Low Speed Pop In Drive & Reverse

[SupraBrett]

Let us know what you find.

Will do. Luckily, one of the pops happened right in front of my Service Advisor when I pulled in who stated she barely heard it, but did hear it. Fingers crossed they find the culprit. It’ll be 3-5 business days before I hear back from them.

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[MoFoCo]

I had something similar happen a few days ago, I was in stop-and-go traffic and I heard a pop from the front each time I released the brake pedal. Could feel it in the pedal too. Once I got rolling I never heard it again.

 

[SupraBrett]

So, I got an update. Techs just took it on a 16 mile drive and didn’t hear anything, and thought I was referring to the cylinder deactivation. Guess they didn’t read my service notes… I have to go in tomorrow to ride along with a tech to try and simulate the pop noise to them.

Maybe this could be a strut going prematurely? I’m really at a loss, but I know it’s not normal.

 

[Ksnau]

My first guess would be the rear differential, especially since you're hearing it at low speed. Put your gauge display on to where you can tell when the rear wheels are engaging. It'll tell you when it's front wheel drive or all-wheel drive and see if it only happens when it's all-wheel drive. It's going to be the rear differential most likely and unfortunately the non-badlands trims have a bad habit of issues with them although this usually happens more with turning.

The best thing you can do, especially since it happens at low speed. You drive or have someone else drive and the next person walks behind the car to listen before it's coming from. You know be very safe but pinpoint where the sound's coming from. If there's a way to you know, try to feel where it's coming from too. Although I know that's hard and pretty dangerous, even moving at slow speed. That's going to be your best way to pinpoint it.

But just from what I've read here I would say 75% rdu (rear differential).

What you got to understand about these cars is their front-wheel drive based so they're not sending power through the rear diff all the time. It usually happens in turns on acceleration or very slow speeds so use that screen in your gauge display to show you when it's front wheel drive when it's all-wheel drive and see if it's happening only at all-wheel drive.

Also you could check the drive shaft itself going from the PTU to the rear differential there could be rocks are crap in there and whenever it sends power to the rear it tries to spin that rear diff and that's when it happens also. So if it's not from the rear differential check all around the drive shaft. I had a friend who would hear like a scraping sound only at low speeds kind of like yours and it turned out he'd been off-roading and he had bent one of his exhaust heat shields to where it touched the drive shaft, but the drive shaft only turns when it's using all-wheel drive so it only happens at certain times.

 

[Bucko]

Negative. Car is completely stock.

Did you get/buy an extended warranty with the vehicle purchase?

 

[SupraBrett]

Did you get/buy an extended warranty with the vehicle purchase?

I did, in addition to the Gold Certification through Ford that gives you a 7-year/100K mi powertrain.

 

[Bucko]

I did, in addition to the Gold Certification through Ford that gives you a 7-year/100K mi powertrain.

 

[SupraBrett]

Test drive with the shop foreman went well. I was able to replicate the noise. He’s thinking it’s a strut or end link currently. They’re investigating now.

 

[SupraBrett]

Update: I requested an update from my Service Advisor this morning. She stated that the front right strut is being replaced and it will be ready for pick up this evening. When I get there, I will be sure to ask if it was showing any signs of premature wear and post any additional details they share here.

 

[SupraBrett]

Picked up the Bronco this morning. The techs stated that the strut was showing signs of premature wear due to corrosion. The entire strut assembly and bearing were replaced and it had an alignment done. So far so good and glad to have it back.

Side note: Not sure the service advisor wanted me to know this, but he stated that premature corrosion on BS struts is a common thing and they’re hearing either a TSB or Recall will come out for it but could give me no definitive when. Maybe we’ll see something come down the line in the future? Who knows.

 

[SupraBrett]

After driving my BS for a few days, it appears the noise is still there, and the dealer botched the alignment…. I’ll be going back to have them fix that. For now though, I’m just going to drive it and see if symptoms get worse or if it’s just a normal characteristic that I’m paying too much attention to. I’m inclined to say that it’s drivetrain related rather than suspension, end links, etc.. It operates fine otherwise. My truck has spoiled me and I forget that these things are economy focused and don’t always have the best insulation to block out mechanical noises. Reminds me of my old Subaru BRZ.

 

[SupraBrett]

I am curious… Does anyone know if there are any service bulletins for the transfer case?

 

[johnardsg]

I am curious… Does anyone know if there are any service bulletins for the transfer case?

If you do find out pls let us know, took my bronco to get the brakes/rotors replaced and the shop told me that the transfer case seal needs replacing due to a leak and rear strut is also leaking. Seems like at 4years old the bronco starts to see these wear faster than other makes
I only replaced my rav4 strut after 10years
I like the BS but if these issues keep coming I might think of saying byebye to it

 

[Mark S.]

and rear strut is also leaking.

There are no struts in the rear, there are shock absorbers.

 

[SupraBrett]

If you do find out pls let us know, took my bronco to get the brakes/rotors replaced and the shop told me that the transfer case seal needs replacing due to a leak and rear strut is also leaking. Seems like at 4years old the bronco starts to see these wear faster than other makes
I only replaced my rav4 strut after 10years
I like the BS but if these issues keep coming I might think of saying byebye to it

I think you’re leaving out some details here though… what year is your BS and how many miles have you racked up?

At least the dealership caught these things, so you should feel better knowing that. Every vehicle has their quirks and nuances, even Hondas and Toyotas. Mine doesn’t have any issues per se, it’s just noise at the moment and my dealership has been more than willing to investigate it for me. I just don’t want to keep leaving it for 2+ weeks.

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