[gman1868]

After having searched the forum and the intarwebs I'm starting a new topic to discuss the evil driveline vibration.

3 days ago I drove my 2007 Escape 4WD and it was all hunky-dorry. Today I drive it and it seems that something in the driveline is vibrating. It begins at 45 and gets progressively worse. It's not the same vibration as an imbalanced tires, a bad CV joint, or a wheel bearing (I've experienced those problems before in other vehicles). It seems like a drive shaft issue. I took it to a local shop, they drove it, looked at the drive train, said they couldn't identify the source of the vibration except to say something about a right-front wheel carrier assembly blah blah blah. They said, "leave it for a couple days for us to figure it out".

I'm hoping I don't have to pay for the shop owners college fund to figure out the problem, any ideas?

 

[megascape]

There are so many things that can cause that. How's the u-joint? Did you buy it used? Maybe a weight fell of it from a past balancing job?

 

[SUVord]

U-joints are also the first that comes to mind.Easy to verify because at wide turns with the speed you mention the vibration will get much worse.Also the main shaft's central support bearing may have cought some dirt in it or it is just gone south.Since I can not have personal access to the vehicle I suggest checking the rear frame bridge where the differential is hunged from.Look for cracks of the bridge and for distortion of the brackets that support the diff.
And then, of course, is the condition of the tires.Overinflate them to 40psi and see for any changes in the vibration.
Warping of the disc rotors could also produce similar symptoms but you should be able to feel those when braking etc.
Good luck and please keep us informed.

 

[gman1868]

Before I took it to the shop I looked under the car. I tried wiggling the two shafts but they seemed tight. If one had been loose I would suspect a u-joint. I did find a bulletin at fordforums.com that explained how to use a tool that measures the frequency of the vibration to indicate a bad u-joint or imbalanced drive shaft. I did noticed what seemed to be some black rubber dealy around the shaft in the central support and it appeared to be missing a portion of it. Nothing bad happens during braking.

I'll check the car again when I get home to see if the rear frame bridge has any obvious damage or if there is a clean spot where a weight used to be. I'll take it to the car wash for an under-carriage wash so it will be clean when I look at it.

If nothing is obvious then I suppose I'll have to take it to someone who has the vibration tester and a runout gauge to see if one of the shafts got bent somehow, or if it is out of balance due to a missing weight. Hopefully I won't have to start replacing things just to see "if it works"

Thanks for your good advice, if anyone else has a suggestion I'd appreciate it!

 

[SUVord]

Have that central support fixed.since you have visually seen some rubber part missing, that may be the cause of the vibration.While the car is in motion the shaft moves up and down, left and right.

 

[DA59a]

I had a similar issue and was the center u-joint on the rear driveshaft.
You can run the vehicle without the shaft, just disconnect the fuse to the transfer case. I had mine off for several weeks this way till I got mine fixed.
Note that I wasn't able to find any "play" in the u-joint, just 2 dry cups once pressed off. I changed both center and middle joint while off. Be sure to mark the shaft to put back the same way as it is a balanced set. If the center bearing shows any issues, this can be fixed. I would suggest finding a shop that specializes in or builds driveshafts to do the bearing.

 

[Wickymustang]

We had a Progressive Insurance Escape come in with a similar complaint. Came out to be the rear vane carrier assembly. The rear diff. They have a problem where they fail and cause a vibration. I know this because we took out the driveshaft. Had balance checked and then test drove it without the rear driveshaft. No shakes and the shaft was perfectly in balance.

 

[AlbertvilleAl]

After 2400 miles our 2010 Escape (3.0 AWD) started exhibiting driveline vibration above 55 mph.
Dealer removed driveshaft and vibration went away. 'Rephased' driveshaft and vibration is reduced but not completely gone. Traveling for the holidays and will return to dealer upon our return.

 

[ltlredscape]

I have the exact same problem that "gman1868" does in my 07. I will look into the driveshaft, i did notice that the black rubber dealy around the shaft in the central support was missing some "teeth".
There is another rather strong vibration under the drivers' side floorboard and i can particularly feel it while driving under 60mph and when the car is first warming up in cold weather. I think it is a CV joint but i looked at them recently and they were not leaking and the boots weren't cracked.

 

[kmoose]

After 2400 miles our 2010 Escape (3.0 AWD) started exhibiting driveline vibration above 55 mph.
Dealer removed driveshaft and vibration went away. 'Rephased' driveshaft and vibration is reduced but not completely gone. Traveling for the holidays and will return to dealer upon our return.

Let me/us know how this goes. Mine (2009 V6 AWD) has developed a vibration at a similar speed that I am 99% sure is a u-joint or driveshaft related issue. My dealer blames cupped tires - I have the Michelin Cross Terrain and all research I've done on these indicates that these are not tires prone to cupping. My local tire guy said that the Contitracs on older escapes were quite prone to it but the Cross Terrains are not, at least in his experience. His opinion is that the driveshaft is out of balance as he could not detect any play in the joints.

