2022 Driveline Vibration 37-42MPH

[Omega]

@Mooz80 I also have a hybrid and it does the same thing, even in the summer... after I run it for 20 mins or so the vibration mostly goes away or sometimes completely goes away. I can find no real rhyme or reason for it. I will add that SOMETIMES I have no vibration at all; doesn't matter if its cold/hot/night/day/raining etc...

 

[Mooz80]

@Omega Have you tried any fix with the dealer ou if you just live with it?

 

[Omega]

@Mooz80
The dealer has had my Explorer for over 170-ish days at this point... repair 1 & 2 = ~50 days and they are around 120 days with this 3rd repair, and still have it.
I have yet to see anyone successfully get this issue repaired; anywhere on the internet. I would say Ford MoCo doesn't know either because their last "fix" was to replace the wheels and tires to see that would fix it. Why they thought that would do it is beyond me.

I know they tried that, I keep driving my the dealership from time to time and I saw the wheels change, and as of last night, the original wheels are back on it... and if they haven't called to tell me the issue was resolved when they put the new wheels on as soon as they tested, that (no surprise) was not the issue.

So far, they also replaced 2 parts of the driveline (I didn't get specifics from anyone which parts), done a rebalance of the tire, put it on a vibration sensing machine... and the results are still the same.

I hate to be so pessimistic, as I am not generally, but if I were you, or anyone with this issue, get into the dealership now so you have a paper trail of the issue happening, and read up on your local laws on what requirements you need to meet for a buy back.

Oh, and Ford will play a little dirty, they flat-out LIED to me about what my states says is required, luckily I read ahead so I KNEW what it said. Needless to say, it didn't move the ball forward, but the attorney I hired is paid to do so. Also depending on your laws, you maybe able to recoup all your costs vehicle and legal.

Good luck, and for everyone, please let us know how it goes.

I would ask anyone on this thread/forum to do the same. It may help all of us later if there is another recall or class action. You never know, but the more documentation, the better.

 

[Magnetic]

Hello all, I also have exact the same problem with my Explorer PHEV ST line . I also experience vibrations when driving between 30 – 65 mph. The intensity of the vibrations are not always the same.

I will tell you my experiences, maybe it can help someone. English is not my native language, excuse me for mistakes.

Trying to solve the problem the first thing I did was changing the wheels, but that didn’t help.

My dealer looked several times to this and is willing to help, but still could not find the cause of the vibrations.

In my search for finding a resolution I found a garage specialised in vibration problems. I brought my car to them and they installed vibration sensors so they could exactly measure which vibrations there were and where they come from.

Vibrations are measured in micro G and normal, acceptable vibrations in a car could go up to max 6 micro G. Vibrations up to 8 micro G are marked as disturbingly, up to 10 micro G are marked as uncomfortable and above 15 micro G as completely uncomfortable.

All vibrations in my Explorer were perfectly under 5 micro G, except the vibration at driveshaft frequency.

The driveshaft of my Explorer caused vibrations up to 17 micro G. After that conclusion they have tried to balance the drive shaft and the best possible they could reach was a drive shaft vibration of 7 micro G. A big improvement and maybe even an acceptable result, but then the next day, just before I would pick up my car again they made a final test drive and the driveshaft vibrations were measured above 12 micro G. Normally this value should not be different then the day before.

Conclusion was slack/tolerance in the CV joint or inlet of the differential causing a variable imbalance in the driveshaft.

With this result report I went to my ford dealer and they installed a new driveshaft. (delivery time of the new drive shaft was 6 months!!!)

The new driveshaft did bring an improvement, but I still noticed annoying vibrations. Still above 30 mph and still the intensity not always the same.

A few weeks ago I brought my car again to the vibration specialist and let them do the same measurements again. The new driveshaft causes vibrations up to 9 micro G. They balanced the driveshaft and they reached a fantastic result of 2 micro G. Then the next day…. checked again and it was up to 7 micro G.

It seems to be there is some variable imbalance in the CV joint of the drive shaft. Like there is some grease or oil in the cover of the CV joint which during the night drops down by gravity and make an imbalance. It is a thought and we are not sure it is really like that, but it seems like it.

My dealer don’t believe this could be possible. I must say he is still working on it but unfortunately he was not willing to remove the cover of the CV joint to see if this could be possible.

