceleration (load) and won't do it just by pressing the gas pedal in park.

If it is the exhaust, you should be able to generate the noise by placing the truck in drive, hold your foot on the brake and give it some gas (places a load on the engine and positions the engine mounts in a torqued position) which shifts the exhaust pipe.

So, either a lose clamp or heatshield, or heatshield bent touching the exhaust pipe, or a blown apart CAT Convertor and the rattle is the internals of the CAT bouncing around with the exhaust flow.

If in the drive line, with that much noise, I think you would be getting one heck of a vibration in your seat.


Rattling Exhaust Fix (youtube.com)


Noisy Cat Convertor Sample:


Rattling Catalytic Converter (youtube.com)

 

[Stevedbvik1]

Is it a diesel?

This is a sample sound of what I hear and leads me to think that this may be the source of your noise.
But very hard to tell for sure from your video.

Sometimes exhaust sounds like this only occur when under acceleration (load) and won't do it just by pressing the gas pedal in park.

If it is the exhaust, you should be able to generate the noise by placing the truck in drive, hold your foot on the brake and give it some gas (places a load on the engine and positions the engine mounts in a torqued position) which shifts the exhaust pipe.

So, either a lose clamp or heatshield, or heatshield bent touching the exhaust pipe, or a blown apart CAT Convertor and the rattle is the internals of the CAT bouncing around with the exhaust flow.

If in the drive line, with that much noise, I think you would be getting one heck of a vibration in your seat.


Rattling Exhaust Fix (youtube.com)


Noisy Cat Convertor Sample:


Rattling Catalytic Converter (youtube.com)

I believe OP’s Ranger is a diesel seeing it’s a ROW 5g Raptor. That will throw some other noises into the mix

 

[airline tech]

Is it a diesel?

I believe OP’s Ranger is a diesel seeing it’s a ROW 5g Raptor. That will throw some other noises into the mix

Well that’s what I am hearing if that’s the case - I did not catch that important detail.

 

[migsorona]

This is a sample sound of what I hear and leads me to think that this may be the source of your noise.
But very hard to tell for sure from your video.

Sometimes exhaust sounds like this only occur when under acceleration (load) and won't do it just by pressing the gas pedal in park.

If it is the exhaust, you should be able to generate the noise by placing the truck in drive, hold your foot on the brake and give it some gas (places a load on the engine and positions the engine mounts in a torqued position) which shifts the exhaust pipe.

So, either a lose clamp or heatshield, or heatshield bent touching the exhaust pipe, or a blown apart CAT Convertor and the rattle is the internals of the CAT bouncing around with the exhaust flow.

If in the drive line, with that much noise, I think you would be getting one heck of a vibration in your seat.


Rattling Exhaust Fix (youtube.com)


Noisy Cat Convertor Sample:


Rattling Catalytic Converter (youtube.com)

Regardless that my Ranger is a diesel, I did in fact get the rattle again when I pressed on the throttle while also pressing on the brake. Thank you for giving me a clue! I'm very near my 50K km PMS so I'll make the technician check the heat shield and exhaust for any looseness.

Otherwise, that rattle is going to be the thorn in my side while I own this truck.

 

[migsorona]

Final update:

My transmission was replaced under warranty, all expenses paid. The transmission never broke while I drove it, but the dealer was on top of the issue and simply replaced everything before the truck stalled on me.

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