This 2005 Ford Freestar minivan arrived at the shop to have two concerns addressed. It seems that the last time this van was out in the field, the driver reported hearing several unusual noises while on the way back to campus. Also mentioned was a vibration that was described as noticeable but not real bad. The noise concern was associated more with braking, but the vibration was not, which is unusual. Since the first step in ANY repair process is to verify the concerns, I headed off for a road test.

As is the case with a lot of noises, I was unable to duplicate the concern. I couldn't feel or hear anything unusual happening with the application of the brake pedal. However, the reported vibration was definitely there. Curiously, I found it present at idle in park as well as while driving down the road. Another unusual symptom was that the MIL was off, indicating I probably wasn't dealing with something like an engine miss or an EGR concern. It looks like the vibration concern will be the place to get the diagnostics process started.

With the van in my bay idling in park, I opened the hood to have a look. At first, I didn't notice anything unusual, or hear anything out of the ordinary. Everything seemed to be in place and operating properly. There was, however, something not quite right about what I was seeing. With the hood open, and me looking straight down in between the engine and radiator, why can’t I see the ground ?

Oh my ! Where in the world was this thing ?

I took the photo above from the driver’s side of the van. A large mass of rocks and mud can be seen toward the center of the photo on top of the large piece of metal framing for the engine cradle. That space is supposed to be open.

The photo above shows that same general area as seen from the passenger side of the van. Mud is caked around the lower radiator hose, and further inward, around the electric cooling fan. What can’t be seen is the mud that is caked against the transmission, completely filling a normally open area in the front of the van.

The photos above and below look toward the front of the van. Mud can be seen filling just about every open space or small gap from the transmission pan to the engine cradle. The power steering cooler hose is engulfed in mud as well. Apparently, this Ford Freestar has been mistaken for an off-road vehicle that has 4-wheel drive. It looks like someone from the department had to make a trip to one of the off-site research facilities, and hopped in the first vehicle he/she saw.

I want to know where this driver was. More importantly, I want to know how the driver managed to GET OUT OF where he/she was.

When mud and rocks get caked in and around moving parts, a whole symphony of new and different noises can and, more than likely will be heard. I can’t perform any further diagnostics until I can actually see the components of the car. So, I removed the front wheels TO FIND the lower control arms and both front brake calipers packed full of mud. In fact, so much was caked in the calipers that witness marks were present on the inside of the front wheels. It became clear that most, (if not all) of the noise concerns stem from the acres of mud stuck on just about every part in the front of the car.

The only way to verify this diagnosis was to grab the garden hose.

I sprayed, and sprayed, and sprayed.

I sprayed with the van in the air, and I sprayed in the engine compartment with the van on the ground. I sprayed in between the radiator and a/c condenser. I sprayed in the channel underneath the radiator. But, the mud just kept coming.

By the time all was said and done, I had thoroughly made a mess of my work area, something shop foreman Brent wasn't too happy about.

The first thing he did was to call the department in question and tell them all about what I had found.

As expected, once I got the van clean, it ran perfectly.

And once I cleaned up my mess, Shop Foreman Brent was happy, and all was well.