 

[Magnetic]

If you experience such vibrations, the first thing you could easily check is under your car if there is leakage of the CV joint cover or differential inlet. I already had leakage when only driven 8000 miles. If there is leakage this could be caused by exceptional vibrations of the driveshaft

 

[Omega]

@Magnetic that is great info! And adds up too. Some of us on here, including myself, say that the vibration goes away after a while, if a "sticky" fluid is cold it will do that and as it warms up go away. I am only guessing but lean the way vs the slack in the CV. Only because I have done hard brake and accelerations while experiencing the issue and that did not nothing to it, and slack in the driveline is what I was trying to test.

The dealer still has my Explorer so I cannot go see if there is any sort of a leak, but I knew they have not told me about one. My attorney requested all service documents and I don't recall seeing it listed on there either.

On a personal note, I spent some time in Utrecht, you have amazing architecture over there! I was there on business so I didn't get to explore a lot, but I would love to take my family there. However, I have to say it seemed to me that table salt was all but outlawed there! LOL, come on man, we need the flavor! haha

 

[Stoffius]

I just noticed this yesterday at unknown highway speeds. The rear captains chairs were shaking like crazy. I do in fact have a CV boot leaking at front passenger side that I have scheduled for repair on Monday.

 

[Omega]

@Stoffius mine issue only happens between 37-42 MPH. I did have a shake at 80 MPH, but when the did the initial rebalance that one went away.
Let us know the outcome, maybe the leak is a separate issue, or a side effect of something else?

 

[Magnetic]

@Omega, my dealer didn’t notice or tell me about a leak either. Even after several visits were they looked into this vibration problem. It was the other garage that noticed.

But man, what is your dealer doing all that time they have your car? Are they waiting for some parts, or till your warranty is over?

How nice that you have been to Utrecht and you liked it over there. I can understand you were missing the salt, haha LOL. Maybe you should visit The Hague. It's more spicy over here.

 

[Omega]

@Magnetic They might be trying to wait out the warranty, too bad for them I have upgraded it to 7 yrs haha. They keep waiting for the Ford engineer to to tell them what to do next as they have no idea. All I know is the longer they have it without correcting the issue, but higher my chances go up of getting a full buy back. I am not a huge GMC fan, but have been looking that the Yukon Denali Ultimate. With all the equity from the buy back I could swing the payments on something like that haha.

We were going to take a train to The Hague but my work schedule got changed while I was over there and caused that to fall through.

 

[Mooz80]

@Magnetic Very interesting analysis! My dealer made some basic testing and said it's within Ford's tolerances, so I'm not expecting them to search for more. If you get a solution, keep us posted so that I can try again with the dealer!

 

[scoobysportD]

Hello all, I also have exact the same problem with my Explorer PHEV ST line . I also experience vibrations when driving between 30 – 65 mph. The intensity of the vibrations are not always the same.

I will tell you my experiences, maybe it can help someone. English is not my native language, excuse me for mistakes.

Trying to solve the problem the first thing I did was changing the wheels, but that didn’t help.

My dealer looked several times to this and is willing to help, but still could not find the cause of the vibrations.

In my search for finding a resolution I found a garage specialised in vibration problems. I brought my car to them and they installed vibration sensors so they could exactly measure which vibrations there were and where they come from.

Vibrations are measured in micro G and normal, acceptable vibrations in a car could go up to max 6 micro G. Vibrations up to 8 micro G are marked as disturbingly, up to 10 micro G are marked as uncomfortable and above 15 micro G as completely uncomfortable.

All vibrations in my Explorer were perfectly under 5 micro G, except the vibration at driveshaft frequency.

The driveshaft of my Explorer caused vibrations up to 17 micro G. After that conclusion they have tried to balance the drive shaft and the best possible they could reach was a drive shaft vibration of 7 micro G. A big improvement and maybe even an acceptable result, but then the next day, just before I would pick up my car again they made a final test drive and the driveshaft vibrations were measured above 12 micro G. Normally this value should not be different then the day before.

Conclusion was slack/tolerance in the CV joint or inlet of the differential causing a variable imbalance in the driveshaft.

With this result report I went to my ford dealer and they installed a new driveshaft. (delivery time of the new drive shaft was 6 months!!!)

The new driveshaft did bring an improvement, but I still noticed annoying vibrations. Still above 30 mph and still the intensity not always the same.

A few weeks ago I brought my car again to the vibration specialist and let them do the same measurements again. The new driveshaft causes vibrations up to 9 micro G. They balanced the driveshaft and they reached a fantastic result of 2 micro G. Then the next day…. checked again and it was up to 7 micro G.

It seems to be there is some variable imbalance in the CV joint of the drive shaft. Like there is some grease or oil in the cover of the CV joint which during the night drops down by gravity and make an imbalance. It is a thought and we are not sure it is really like that, but it seems like it.

