Crazy 2014 Ford Explorer Vibration Finally Fixed!

[@FordTechMakuloco]

The best Transmission Shudder Fix Additive out there- amzn.to/3rLXg02

[@whpony96]

Hey Brian do you use one or two tubes for the 2018 Explorer Platinum?

[@gloryland59]

Hey, should I use this for a maintenance procedure.

[@21Piloteer]

I used it in my old 09 Impala that developed a shudder. Used this additive....doesn't work.

[@JohnR9965]

Brian. Do you still have a Quincy air compressor? If so what model is it. I need to buy a new one. Any recommendations ?

[@Quick_Fast_Hurry]

If I own a VCM3 will you offer a remote diagnostics session if I pay for a retainer/deposit for an 08 flex fuel 5.4l crank no start condition? I apologize I already reset cam

[@steveturner3999]

Thanks Brian! I love that you reached out to find the source of this problem. In my opinion it makes you even more of a great mechanic.

[@dennisthompson44]

I have watched your channel for awhile. I totally rebuilt a 5.4 3 valve and after fixing some wiring issues it runs great . I just had to say with your inspiration that it can be fixed it kept me going. I am very happy to say it is better than new. My parents owned the truck before me. My late father would be proud I fixed it. My mother said it is riding better than when it was new from the factory. I did have to bore it 0.020 over because it melted through the #4 piston. When this engine is running right it is awesome. Again thank you for your inspiration it kept me going. I will continue to watch your channel and I pass your channel on to all my friends. You are doing a great service to the diy's out there. Helping those of us who are not wealthy but have motivation to fix it ourselves. Again many thanks

[@dennisthompson44]

Ps for anyone looking at this thread. Everything he has said about fords has been spot on. I don't even question it anymore. It always is the way he says.

[@garyfletcher8458]

I worked at a Chrysler dealer in the early 90's and this was a very common problem with inner CV joints. They did not use a circlip but used a spring inside the inner CV joint housing to keep the CV joint in the trans. When these went bad it would cause the vehicle to shake side to side on acceleration.

[@paulreed563]

Yep, I had a 1986 Dodge Aries that did this same thing, had actually worn an indent into one of the tripod cups. Drove me crazy. Finally gave a tech at a dealer $20 to take a quick ride with me and he told me what it was within about 30 seconds of driving.

[@lvsqcsl]

Yep, I had a 1983 Chrysler New Yorker that did the same thing. The tripod bearing had actually frozen and when I jacked up the front and spun the wheels with my foot on the brake it would actually move the engine from side to side. I think it had the 2.6 liter Mitsubishi "silent shaft' engine.

[@paulreed563]

The 2.6L HEMI!

[@lvsqcsl]

@@paulreed563Yeah, a real stormer. The customer that had that car traded it for a 1986 Fifth Avenue and it had the 318 with all of 140 horsepower. Another "stormer."

[@eegg6954]

An yes. Remember when Chrysler sold Horizons and Omnis to police departments? Hahaha! Couldn't make this stuff up! And I was a fleet service rep. What a sh-t job back then.

[@Bereft777]

A geat example of balanced repairs of each axle. You touch one side do other.

[@jmaxim80]

I dont care for Ford personally, but I love what you do, and you are a hell of a professional, in my opinion. Keep up the great work, brother.

[@fredsalter1915]

Superb vid!!!

[@FordTechMakuloco]

Thanks!!

[@d1sternagle]

Dude ur energy is awesome, you can see and feel how much you love your work. Keep crushing.

[@OwenBehan]

Brian, all I want to say is I freaking love you man. I bought my 2009 f150 with the 5.4 3V almost 4 years ago now, and I just rolled 330,000Km. Me & Ol’ Bessie have you to thank!! From motor work, chasing these kind vibrations, everyday maintenance and servicing, etc. Everytime I watch your videos I learn something and go at what I’m working on with a total different confidence. Sincerely man, can’t thank you enough for taking the time to make the videos you have, you’ve helped a struggling 25 year old really love his Ol’ Ford😂 Cheers brother🤟🏻

[@fogit4668]

About a week before watching this I learned about the Lube Guard Shutter Fix additive. It worked. I bought two tubes and only put one in. Keeping the other tube for the next transmission oil change. Now I have to go and check my transmission mounts to check their condition.

