Ford F150 whistling noise

[FishingwithJake]

I've noticed when it gets real cold out that my F150 makes a strange whistling noise inside the cab. It sounds more like a high pitched vibration rather than a forced air whistle. It only occurs for a few seconds then it stops. It almost sounds like the whistling from the fan belt but even when the heater and fan is off, it still does it. It also seems to do it more often during excelleration. I talked to a service manager from Ford and he thought it might be a idler pulley? He told me to try and associate the whistling nosie with an rpm speed. I went ice fishing this weekend with a buddy who just bought an F150 and his truck did it too. We are perplexed as to what it is. Please help.

[Macgyver55]

Power steering pumps can make a high pitched kind of whiny sound when they are real cold. Normally it will go away in a minute or two after it warms up a bit. Next time it does it, try rocking the wheel back and forth and see if that has any effect on the sound.

[aczr2k]

Mine does it too, its an 05 supercrew.

[THOR6600]

I also have a 05 SuperCrew and it does it also, I put a different air cleaner in it and the noise is almost gone even when it is really cold...

[FishingwithJake]

Mine is an '04 Supercrew. Thanks THOR, I knew I could count on you guys!

[Lip_Ripper Guy]

My 05 Supercrew does the same thing as well. I've owned quite a few Fords and this seems to be a characteristic of them all. I was thinking it could possibly be an injector?

[Jeremy airjer W]

I think you may be describing a condition that is called "moosing". This was reall common on the crown vics and countours. The reso0lved the problem with an updated IAC and Snorkel/breather tubes.

When you hear it jump out and squeaze the rubber tube between the air box and throttle body or feel around the throttle body/IAC. If the noise changes or you can feel the vibration then we are on to something.

As far as the air filter, if its dirty than replace it other wise if you hear the noise try removing it all together and see if the noise goes away.

I'll look through some tsb's when I get to work tonight and see if I can find any thing else that may help you out!

[Sarpy Creek Boy]

I just started noticing a whistle also, my mechanic said a couple of my exhaust manifold bolts on one side are loose.

[walleyeaddict]

mine 2... 05 supercrewe! what kind of air cleaner did u replace it with thor???

[walleyeaddict]

Also I have owned 5 fords...2 cars and three trucks and they all have done it at some point. Built ford tough whistle or no whistle...Better then a bad tranny, Or german garbage!!!!

[Jeremy airjer W]

No TSB's (mitchell). Looked through '04 & '05's

[FishingwithJake]

What are TSB's?

[halad]

My 2004 does it at a constant speed you accelerete or let up and it stops. I was told its the injectors and Ford is looking into it but they didnt offer to fix it.

[Jeremy airjer W]

Quote:

---

What are TSB's?

---

Technical Service Bulletins. Every manufacturer puts them out as diagnostic aids to known issues.

(Honda has the best TSB's, they are written like a humor column in a newspaper and at times can be funny!)

Quote:

---

My 2004 does it at a constant speed you accelerate or let up and it stops. I was told its the injectors and Ford is looking into it but they didnt offer to fix it.

---

Wasn't expecting that to be the issue?

[ib_jigged]

My '02 Supercrew witha 5.4 does not do it. But I have noticed this in my wife's '05 Expedition with the 5.4. She thought I was going crazy when I asked her if she could hear that whistle. I guess I should train it to hum or sing instead

[Farley]

What I've noticed on my F150 and also on my Ranger when I had it is that when I'm traveling 55 mph and maintaining that speed by gently pushing in and letting off the accelerator, when I gently push it in, I get a kind of whistle or high pitch vibration that I can barely hear over the radio. I figure it's either an oversized I.D. (maybee 5 or 10 thousandths of an inch) on a bearing somewhere or something is not running perfectly true. It doesnt effect performance so I dont worry too much about it. Dont know if that's similar to what you are hearing but thought I'd put it out there.

[Hibbing]

I first noticed it on my '05 f-150 a week ago. My fishing partner said it was the speedo cable. Appeared to get worse as it got colder. It's the loudest when it I am going 60MPH. Quits at lower speeds.

[FishingwithJake]

I have a temperature guage in my truck and have noticed that the noise only occurs when it is lower than 10 degrees. I've also noticed the past few days that it occurs at 2000 rpm's.

[DEADhead]

mine just started doing this a few weeks ago too.

03 expedition with 5.4L

I'll check the air filter housing, as I just changed filters a few weeks ago as well. it is a bugger getting that thing apart and back together

[krats]

I used to have an F150 with the 5.0L and I had a whistling noise problem too. It turned out to be an intake manifold gasket leak. The gasket had broke down and it was sucking air in through a little space in the gasket. The leak was on the back of the intake manifold near the firewall of the cab.

[FishingwithJake]

Krats - Did it only occur when it was cold outside?

[krats]

Honestly, I cannot remember for sure. I want to say that I think that after the truck warmed up I did not notice it as much while I was driving, but if you opened the hood you could notice the noise. It was more noticeable during the winter.

[aczr2k]

What I read on another site is the alternator was the supposedly the cause. But no one is entirely sure.

[fishing tech]

This is a normal condition. It happens on a light accel under load, in temps below 20 degrees. My truck does it and it bugs the heck out of me. As a ford tech I tried several thing to fix it and contacted the ford hotline for techs. I was told it is a normal condition at cold temps. Don't go wasting time and money trying to fix it unless you know for sure the cause. When it warms up again the noise will be gone.

[DEADhead]

thanks for the info. a little sigh of relief

[FishingwithJake]

Thanks fishing tech.