My dealer don’t believe this could be possible. I must say he is still working on it but unfortunately he was not willing to remove the cover of the CV joint to see if this could be possible.

Just picked up mine frome the garage, wish i had read this before! The mechanic's explanation was "its an american car, bit more tolerances than euro cars"....

They have updated the PCM and TCM on mine, hoping it would fix it.

Tomorrow i will test some of the other things they have fixed/adjusted and monday will contact them again.

Who's your dealer?


Update:
Well, the vibration between 65-90kmh (40-60 mph) is still there, its faint but noticeable. Also the MUCH more noticeable vibration which starts around 150-155 and ends around 170 kph (92-110mph) is still there as well, mechanic said he didn't really feel this one, i really wonder how that's possible. So not too happy about that. Where did you have the vibrations investigated by specialists?

 

[MatL]

I have a very noticeable vibration that feels like it is in the center-to-rear of the car at 37-42mph then it goes away at higher or lower speeds. No vibration in the steering wheel, but you feel it in the seat while driving it. It doesn't matter what drive mode it is in nor what gear. It is present during acceleration, deceleration or cruise. Put it In manual mode you can feel it in multiple different gears and nothing changes. It is still present.

The vibration feels similar to a center support bearing going bad on something like a f250 driveshaft.
Anyone experienced this? Does anyone know if there is a known issue prior in prior years that sound similar?

Hi my name is Matt i have a 2020 Ford Explorer 3.3 Liter V6 Hybrid and i am experincing this exact issue with my car i went as far as putting all brand new tires on my car that didnt fix the issue i took my car to 2 different dealers the first dealer after taking my car there 3 times for the same problen said its normal for this car to vibrat like this the second dealer looked at it and put a new rear driveshaft in and the issue still isnt resolved after the new drive shaft

 

[MatL]

Hi all, I have the EXACT same problem with my Limited. The dealer has had my Explorer for 2.5 months THIS TIME. A total of 6 months combined. MoCo told them to replace 2 different parts of the driveshaft assembly, not sure which parts (did not correct the issue), and NOW MoCo told them to replace the tires to see if that's the issue... REALLY. Its not the tires.

One thing mine does that I didn't read here is that my vibration does not always exist, and when it does the intensity of it can me mild or down right hateful. Anyone else?

3 people at my dealer said I should Lemon Law it. I am talking to an attorney right now. Ford is fighting by saying I didn't initiate a buyback in the first 12 months. Ohio law says I only have to have the vehicle in for this issue by the 12th month.

My issue started about 3 months after I bought it.

For the folks saying they were told its an underpowered engine, I still get it will driving on level ground or a slight decline, no power needed for that. It also happens if I am on gas or battery power, so that's not it either.

yes i experince this exact issue and it dos not happen all of the time it is not consistant

 

[MatL]

Since many of you on this thread have the 20" wheels, is there a chance you have the self seal Michelin tires?

yes those are the factory installed tires is there a issue with them??

 

[MatL]

@weigeo1 Now that the temperature is getting lower, have you experiences the vibration return? I'm looking for a solution as well, the vibration is terrible between 37 and 45. The dealer does not seem to know what to do, so I'm looking for input from other hybrid owner.
Thanks!

i am a hybrid owner and have the same issues i put new tires on it and they put a new driveshaft in the car and i still have the issue!

 

[Omega]

Hi @MatL as you read, my deal did all that too.

My attorney just notified me that Ford will be doing a buy back once I get them some more documentation. I expect this is where the real issues will start. It SOUNDS like they want to "generate" a buy back number. I expect this to be low and my attorney to have more work to do. I will keep everyone up on what happens, because I have wondered how this process worked and never really found anyone detail their experiences; I hope my pain will benefit someone else.

The dealer still has my car, had it since early August and 2 months before that another time.

My take on this. IF you are experiencing this start looking at your state attorney general website and see what you have to meet for Lemon Law trigger. DOCUMENT EVERYTHING!!! who you talk to, when (date/time), what was said, next steps etc. Keep copies of everything, I scan everything and save them in digital form for easy access.

 

[Omega]

@Stoffius How did your repair go?

 

[Magnetic]

@Omega It’s sad that you are now waiting for a buy back because Ford can’t solve this issue. I hope for you they will do you a good offer. That GMC you mention before looks really insane. Those American SUV models looks fantastic.

 

[Magnetic]

@Mooz80 It's so recognizable, a dealer saying it's within tolerances. After I had let my car tested at the other garage and came with a diagnose report, that did change the discussion with the dealer. I could prove and show them what was wrong. But until now it still doesn't really matter. They replaced a crappy driveshaft for a new crappy driveshaft….