Humming in the heat
 

Hi..

I have a 1998 Ford Explorer.

I've noticed that when it's really hot outside (late afternoon), my explorer makes a whining/humming type sound when I sitting at a stop light. It doesn't matter if the a/c is on or not. It's a very loud very noticable sound.

As soon as I put my foot on the gas to move again the sound stops..when I get to the next stop light, there is the sound again. It only does it when my foot is not on the gas. No performance issues of any sort, just the noise.

I don't notice this sound in the mornings or late at night after the sun is down. I only get the noise during the hottest part of the day.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance,

RE: Humming in the heat
 

I have heard of this, don't remember what tread or handle to give credit too.
anyway they said they fixed it by replacing the ICV (idle control valve). I say remove it and try cleaning it with some carb cleaner first. If that doesn't fix it, then try replacing it as they did. Its located on the throttle body, it stratles the butterfly valve in the throttle valve and is hald in place by just 2 screws. The ICV allows air around the butterfly valve when it is closed to allow engine to idle. GOOD LUCK :)

RE: Humming in the heat
 

Thanks, I have called the auto parts store, and it's not going to be that much to replace it. I believe that is what needs to be replaced, I have heard from another Ford Explorer driver that is what was wrong with hers as well. So I will start there, and see how it goes.

Thanks for the fast reply

RE: Humming in the heat
 

I'm the other person you're thinking of I believe. Thanks to help from you and another person here on the forum, I think my issue is resolved.

I had the ICV replaced this past week and it seemed to take care of the problem.

You might find this funny though...when I took the car to the dealership and told them the information that i'd gotten here, they laughed and said "you shouldn't believe everything you read on the web".

Two days later they said they couldn't duplicate the sound (which is a virtually IMPOSSIBLE statement because I live in Texas and it's hot and that car was humming non-stop).

I took the car back and they said "oh..it's the ICV"..I said "yes I know..I told you that last Friday and you told me not to believe what I read on the web".

YOU GUYS ROCK!!!

Thank you for all your help!

RE: Humming in the heat
 

It will never go HUMMMMMMMM,, --- yea those guys dont like it when you cut in on there bread an butter money--- I saw where we had one guy post here that he works as a Ford Tech at a Dealership , be curious to see what that job ( replacing the ICV ) pays , I belive that you use to get 1, hour book time of course this was a few yrs back

RE: Humming in the heat
 

Well I have replaces the Mass Airflow Sensor right by the air cleaner, I have not heard the noise since then. I drove around town listening for any signs, and I found nothing. It cost around $100 to fix, and took all of 15 minutes to replace.

Hope this helps anyone who is having the same problem.

RE: Humming in the heat
 

JD, you said you were going to replace the IAC (Idle Air Control) valve and then later you said that you replaced the MAF. Which was it. I am a Senior Master Ford Tech and as for the dealer telling TexFordOwner that they could not duplicate the concern, that is not that uncommon. You drive your car everyday of the week and know every thing there is to know about it and how to make it act up. As a tech we get a repair order on a car that we may or may not have seen before with a concern on it. We may or may not get any information on how to duplicate the concern. We drive the car and run diagnostics. If the concern does not happen during our test drive and there are no DTC's related to the concern, we advise the customer of what we found or in this case what we did not find. This is not to say that the car does not have a concern or even that I may have fixed thirty or forty of them with the described concern by replacinging the IAC. However you are not paying me to guess with your money. You could record the sound that your car makes and play it to twenty different people and you would get twenty different descriptions on the noise. It is imperitive that we duplicate the concern before replacing parts or at least let the customer know that we could not duplicate the concern but our experience leads us to believe it is the IAC based soley on the description given by the customer. If we make an educated guess based on this information and get it wrong you know who will be beating down the door wanting their money back. And by the way the labor on an IAC for a 1998 Explorer is about .5 hours, this does not mean that it takes 30 minutes to take out two bolts and replace the part. This time includes the time we spend in the parts department looking up your parts, ordering your parts if we do not have them in stock, going back to parts to get the parts when they come in, pulling the car back in the shop, installing the part, checking and clearing any possible DTC's, filling out the paperwork and parking the car. For those of you out there that think technicians are just out there waiting for you to break down so that we can stick to you, you should spend some time at the dealership before making you final decision about that. What other occupation can you think of where you are working for someone else and still have to invest $30,000 to $80,000 of your own money (in tools) just to be able to have the privaledge to work for them? Do you have any idea how many IAC valves you would have to put on to pay for that. Granted it does not take $30,000 worth of tools to install one but the next car will have a different concern that requires different tools and so on and so on. I really love my career choice and the people that I work with and my loyal following of customers that travel many miles just for my services and honest work. I just hate it when outsiders and shadetree wantabees run down something they know nothing about. I will get off my soap box for now. I am sure there are many out there that have had terrible experiences at a dealership that will be giving me an earful for this post. SMT

RE: Humming in the heat
 

Dang Pakus, where just here giving are best educated guesses. I now how you feel when people think you just out to rob them blind. I do know how it is to work at a dealer, I did it for a few years, and the first few months were a pain (wasn't clocking enough labor hours). I know some people are going to bash on us but just egnore them its not worth it.