[@fuzz443]

Shutter guard works great. My squad has never run better with 120,000 miles. Thanks for the tip Brian.

[@joepalladino3553]

Great job explaining the problem and cause. I had a VW Jetta years ago, had axle changed n was getting vibration , they replaced again. No help . Mistake took it dealer ! They said was clutch , replaced no help , replaced all engine n trans mounts! No help. They had car 2 weeks, said internal engine problem can’t fix? Was on VW forum, cannot yes aftermarket solid axle! Put in VW axle ok! Screwed by Dealer!

[@chstimeoff7610]

So I think you said you informed the customer and he said to hold off but you went ahead and bought a new shaft on your dime to prove the point that you had not seen this problem to us. If that is correct than I respect you more then you would ever know. I have learned so much from your video's even though I am just a wannabe DIYer. Thank you SIR!!!!!

[@FordTechMakuloco]

No, he said hold off on the exploratory committee when I still wasn't positive, but I had a hunch and really wanted to find the fix for him.

[@roscoe_t]

As a DiYer, Lubegard products (including Shudder Fixx) helped me take a 1994 zF 5hp30 transmission 300k miles. The torque converter had shudder problems from the start, as a service bulletin from BMW attests. They tried to resolve it with a replacement computer chip, but the friction modifiers in Shudder Fixx did the trick. I kept the clutch chatter at bay with Lubegard Red and a spill and fill every 30k miles. Lubegard is not your average snake oil. The trans was shifting well when I sold the car due to rust.

[@richardthomas1743]

Thank you Brain for letting us know about this! It is good information to have!

[@ecaparts]

Impressive... The inner boot held up well, with all the miles and the heat and even with the grease turning to oil! it still looked good from the outside!! That's probably why it was missed. 👍

[@TEC_Stuff]

Amazing diagnositic process of a difficult scenario. I guess with extreme duty usage, all previous part life expectancy goes out the window. In other words any moving parts could be the culprit. It was good of you to order the part and put it in to prove what was broken. Like another commenter mentioned, if you change things on one side, you should do it on the other side at the same time. I think due to driving dynamics, it’s more important to change parts on both sides of either the front end or the rear end, due to the fact both the left and right sides are going over the same piece of road surface at same time (both left and right of the front end, then both left and right of side of the rear end). Nice troubleshooting!

[@hipolitosunda]

My 2014 explorer having exactly same problem. I’ve changed so many things including fluid pump, spark plugs, engine mounts, but problem never was fixed. I will go for this one now. Thank you for the tip.

[@kcichon]

I can tell you that IDENTICAL symptoms on my 2016 Ford Escape .. same fix despite the fact that dirveshafts looks "OK" when checked by hand ... Replaced form driver side first .. hmm .. gotta replace driver side too. So dont be cheap .. save yourself time, change both at the same time ;-) .. THANX A MILLION for sharing. ANd I was about changing struts .. ehh ..

[@Jimmy-nv7mn]

Great troubleshooting using the gopro to be able to see the problem under dynamic conditions. Nothing more frustrating than not being able to see the problem as it's happening

[@josephklimchock5412]

As an old car guy that did most of my time working on cars in the 70-80's and still work on my own stuff, I love watching you on these videos. I am always a bit amazed at how some cars will have these fail way sooner, and other cars may never need them ever. I sold my 200 Taurus with 220K last year with the original CV axles and it rode as smooth as the day it came off the line. I get that this was cop car so a lot of heavy abuse, start, stop, all kinds of non regular driving during the life as a cop car. The grease probably turned to that fluid due to the extreme heat that the CV joint was creating. My guess.

[@svt32vdohc]

Agree. As for the CV axles, some OEM's use bad suppliers to cut costs. They will switch to Chinese suppliers, produce 100k vehicles, figure out they're bad and go back to a previous supplier. It's terrible.

[@ninjasfanfunnystuff9026]

2 months ago I had the EXACT same situation on the wife's 2014 Exploerer. Replaced rear driveshaft, motor mounts. It was the RH CV shaft! Problem fixed! Exact same symptoms as you!

