I have purchased out 2003 Excursion about two months ago with about 31,000 miles on it. It has now developed a distinctive roar at 1500 - 1700 rpm primarily on 3 and 4th gears. I get this during normal acceleration and in 4th gear while cruising between 55 and 60 mph. When I begin to slow down say from 70 I pcik the noise back up again at the 60 mph and quites after 55 mph.

Gonna take it to the deal the week after Christmas but was wondering if anyone else had encountered this problem. Would like to have some idea what this might entail before dealer checks it out.

Sounds like a u-joint to me. Probably the rear one. 30k miles is a little premature for that though.
Jim

Well I have been through war with the service dept at local Ford Dealer. They stated they could not hear the noise so I had to drive 15 mile one way to drive the SUV and let them hear the noise. Then they stated that I needed to make another appt to bring it back for them to further invesitigate. They now are saying they think it is rear end and have replaced some parts and should have it ready today. I really believe it is transmission, but U Joint is a thought too.

Guess we will see what happens today.

Well, just got off the phone with the dealership service dept and as suspected, it was not the rear end, although he did state their was a bearing, carriage bearing, that was in need of replacing. So now they are guessing it could be the muffler. Why they come up with that I don't know other than they think it could be a bad baffle in the muffler that at certain pressures cause it to vibrate.

Will see where this goes next

Well after keeping the Excursion for two weeks, tearing down the rear end and replacing the muffler, they state they cannot find the source of the noise and they have another 7.3 Excursion in the shop for other reasons, but it makes they same noise. Their comment was nothing is wrong, the noise is nothing to be alarmed about as it seems they all make the same noise.

What a joke! Guess we will see what happens next. Had not originally purchased Extended Warranty but after this I was afraid not to do this before the warranty ran out. So now I am the proud owner of Ford's best extended warranty for 6 yrs and 100K miles.

Wee.

Happy New Year