RE: Humming in the heat
 

Hey I understand completely Catfish. That is the reason that I signed up here. If I see someone posting a concern that I know how to fix, I will post a reply. However if I am not sure I will ask a question or keep quiet instead of helping someone waste their money. When some one told the previous poster not to put to much stock in what they read on the internet sites keep in mind that the man or woman that you may be chatting with on line that sends you a picture and they look like a supermodel but just can't seem to find a date, may or may not be what they seem. Same goes for free advise on your car. An anonimous tipster does not have to stand behind their work, we as professional techicians do or we would be out of a job because the customers would go somewhere else. In our case, our shop is days behind not because we are slow but because we have a good reputation in the area for doing quality work. It may not be cheap but it is done right the first time. SMT

RE: Humming in the heat
 

Pakus

My post was not meant to offend all mechanics in general. If you read the post you will see that I noted the experience with ONE individual at ONE dealership.

What I WAS trying to do was to thank the people that assisted me (particularly cctxfish) and to validate cctxfish's theory of what the problem was and provide feedback that might be helpful to others in the same situation.

I'm not a mechanic and I don't pretend to be. I'm a blonde female (yes I know..that speaks VOLUMES). And just as you try to change the myth that all mechanics are "out to get ya"..i'm also trying to change the theory that blondes are clueless...lol..that's why I came to the forum. To get information.

I appreciate the help that I received at this forum and tried to use that to educate myself as a consumer so that I COULD provide more accurate and detailed information when taking my car in.

I applaud you for sharing your knowledge here. Just remember that there are some of us that really do use it. So don't knock us for that. Deal?

Thanks to you all.

RE: Humming in the heat
 

I happen to be married to a blonde for ten years now and we have 3 beautiful blonde headed girls so there is no room for blonde jokes where I live.

RE: Humming in the heat
 

Okay ..getting you to lighten up a little and smile is obviously not gonna happen here. Can't blame a gal for trying.

Take care and don't sweat the small stuff.

RE: Humming in the heat
 

That was not meant to be offensive in any way. What I meant is that living with so many blondes, I understand what you mean by the stereo type set upon them. My blondes are far from fuzzy headed as it seems is the case with you. :):):):)

RE: Humming in the heat
 

Pakus,
Your right about not wanting people to waste their money.[8D] I say a lot that this is my best guess,:eek:and that you need to test before you start replacing things, or try cleaning it first. Anyway your right, I don't want people to get the impression that this is the end all info place for Ford vehicles. Also in a lot of cases taking your car to a shop to get fix, is the best fix. Its just good to have a little info.
THANKS FOR POSTING and feel free in helping out :)

So TexFordOwner,
Are you Married?
I'm a blonde female (yes I know..that speaks VOLUMES), LOL :D

RE: Humming in the heat
 

WOW

RE: Humming in the heat
 

Can you believe all this came from someone who was just trying to post something for other Ford owners. I was just trying to let someone else know what might be the issues before they pay someone $60 an hour to tell them something that could have been solved with just a little research. Ok the dealership, great I know you job, I understand your job, and I respect you job, non-the-less it's a job and it's what your paid for, hinse the JOB in the whole sentance. You wouldn't go to Ford every morning just to make peoples lives a better place to live fir having a fixed Ford.

For everyone else, this is just a post that I have found to fix the issue with what I had, if I had known there would have been so many issues from when I placed this responce... well I still would have done it, becuase there are people out there looking for answers, and looking for resolutions to their lives, that this post will solve. Anyone with any issues with that, well I could give a rats A$$, this wasn't about to try to push anything on anyone; it was about solving an issue with the (MFM Mass Flow Sensor... which is part number PA6494025 at Kragen for $104.99 w/ $35 core) and it was all about solving a issue, not creating an issue. I have gotten an email regarding this issue (from Ford) and it's sad to me what the responce was. Instead of respect I got a rebuttle for why their jobs cost so much, and why there is .5 hrs labor (dont get me started) and they need other Ford employees to do it.