[@jbstepchild]

I wouldnt habe thought that i was gonna say trans mount an maybe k memeber but inner cv very cool

[@shaygleason3585]

Had the same exact issue with my 2004 F150. I had the infamous death wobble. Replaced the axle and all gone. The mechanic that replaced it for me thought I lost my mind when I told him it was bad. It looked brand new didn’t look worn never clicked when I made a turn no obvious signs that it was bad but I did notice the way it was sitting on the truck when I looked underneath straight on. No more shaking at higher speeds.

[@paulhudgins5120]

Awesome research and awesome fix to find the problems, great job.

[@Twobarpsi]

Best tech anywhere! I wish you were closer. You would definitely have my business!

[@brianturner4382]

I have 2012 dodge Journey with the exact same symptom. I put new cv shafts in it but the were aftermarket. It was driving me nuts because I couldn’t find the vibration. I came across this video, so I put a oem cv shaft in it and the vibration is totally gone. I couldn’t believe it. Oem cost 3 times as much but it’s the only way to go. Thanks for the video.. I have learned a lot from you

[@artemis9789]

In my time at Honda, vibrations caused by cv shafts were pretty common. It was almost always only on accel, would violently shake the vehicle (think super-duty death wobble) and almost always caused by the inner cup having divots worn into it from the rollers. Somewhere around 1/16" deep divots would cause that vibration. Crazy. Seeing a total bearing failure is impressive though, that doesn't happen often. As always, great content Brian 👍

[@JD-xd5dh]

Recently bought an 04 F150 with the 5.4 3v and love catching up on all the videos. It’s already needed plugs, brakes, 4wd hub actuators, ac condenser and accumulator. Looks like timing job has already been done. Look forward to doing as much maintenance as I can on my own with your help. Thank you for the videos!

[@Fjord_Driver]

2001 F150 5.4, 2-valve, 4x4, 258k miles. Drivers side hub and half shaft replaced. Passenger side still fine pushing closer to 277k miles now. Original trans. Lucas stop slip in it. Yes, it helps. Edging closer to trans replacement/rebuild time. Don't put many miles on it per year now.

[@bakerd13]

The explanation was excellent. Thank you, Brian!

[@Patman03sprcrw]

Good find! Wasn't top of my list, but makes sense now that I see the failure point

[@Vchat20]

Good info! Relative recently got into a '15 Explorer with high mileage (~130k). Base model non-PI with the NA 3.5 V6 and tow package with the upgraded transmission. It's been fun keeping tabs on potential concerns to watch out for. Knock on wood other than some initial TC shuddering that was solved by topping up the trans fluid, it's been running good even with a ~5k mile road trip tacked on (monitored the slippage in Forscan during the trip and was rock solid). But will definitely be bookmarking the shudder fix for the future since I anticipate that may eventually become a thing as it racks up more miles.

[@mph5896]

I have a 14 Base with the 3.5, 180k. I bought it with a laundry list of issues. Had 1 bad cat, transfer case was leaking out the pass seal (I drilled and tapped a drain plug as well), water pump external leak, lower control arm rear bushings bad, sway bar links, tires x4, brakes. Did it all at parts cost. Runs and drives great now. Everything I did are common issues on high mileage ones.

[@Vchat20]

@@mph5896 Yep. A number of those came up at purchase time on this one and were taken care of like the transfer case seal on the passenger side, sway bar links, bushings, etc.. I think the main one we'll be watching for is the water pump. But like yours, this one definitely drives and rides nice despite the mileage. I was pleasantly surprised.

[@dansaver8247]

Good diagnoses on all problems. Good, clear explanation and video shots. Thank you.

[@brutonstreettailor4570]

Brian, i had this exact same issue months after my Ford dealer replaced my front rhs suspension spring, on my Ford Escape Kuga ( in the UK) went out and at 50 mph the bonnet was shaking violently, and i thought my teeth were falling out , though they denied doing it turns out they cut through the inner driveshaft joint boot as they accidentally dislocated the joint whilst swapping the spring out, didn’t tell me and then bodged the refitting so it spun all the grease out , by 9 months down the road when i spotted it , they said tough and that the boot could of been cut by me mounting a kerb. Cost me a new driveshaft for their incompetence, Il never darken their door with my shadow ever again !! Love your channel.

