Hey guys, it's been a while since I last posted. Glad to be back, but not glad for the reason!

So since I purchased my truck 4 months ago I've had a bag load of issues with it, all of which I either fixed myself or at least figured out what it was and know what I need to do.

My last issue was that my wiper blades would not longer work but I could still hear the motor moving inside of the cowl. With the help of some very generous people on this forum I got it narrowed down to the wiper bushings. Turns out one of the bushings was shot and I had to pop another one back in. Let me tell you, getting the positioning of your wiper blade linkage just right to fit back in was probably the worst experience of my life. But they work now! A $10 dollar fix as opposed to a $300 fix at the garage.

My alternator started dying while I was across the border in Bellingham, I noticed my dashboard lights starting to fluctuate from dim to bright and that my voltage meter was dropping. I some how made it back to Canada and it died in my driveway.

Garage quoted me $450 for a used alternator + labour. I ended up going to a pick-a-part and grabbing a used one for $20. An hour later my truck started up again like a beauty in which I realized that I may have also fixed another issue by replacing my alternator!

My truck has been shifting absolutely horrendous since I got it. By this I don't mean there's a physical problem with the transmission itself but rather when the truck decide to shift and the RPM's just not feeling right at certain speeds/inclines. I know this isn't how a truck is supposed to feel or any vehicle for that matter.

However, after replacing the alternator (having to disconnect the battery of course) my truck began shifting beautifully again! It was like a brand new truck, everything was perfect and I was so happy I thought it was the alternator messing around with my shifting for some reason.

The next day, I turned on my truck and began driving. BOOM. Back to it's crappy shifting pattern. Some users have helped me identify that it could possibly be my PCM 'learning' and I have not found a way how to disable it from 'learning' because it's apparently 'learning' to shift retardedly (any help with this would still be great, but I've given up at this moment in time. Guy at the ford dealership said he can hook up his computer to it and see if there's any updates for my truck but that's going to cost $110 flat and might not even work)
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Now onto my most recent issue.

I've been noticing that my truck has been making a weird creaking/clanking/dull clicking sound when I turn my truck to the left 80% of the time and to the right 20% of the time. It seems to be coming from the front. Ever since this sound has been happening my brake light came on and it's not turning off.

Just a few days ago my brakes started sounding like they were metallic scraping/screeching when applied, almost like sharpening a knife on a wet stone. I thought okay, my brakes may be on their way but then while driving it sounded like they were screeching again intermittently a few seconds apart and doing it all by itself without me applying the brakes.

Does this sound like it could be an issue of the brakes sticking and/or needing new brakes?

Any help would be appreciated. If I can narrow down the issue instead of taking it to a garage for a $65 diagnostics fee and another $200-$400 for whatever they plan on stiffing me with I could probably save myself a lot of money by doing it myself.

Thanks!

 

It really sounds like the brakes with your brake wear indicators being engaged giving you all the loud noises. The best way to verify this is to pull the wheel and inspect the brakes to see if the indicators are scraping against the rotor or perhaps you can see them through the holes in the aluminum wheels if those are installed on your truck. Since brakes and new rotors are less than $100, I would be inclined to just go ahead and change them out if the rotors are showing any signs of wear or significant rust in and around the cooling fins.

 

Thank you very much! I will give it a look after work. Appreciate the response.

Would that also causing the weird clunking/clicking/tapping noise when turning left as well or does this sound unrelated? This sound also happens intermittently.

 

My truck does both also, the clicking noice is my cv because its worn... And my brakes sounded just like that... Here is what my pads looked like...

 

It could be the brake pads loose in the caliper so when you take it apart see it the wear is even or uneven on the pads. If uneven, your calipers might be bad and they are easy to change when you have it taken apart.

I would also put a disk brake quiet on the pads as this quiets brake noise and absorbs vibration, and keeps the brake pads from moving around inside the caliper.

While you have the wheels off, check the shocks and other connections under your truck. I can't think of any connections that should be loose. It sounds like brakes but it could also be loose connections anywhere at the front wheels like the connections of the upper ball joint arms attached to the frame, loose or broken shock, ball joints, tie rods, and lower A frame attachments. Everything but the brakes would most likely cause problems with your ride. So if it is noise and not ride, most likely the brakes. That said, anything is possible when trying to diagnose problems with a vehicle.

A word on tie rod ends and ball joints, if you push the ball of the tie rod end into the socket and you see or feel movement or a "click", your tie rod is bad and you should replace. Not to worry because they are inexpensive and easy to change. Ball joints are the same way but harder to test and harder to change but you save a pile of cash if you DIY (like $100's of $$$).