Like I said as a solution to my noice (which resembles a hummmm when there is a hot temp in your area... like Boooooo, at a medium pitch, that happens to be the only noise you have unless you drive off and it stops) is replacing the MAFS ( Mass Air Flow Sensor ). For those who want to read thru all the BS and want just a simple answer, please review the post I did way before this one, this post is more for the understanding that I came here for an answer; not why someone has thier job, and what it stands for.


MAFS - Mass Air Flow Sensor is what I replaced to fix the issue I had.

Please let this note help those who help, and those who seek knowledge on fixing up-coming issues.

RE: Humming in the heat
 

Pakus-Thanks for the clarification there darlin :D. Glad there are no hard feelings; because that was never my intent.

CCTXFISH-nope? Is that a proposal? If so, i'll need your driver's license number, soc. security number, bank account number and p.i.n. number, copy of your mortgage agreement, blood type, dental records, clean bill of health, performance reviews (keep your mind outta the gutter there) and your life plan.

JUST KIDDING [8D]

In all seriousness...thanks CCTXFISH..your suggestions were exactly correct and very helpful.

And to Joshua-glad everything worked out for you. You can now remove the wig and dark glasses like I did. Nobody points and laughs at my car at the stoplights anymore.

Ahhh..life is good again.

P.S. I would like to thank Spectre as well. He was also very helpful in pinpointing what might be the problem with my vehicle.

RE: Humming in the heat
 

performance reviews (keep your mind outta the gutter there)????..how did you know :D:D:D[&:]

RE: Humming in the heat
 

Joshua I hope the MAF sensor takes care of the problem but in most cases it will not. The reason for this is that the MAF has no moving parts in it and incapable of making a noise. The IAC has a duty cycled plunger inside of it that opens and closes as the PCM commands it. The IAC will get dirty and the plunger starts vibrating ever so slightly causing the hooting noise. We always kid the new guys when they get one of these in the shop and tell them that they need to install an anti-hooting valve in it to correct the concern. The parts guys love it when they come in and ask for one. They send them off the get the base part number from the manual and so on and so on. It is the little things in life that make it worth while. Hope this helps if you have further problems.

RE: Humming in the heat
 

Joshua/Pakus-It was the IAC that was replaced on my vehicle and so far...so good. It seems to have taken care of the hoot/hum/whatever you wanna call it. I just wanna call it a solution and be done with it...lol

CCTXFISH - sometimes ya just know...;)

RE: Humming in the heat
 

You know, I had a mechanic check out my humming noise and he heard the noise coming from the air filrer. He moved the air filter up and down when the car was running and that was where the noise was coming from. It seems as though the air filter was not sealed correctly. He changed the air filter and it stopped the noise for about two days. He did say that it is a common Ford problem and he changed an idle control valve in a mustang the other day. Well he hasn't changed mine yet. I'm awaiting get our schedules in sync.

But I'm thinking that nothing really holds down the air filter itself under the cover, so can i like put some electrical tape to hold it in place b/c when it's in place and no air gets out it's fine and you don't hear that horrible sound.

RE: Humming in the heat
 

Well something is a miss, The top of the filter housing should squish the top of the filter an SEAT the filter in place so it cant pull in un - filtered air , Any chance that possibly some of the screws an or / clamps,,, That hold the top of housing on missing , or stripped out ?, Has the filter been replaced recently- Any chance someone put the wrong one in an its not seating correct ? , Prehaps it was missed boxed ?? , An yes in short term one could use duct tape to hold it, I would have some concerns of the filter rising up if the tape broke loose an sucked it in the motor ( not try to alarm you just pointing out a strong possibilty) An as your TECH . said that is a common problem in high heat for the IAC to start humming , you gotta replace it if it starts ,I think the lil magentic coil gets weak an cant hold the pintle in place .Hope this helps , please come back an let us know how things went .


[sm=pcwhack.gif]

RE: Humming in the heat
 

Ok, thanks. still waiting for the Mechanic to get back to me to check things out. I don't hear the humming noise as much though and he did put in a air filter.

RE: Humming in the heat
 

WOW, a lot of info on this one! I have a 1997 Explorer XLT and it has been doing that "HOOOOT" at idle for a while now!
As soon as you crack the throttle, it disappears! I have another freind with a 1997 Ranger, it does the same thing! I see 2 solutions posted, the IAC and the MAF, which one is it???

RE: Humming in the heat
 

Yeah I finally replaced the Idle Control Valve that did the trick. No more humming!:D