[@gregjohnson2073]

Always get underneath and check their work.

[@robertmedina6875]

YOU ARE THE MAN! Thanks for sharing Brian!

[@gmatias1231]

I currently have the same problem with my 13. Thank you for the explanation. Luv watching your videos keep up the awesome work.

[@GeorgeSellsUpstate]

I do too! Mine has 138,000 miles. About to have the cv axles replaces and I will let you know if it fixes the shaking problem.

[@KevinDevin2]

@@GeorgeSellsUpstatedid it fix your problem? I have a 2013 but I wobbles when I let off the gas

[@lesk7282]

Good find. Those can be difficult to diagnose at times. I had a 2017 Explorer Limited with a violent shake only during accel worst at around 80 kph. Same thing, drivers axle shaft faulty. Note: I've had no luck with aftermarket cv axles. They're good for awhile and come back with the same concern. For long term fix replace with oe I don't care about the price difference or the life time warranty the aftermarket have. Also have a 2011 Ford edge which has same concern and we keep throwing cv axles on it because they're lifetime warranty so why not 😅. Good for about 30k and soon it begins to shake during accel. The car is the company loaner vehicle.

[@ford56798]

My wife just traded in her 2020 explorer that would vibrate like a mother at 70 mph. If you went alittle faster or slower it was fine. It was right around 69 to 70 mph. Only had 24k on it. Never really found out what the cause was. This was just one of many issue we had with the explorer. We had a ton of electrical gremlins that Ultimately made the decision easy to just dump it back to the dealer.

[@johnwaby4321]

Yes sometimes you have to see what's going on to track down the problem 👍👍👍👍

[@needforfieros]

Thank you for posting this. It solved my problem!!!!

[@BABA-ws5eo]

Great case study. I like how you used the gopro. Even though it didn't solve the issue, I'm sure it helped to narrow it down to some degree. thanks!!!

[@jamesbruno5896]

Great info as always Brian thank you!

[@gunnerfanning5921]

I sometimes wonder, how many times a day Brian, that you walk outside and try to regroup from some of the things that come thru your bays... great content Brian 👍😎

[@tincankiller6454]

Very cool video looks like the Tripod became a Bipod slowly becoming a Monopod no wonder it was causing such a ruckus. Thanks for the video.

[@MarioDallaRiva]

Brian, that CV goop looks just like the McDonald’s hot fudge sundae I had last weekend! 😮

[@Northernsledr]

i lucky guessed your issue only because i've always used what i was taught that straight-line acceleration shudders are always the inner joint, turning shudders are outers

[@wellnessotr]

Neat! Thank you for explaining how it works. I have a Nissan, but I’m very curious about vehicle repair in general.

[@mikechiodetti4482]

If it's a police vehicle, all bets are off! Extreme wear is the norm! If it moves or rotates, it's gonna need repair or replacing. Good one Brian!

[@fhrk1991]

@FordTechMakuloco if you have a vcmm beside the vcm3 you might want to try-out the vibration sensor, it makes it fairly easy to sort out what causes the vibration.

[@GJ-yx3tm]

Great info Brian. Thanks forn sharing. Your a great tech, but no one knows it all. Expertise is gained through situations like this. Good stuff. Thanks again.

[@FordTechMakuloco]

Definitely this is exactly why I will never say I know everything about cars.

[@GrandPitoVic]

In the mid 90's till 2000 I had a business rebuilding cv axles and rack and pinions and steering gear boxes and also power steering pumps. We had a Camry with that same issue. Slamming the drive train back and forth. It ended up being the inner cv axle was messed up. It had came apart lol. I couldn't believe it.

[@danielthornton1633]

The day I bought my 2016 explorer sport (a week ago) it was shaking like crazy and I was freaking out because I thought it was the axle. I realized they told me they just put brand new tires on, and I took it to a local shop and the balanced the tires. Boom, sped up to 115 mph on the highway and was SMOOOOTH lol I’m gonna keep an eye on my axles and PTU though! Will be doing my own oil changes every 4000 miles, with the quality oil!

