Hi everyone,
My 2004 Ford Freestar has a "whistling noise" that sounds like a 'tuning fork' that a piano tuner would use. It is not there during cold weather, less than 30F. It stops when I turn the wheel either left or right. Only have noise when van is going in a straight line. Is fairly consistent at speeds over 40mph. Any thoughts???

 

Have you had any success with an answer about your problem? My 2005 Freestar has the same problem and it has been in for repair since 4/19. Now they are telling me it is a normal noise that I will have to live with. I am not happy, it gets really load and can be heard over my radio.

 

I have not yet taken the Freestar into the dealer specific to this problem. I will be in a few weeks. I am now just "checking around" before talking to the dealer. Because the noise goes away when the steering wheel is turned, I am inclined to believe that something in the stearing mechanism is vibrating with the wind blowing through.

 

my guess is wind noise
It's pretty strong on mine, not sure what you heard

 

I had the same problem with my Freestar. There was a high pitched whine from the right front that went away when I turned the steering wheel. It turned out to be a wheel bearing. There is a technical service bulletin on this problem. It took some persistence with the dealer, but they finally changed it and the noise is gone.

 

I have the same on my 06, but it's when stopped and idling. It's an intermittent whine or whistling sound. Won't do it when really warm or cold out. Very strange. Does not increase with engine speed. Not sure what it could be.

 

Same thing happened in my 2004 Freestar

It was a wheel bearing

 

I was getting a wind whistle with mine. I have the luggage rack w/bars and found that if the bars are together (not in use and slide to the back) that it causes them to whistleand it sound s like it's right at the door.

 

Re: post from Gary regarding whistling noise...you mentioned a TSB on the Freestar noise that goes away when the steering wheel is turned. Do you know the TSB#? I have had my 2004 van in 4 times for the noise, although it is intermittent and of course never happens when it is in. I keep asking them to physically take the wheels off and look at the van, they say they have test driven it and nothing is wrong so they will not. It used to only do it after driving on the highway over 25 miles out. Last long trip I took it started about 25-30 miles out of town and it lasted most of my 800 mile trip, and it becomes loud. I suspect the wheel bearing but before I take it in again I want some ammunition to give them. It usually goes away when wheel is ever-so-slightly turned to the right, but the noise is more constant now, has gotten louder, and is not just a whistle anymore, you can hear a vibration to the whistle, and the noise is more like a faint smoke alarm going off that you would hear in the distance; it can now happen after driving 5 minutes on city streets. Any more info you can provide will be greatly appreciated.

 

Had the EXACT same issue on my 04 Limited. Problem was the right front caliper was hung up and overheated the wheel bearing assembly (HUB). This caused the seal to get fried (hardened) after cooking the bearing grease. Problem was resolved by replacing the hub assembly.