The 'clunking' Your reffering to sounds like the Universal joints, located on the driveshaft. There is one just after the Transmission, and one Just before the rear end. They need to be greased (if a grease fitting is applicable) every 5000 Miles or so, Or you will have to replace them. If they are bad, you will notice a 'Ka-Klunk' When shifting into gear, and eventually they will start to squeek. Hope this helps.

 

I can't speak for the others but I have never felt a u-joint clunk through the steering wheel before. I think I have two seperate things going on here. I will check the rear u-joints though to be sure.

Mike

 

hey mville656,
i had a clunking coming from the front end, but it turned to be a loose shock. i tried shaking everything before finding the shock. Also, pop the hood on the truck and look at the steering column. you'll see a rubber boot on there. slide the boot down and check the linkage where the steering shaft slides into one another. they seem to get loose and cause a popping sensation in the steering wheel. probably cause the ford has such a tight steering wheel. i've inspected both of my universal joints, but can't find anything wrong. if the universals are bad, shouldn't there be some play in them? a friend told me it could be play in the spline gear, he said the all have slack. the only thing is mine just started this about 15,000 miles ago.

 

driveline clunk could be coming from the slip yoke. especially if you really notice it while taking off from a complete stop.

ford recommends teflon grease for the yoke/yoke splines...

 

thanks, i'll try that. its difinately noticeable from a complete stop. do you think grease alone will solve the problem? or maybe some major work?

 

well, for many folks the grease is all it takes.

however, in my case the only fix was a complete transfer case swapout on my '02 s-crew! apparently in some recent model fords there have been some incapatability issues between the slip yokes and output shafts on the transfer case/tranny.

good luck!

 

My father's 02or03(I don't remember) S-crew does the same thing when towing. 5.4L 4R70W trans. These motors don't make a whole lot of power so the tranny stay in 2nd on hills due to torque demand. Oh yeah I wouldn't put any of those crappy additives in my trans except for Lubegard. I have worked on a few trannies with that crap in them and it ruins them. -Mat-

 

harley-girl01,
did you ever run yours to the dealer? just curious to know which sensor is holding the trans in 2nd gear and not allowing it to shift. Does yours ever idle rough after you've towed a load for a while? mine only does this after i towed something heavy. acts as if its going to die, once its starts moving, the missing stops.

 

Hey all-

Took the truck into the dealership today. Problem was the fan clutch. Total to replace was $223.00. Engine and transmission are both fine. However, 2 stud bolts off of the exhuast manifold have broken off. They need to be drilled out and replaced. Estimated cost is $400.00. Has anyone attempted to do this themselves?

Thank you all for your input.

 

The fan clucth was causing the transmission to hold in second gear? did they give any explanation as to why? you know there are reverse drill bits that are made of hardened steal. they drill into the broken-off bolt in reverse. once the bit is seated into the bolt, it will spin the broken bolt right out of the threads. Check sears or any hardware store. if you didn't cross-thread the bolts, this should work with no problem.

thanks for the reply

 

hg01,

How could the stud bolts break? Was any exhaust work done reciently? Which studs broke? If the flange studs broke you could possible remove the maniford and vice grip them out if they are sticking out far enough. May be it is time for headers?

JMC

 

well, i haven't towed anything lately, but i have resolved the clunking coming from the rear-end. it was the slip-yoke. never in a million years did i think a $2 bucket of grease would solve this problem. i'am still amazed by this. just did it today, and all the clunking is gone. thanks for the help. i got the info right here. i dread to think of the price i would have paid at a dealer. the problem started slowly at 85k, but got worse and worse. it was most noticeable from a dead stop. i could have swore the problem was the rearend or the tranmission. once againg, thanks for the help. gonna make a new post on the home page. still a little curios as to the trans holding in 2nd while towing.

 

Well I think that we have determined earlier that our trucks are having the same problems. So I am very courious to know how the fan clutch could cause my problem when I took off my mechanical fan about a year ago and installed an electric fan. If the clutch is causing your problem, what is making mine act exactly the same? Well if this does by chance fix your problem please let us know.

Mike

 

When we tow again (should be within the next few weeks) I will post a reply and let you know if the shifting problem is fixed. No it doesn't idle rough after we have towed. We do however still have the clunck off the line. I did not ask what censor holds truck in second gear. If problem with shifting is not fixed I will call the dealer and ask.

Will write again after we tow trailer and bikes. Thank you all!

 

With the clunking and broken exhaust manifold bolts - have you had the motor mounts checked?

I have a 2500# tent trailer that I towed a few weeks ago (in probably the hottest humidest weather we've had in this area) with my truck. I was a bit surprised - and dismayed - that I could really tell the trailer was behind me. The fan clutch was engaged often (with the A/C and all), and the whole drive felt sluggish at best. I didn't have any 2nd gear holdout that I noticed - but I'll be looking for it now...

Last weekend, I was replacing my plugs, and discovered that the tip of my #2 plug was broken off in the wire boot! The arcing marks indicated it was firing - but probably not optimally. Since I use the truck for commuting mostly, I'm sure that it didn't effect driveability to a huge extent - but under load I'm thinking it would. I'll know in a few weeks when I take the t/t camping!