[@jonseim4030]

Wish I had seen this video a long time ago! But I've had a very weird "humming" noise. Changed the hubs and no changed.. long story short, passenger side cv axle. Inner joint was bad. Changed both sides anyways and it rides so much better now

[@jaccoonderdijk1777]

Just so cool as a non technician, though with some technical interest, this is so interesting!!

[@odishoodisho4904]

Thanks for sharing your experience

[@jimflammer9370]

Great information, thank you.

[@allanwilson6188]

I have 2014 limited I was changing struts as soon as I took my strut off my cv axle broke at the knuckle. After replacing CVS and struts on both sides my car drives so much better

[@eurbanautotech]

That makes sense! I ran into this a few months ago. Can't remember the car. Toyota Camry maybe..? This is exactly what it was doing. Felt like the whole subframe was slamming back and forth upon acceleration but all the mounts and bushings were good. We just gave it a quick look and the vehicle never came back so never got a conclusion out of it but after seeing this I'd be willing to put money on this being the issue.

[@anthony-i1k8c]

I had shudder on my car. I used Lubegard and the shudder was gone. I'm at 30,000 since I put it in. No shudder, not once. Shifts perfect!

[@citabria808]

The rustbelt appears to be coming true on that frame under the vehicle. Thank you Brian for these videos. They have saved me several hundreds by showing me how to complete (simple) tasks. Does salt water help change the grease properties, or was the boot sealed and intact?

[@lo1234-w9r]

Shake all that rust away! Makes you wonder why someone would want to throw all that money at a rustbucket like this.

[@mph5896]

@@lo1234-w9rthat’s a normal vehicle in the north. Once you can’t pick them up by the pinch welds, then it’s getting close to scrapping them.

[@briancarlisi2224]

Great analysis! Keep these coming. Gracias!

[@lvsqcsl]

I think Ford switched the Explorer to rear-wheel drive in 2019, however I would assume they won't hold up much better. GREAT VIDEO!

[@nonyabuzzness392]

Great video, very interesting stuff.

[@timowallin8020]

Common Ford Transit Problem and nice thing is that only originals work. If you try aftermarket its like winning lottery if you still don't have the shake. ;)

[@badazz2969]

I had this same thing a year ago with a 14 explorer ppv i was scratching my head because it was awd but ordered the drivers side one installed and shake was gone it was the only one with wobble but it was so miniscule yet it shook like mad at 25+

[@dhonnoll78]

Wife had a 13 Explorer actually did not have crazy vibration but when I did her turbo, I noticed the right axle shaft mount was broken in 2. The replacement part used 3 bolts in the engine to support he intermediate shaft before the half shaft. No recall but the part was larger held the shaft over a larger area and much improved.

[@brentnowell]

Grease should not turn into oil. I have seen a case in which an atv inner cv joint did the same thing, liquified the grease. It was actually leaking oil from the diff into the boot via a badly sealed housing. Some of these cv housings have a pressed piece of metal to seperated diff fluid from cv axle grease. You should clean that part up and see if it was passing

[@miketeeveedub5779]

Obviously this police interceptor had the "Margarita half-shaft" package, to make patrols more tolerable. 😆 On a serious note I thought it was just bad trans/motor mounts, but that CV joint identified as a jackhammer. No wonder that trans mount failed like it did! Lesson learned: replace half-shafts if over 100K. Great video as usual Brian! Cheers!

[@ddblairco]

Good fix

[@dotskip]

Nice Job !

[@johnbarton1878]

My 2016 limited pulls severely to the left on acceleration, had it to the dealership several times to no avail. Wondering if the torque steer is being caused by cv axles.

[@williamvaughan1218]

I had the same problem on a toyota. turned out the previous shop that replaced the transmission had hyperextended the cv joint. crazy symptoms.

[@romo5268]

Good diag and repair👍

[@paulfiebke3909]

Keep up the good work

[@gregsidel3557]

Thank you very much for that.

[@ronwilson6186]

Another excellent video.

[@larrydraper9544]

I my humble opinion we both side have the same mileage along being a police package vehicle. Do both sides also inspect front wheel bearings. Great video and diagnosis.