I did notice as per previous advice that the vibration increases over wide sweeping turns at speed, likely indicating driveshaft type issues. I have rotated my tires a couple of times on my own since the diagnosis and the vibration is exactly the same regardless of where the tires are located on the car.

I have had each tire on each corner in the past 2 weeks and no difference is found at all - meaning I highly doubt my tires are the culprit. If a cupped tire on the back was causing this, then I should feel it in the steering wheel when I move those tires to the front, or the vibration would at least change (or even go away completely). But no change.

I had both the steering shaft and the rear main seal done about 3 weeks prior to the vibration occurring. I am not sure of the driveshaft comes out to do one or either of these jobs but if it does, then perhaps it was not reinstalled properly.

 

[gman1868]

Well, took it in today. They took out the back half of the driveshaft out, it's not the rear differential or the rear half of the drive shaft because the vibration didn't go away. They also tested the carrier bearings in the intermediate shaft in the front, and they seemed OK, but the vibration still didn't go away. They ordered an intermediate shaft to try it when I bring it back.

Thank you all very much for your good advice, hopefully the next visit will fix it.

 

[SUVord]

I hope you have it fixed soon and I'm sure you will keep us informed.
Best of luck.

 

[gman1868]

Well, it's gone (mostly). The front intermediate shaft was replaced, I could feel the spot inthe bearings where it was defective. In addition, the tires were contributing to the vibration (Crappy Continentals) and rotating them helped as well. We decided to let it go until I replace the tires and eliminate the noise and vibration from them.

Thanks again for all your help!

 

[timcaballa]

I have the same problem but i tired removing the drive shaft but still i can feel a slight vibration on the floor.My tires are new and balanced and even try rotating it. but when it goes 60kmh up no more vibration

 

[Mlocke17]

Does anyone know if you pull the fuse on the transfer case, how long can you drive your Escape that way. Will it eventually create damage, or is it perfectly safe? Also, is it the "Four-wheel drive module, cluster (restraints control wiring)" fuse?

 

[Sparky one]

My -2010 Ford Escape -3 Lt-V-6 Automatic, AWD, Mileage -178140 KM.-

I was experiencing a bad vibration when accelerating from a stop . The Vibration occurs between 25-50 KPH and then smoothed out. I felt the vibration in the seat area and the gearshift .I managed to have the vehicle put on a hoist ,and had a assistant run the car while on the hoist to observe the issue . The Front driveshaft before the middle steady bearing(center support Bearing), showed the" wobble" in the shaft during the speeds indicated above. Using a mechanics stethoscope I could hear grinding metal noise in the Power Take Off Unit (PTU) that engages the Rear Driveshaft . When I inspected the sample oil I drained out of the PTU ,I could see metal filing in the oil .So My next job was to source another PTU to replace the one in the vehicle .I Found a Good Used Unit at a local Auto parts Dealer , and managed to see that this unit was good and the oil that was in it clean . I drained the used PTU unit anyway, and flushed with solvent, and replaced with the proper Gear oil as Suggested by Ford .I paid $300 Canadian for the used unit, with a 3 month warranty on it .Ford's price on a brand new unit was over $4000.00 Canadian dollars

A Mechanic Friend did the swap for me,and at the same time repaired the Passenger Side Front Steering Outer Tie-Rod End Bushing that was worn out , and also the the Rear Sway Bar Bushing Links that were also worn out .these worn out pieces caused a lot of clunking noise while driving over rough roads and caused abnormal tire wear and steering that felt "Loose".Upon taking the old PTU apart it was evident the PTU Rear Output Shaft Bearing was Worn out as was the the Bearing race was compromised by the bearing failure .See attached pictures .

One thing I would like to Add is that Ford has No maintenance procedure for changing the gear oil in these PTU's . They say that these are Lifetime sealed units that require no change of oil. I had Changed the Gear oil in this unit when the transmission oil was replaced and at that time there was No indication of Bearing failure by way of Metal filings at that time .The way these AWD Escapes operate is that the PTU is engaged the whole time the vehicle is in operation ,driving the rear driveshaft all the time up to the Rear magnetic Viscus coupling before the Rear Differential.Only when the Computer senses wheel slip of the front wheels, does it engage the Magnetic Clutch, to engage the rear Differential to give the vehicle extra traction by driving the rear wheels .Apparently the fact this unit is surrounded by Heat from Exhaust being so close and the Transmission ,It would probably be a good idea to change the oil at least once per year . Oil is cheap compared to what you have to spend and do to repair this .

In doing the swap the Mechanic ended up doing a Transmission flush, as the Transmission oil will leak out once the PTU is removed from the Transmission .

The Road Test confirmed No more vibration under acceleration ,and the vehicle actually drove way better and tracked straight with the other repairs fixed.--

 

[Sparky one]

I wanted to post the picture of the PTU output Bearing race in the above post ,but wasn't able to do that, so here is the pic of the race ---see attached

 

[patsfan1704]

Thanks for this! Fluid change is key for this as well as rear diff and transmission.