[deerh21]

Trying to figure out where this sound is coming from on our 2015 Ford Explorer XLT. The sound is clearly coming from inside the vehicle. It happens randomly and only seems to occur shortly after starting the engine (within a minute or so). The longest the sound has lasted is about 10 seconds at most. Some times the whistle sound happens while just sitting still (in PARK) before any initial movement of the vehicle and sometimes it will happen, for instance, as we begin roll down the driveway or take off initially. However, after that short time period the sound never seems to happen again while the vehicle is on. Since it is so random and doesn't last very long I really haven't been able to do a lot of testing to isolate what might be causing it and exactly where it's coming from. My feeling is that it is tied to the A/C system since it is on every time this noise occurs. It appears as though it is coming from the rear drivers side somewhere. Is it possible that there is some rear A/C parts located in that area?

BTW, there is no grinding sound...just a true whistle sound.

It is under warranty but I'd like to isolate the problem before taking it in since it is so random.

Thanks for any information you guys could provide.

 

[J_C]

I don't know where the rear blower is located but sure it's possible, seems likely to just be a poor fitting fan duct or some manufacturing flash or something creating the noise when the air flows over it. If it weren't under warranty then I'd pop the panel off and see what's involved.

However the odd part is it seems to happen initially, making me wonder if what you describe as a whistle is really more of a whine by the rear fan motor bearing. Sometimes play in a bearing or lack of lubricant can make noise till it warms up. Heck, could be nothing more than a loose screw, as cold air flows through the system it's going to cause some contraction of parts and that could start or stop noise. Despite being summer you might see if setting the system to heat instead of cold, changes this in any way.

 

[homerun_const]

Trying to figure out where this sound is coming from on our 2015 Ford Explorer XLT. The sound is clearly coming from inside the vehicle. It happens randomly and only seems to occur shortly after starting the engine (within a minute or so). The longest the sound has lasted is about 10 seconds at most. Some times the whistle sound happens while just sitting still (in PARK) before any initial movement of the vehicle and sometimes it will happen, for instance, as we begin roll down the driveway or take off initially. However, after that short time period the sound never seems to happen again while the vehicle is on. Since it is so random and doesn't last very long I really haven't been able to do a lot of testing to isolate what might be causing it and exactly where it's coming from. My feeling is that it is tied to the A/C system since it is on every time this noise occurs. It appears as though it is coming from the rear drivers side somewhere. Is it possible that there is some rear A/C parts located in that area?

BTW, there is no grinding sound...just a true whistle sound.

It is under warranty but I'd like to isolate the problem before taking it in since it is so random.

Thanks for any information you guys could provide.

I know exactly what you are talking about but unfortunately we haven't found out what the cause is yet either. We also have a 2015 explorer and have the whistling noise happening in our vehicle. I can tell you what we have discovered and see if they match. We've definitely narrowed it down to the A/C, we know this because when it starts doing it you can push the A/C button to turn it off and the noise goes away. It seems to only do it when the car is going slow or just starting out. I can back out of my driveway and it will begin to whistle and then take off down the road and it won't do it again until I slow back down like coming to a stop at a stop sign. We took it in to the dealer because we were coming up on our warranty being up within 400-500 miles and of course they couldn't replicate it. I will post anything else that we come up with on it. I know it's hard to explain to someone that hasn't dealt with it, we called it everything from an alarm sound to some kind of beep but the best way I would explain it is a whistling sound almost like a pin hole in some kind of high pressure pipe. It's loud enough that you can turn heads pulling into a parking lot.

 

[Jpciron]

Hello All.
I just joined the forum looking for advice about the same problem. The noise is an a/c issue. We bought our 2015 a few month's ago with 26K miles on it. The first week we noticed a siren type noise in the cabin and a burn smell and beep noise from the engine compartment. The Ford dealer said that the burn smell was from detailing the engine compartment and could not replicate the noise we heard in the cab and had us pick the vehicle back up.
A few days Later the service manager called back and wanted to look at it again.