[@rodneymiddleton9624]

I've had that many times on all different brands. Hard to determine which one. All acceleration vibrations have been CV axles. Thanks!

[@timf6916]

Good call. Nice job

[@paulfiebke3909]

Loved this one, keep up the good work

[@justinhayward5027]

Dude I had a similar issue with a town and country. Couldn’t find nothing eventually I found out it was fix a flat in one of the tires. High speed shaking violently. Drove me nuts. Felt like axle shaft shutter

[@76LTD]

Had the same thing on my 2001 Honda Civic I could not see it split on the inner boot when I looked and did not probe it for brakeage. Once I removed the steering knuckle to change them out the CV axle split apart and fell. I thought how luck I was as I drove it around trying to troubleshoot it.

[@markk3652]

This is funny, I had a 1997 grand caravan that we bought new in August of 97. It was the wife's car till it became mine after it hit 100000 miles. It suffered from the exact problem you showed in the video. I won't get into the whole story about it, needless to say, the van had a really terrible event happen to it preceding the whole shaking issue. I had the stub axles changed out twice, but no correction to the problem. I decided to change them out myself the final third set, and upon install, it drove smooth as glass again. I found out tbe mechanic that had changed them out twice was ordering remanufactured units. I installed brand new units. I drove that van for three years before I figured it out, even the Dodge dealer was scratching their heads telling me that the differential bearings in the transaxle were bad. I even changed out the motor mounts with no solution to the problem.

[@cheapers1952]

I've encountered this on Honda VW and Chrysler it always happens under the load and is caused by the inboard joint on the axle shafts those are the only three I have ever encountered this from Usually clacking on turns is the outboard joint sometimes some wheel Hop included a bid culprit in the past on this was Hyundai and Mitsubishi😮

[@johngoljenboom4373]

Thanks for a great video.

[@yourlocalalexis4578]

thank you for the video, and the tip with the go pro!!

[@kevinludlow7462]

Thanks..imma check that out next 😊

[@chrisliberty1773]

Very common from my time working for Kia, Sedona circa 2007-2010-ish minivans particularly, inner tripod joint goes bad and...same problem

[@on-site4094]

Great mystery solved thanks for sharing 👍

[@xr500t]

Wow, I thought I'd never see that again! I had a 2000 Honda Odyssey where that happened, when the van was 3 years old! I was on a trip to New Hampshire and all of a sudden a violent vibration started. I looked under all looked great and brand new, 'cause it was... and I ended up thinking that one of the steel belts on the tires had failed? I bought 4 tires 'cause I was certain! but it was not. Ended up replacing the cv axles and solved the problem. No issues after that until its retirement 300k mi later!

[@mph5896]

I worked on a friends Acura RDX. It had a nasty vibration on acceleration. I replaced the passenger side wheel bearing since it was noisy, along with the passenger side mid shaft bearing and axle. The vibration was still there. The drivers side axle had no indication of failure, but I took a chance and replaced it anyways. Plenty of forums were stating axle issues. Car was fixed. 🙃

[@Sctpas]

Mi lavadora cuando centrífuga. ,😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 Saludos 👍👍👍

[@gloryland59]

As always, expert videos. Question, my 2005 F150 has a pop when turning to right only ( hard) . New rack, iner- outer rods, struts, shocks. Upper or lower ball joint? Driverside only.

[@thirdgearboogie2210]

Good work!

[@MarkJones-sk6vk]

So looking back, the owner should have taken the axles apart and inspected them? Seems like he really didn't really do too bad. Maybe a few extra parts bought?

[@gerrymoeller]

I've had this issue one time with a Cadillac STS about 15 years ago. Grease was fine on it but it was super loose..

[@jeremydoblinger3609]

Love to see you a video on proper maintenence interval times for the newer 3.5 ecoboost trucks..oil,trans,diffs and all that..just a thought. Kinda remember to speaking to that at some point..

[@FordTechMakuloco]

I have a video on that already and it still applies today.

[@GrandPitoVic]

That is great info brother. Thank you.

[@jeffclark2725]

Great find, thumbs up,gotta tear into some of those Hunches, and go with gut