They heard the noise after having it a few days and putting some miles on it and leaving the fuel tank empty! even after we told them you don't even need to drive it to hear it.

After being in 4 times they replaced a part. Not sure what it was, all we were told was a fan. It still whistles, sounds like a siren or even a hoot an owl makes.

Now they wont return our calls or emails.

The Car was in the service dept. 12 days in the first 2 months we had it. no reimbursement at all had to barrow and rent cars for my wife to get to and from work.

Lucky for us our other vehicle is a 7.3.

Hope someone might have some insight on these issues.
Thank you
JPC

 

[deerh21]

I haven't had a chance to get our 2015 Explorer in to have them take a look at the problem yet, however, doing some of my own investigating I found that there is in fact some A/C components located behind the rear drivers side paneling that I suspect is the culprit. If you take a flash light and look through the horizontal slits in the bottom of rear panel you should notice a couple chrome/aluminum looking pipes being fed into that area. Also notice some kind of fan housing or blower housing as well. If you turn on the rear A/C you can hear the airflow through that same area...turn it off and the normal airflow sounds go away. I would suspect that either a bearing in the blower wheel or a airflow damper is causing a tight squeeze for the airflow causing the whistling sound that we are all hearing.

Without popping the panel off I have no idea what all is behind it. Since it is under warranty I'll let the dealership handle that and report back my findings.

Thanks for everyone's input so far...

 

[Robjohnston]

We are experiencing same issue with our 2016 Limited. Has anyone gotten any new information? Intermittent whistling sometimes driving or just sitting still. No rhyme or reason. We live in southeast Texas so the A/C is rarely off.

 

[toneout]

2016 XLT 3.5L NA. Ours sounds more like a siren. I thought I was getting pulled over the first time I heard it. A/C always on here. Does it only 50% of the time that we drive it. Maybe less.

 

[Robjohnston]

My wife said the same thing! She thought it was a siren and immediately looked to see when the emergency vehicle was. I agree, it's more like a siren sound.

 

[J_C]

You can either DIY tear into the rear blower/duct or take it to a dealer if under warranty.

 

[Explorer347]

Hello everyone. New to the forum, been researching this issue and we have a 2016 limited and is in the shop for its 4th time. Dealership cannot replicate it but as soon as we get it - it does it again. Any diagnosis from you guys???

 

[toneout]

We are about 3 months into owning our new to us Explorer. I don't even hear the noise anymore. I will catch it once in a while.

 

[deerh21]

We'll I was able to get some video's of the siren sound in our 2015 Explorer and then took it back to the dealership a few weeks ago to try again. I gave them the video's and emailed my service guy all the scenarios when we experience the noise. They were still unable to reproduce the issue. In the mean time I did some online research and found that other dealerships were replacing the rear AC expansion valve and that seemed to be the problem. So I told them about what I'd found. The service guys promoted this to a Ford "Hotline" issue where they talk directly with Ford engineers to help diagnose problems. Long story short, they ended up replacing the expansion valve. Time will tell if this actually fixed our problem. The problem only seems to happen in the warmer months. But so far so good. Hope this helps!

 

[toneout]

Thanks for the update deerh21. Let us know how this works.

 

[kylebryan]

Our 2014 Explorer Limited was making this exact sound. Took it to my local AC guy and at the recommendation of this post we replaced the rear expansion valve. This fixed my issue too! Thanks for the info!

We'll I was able to get some video's of the siren sound in our 2015 Explorer and then took it back to the dealership a few weeks ago to try again. I gave them the video's and emailed my service guy all the scenarios when we experience the noise. They were still unable to reproduce the issue. In the mean time I did some online research and found that other dealerships were replacing the rear AC expansion valve and that seemed to be the problem. So I told them about what I'd found. The service guys promoted this to a Ford "Hotline" issue where they talk directly with Ford engineers to help diagnose problems. Long story short, they ended up replacing the expansion valve. Time will tell if this actually fixed our problem. The problem only seems to happen in the warmer months. But so far so good. Hope this helps!