2020 Edge ST bee-buzzing noise around 2k RPM under acceleration

[garycrist]

What I could hear, it sounds like a heat shield buzzing.

[enigma-2]

Honestly, not much to go on, but to me it sounds like some type of vacuum valve opening (or closing) and vibrating when moving.

There are vacuum valves inside the cabin. Does it sound like the sound is emulating from inside or outside the cabin?

 

About the only way I can think of isolating the sound would be to place a microphone around various places in the engine compartment and narrowing down when its loudest. 

[ZcO123]

Back again after a different dealership having my Edge for just about a month. I THINK we have figured out the problem. I will paste the (quite long) write-up from the master mechanic - as it would be more helpful than anything I would try to explain. Hopefully it helps at least ONE person that may be experiencing a similar problem. 2020 Ford Edge ST with 17k miles on it, 100 visits to dealerships, ridiculous amounts of time without the car, $1000's wasted, "fixes" that ended up not being fixes, etc. 

 

The master mechanic found it to be the driveshaft installed improperly from the factory. Please read the write-up for more details.

 

I appreciate all the messages with guesses at what this could be. After getting a new transmission and it essentially being a placebo-fix where we weren't hearing the noise for a short period, here is to hoping that this new, properly installed driveshaft resolves this FIVE YEAR problem we've been experiencing. Thanks again!

 

[1004ron]

I find it somewhat puzzling - the front bearing support bracket was mentioned as problematic - correcting the bracket with the old drive shaft still had the noise.

 

A new driveshaft resulted in no more noise - so was it a problem driveshaft all along?

 

 

[STBEAST]

The one positive thing I get out of what you pasted is you were so lucky to find a Ford Tech that was willing to give it all he could to try a figure this out and fix it for you. Looks like he went the extra mile and gave it 100% to try and fix this issue. That in itself is a rare thing to find these days. 

What a nightmare to go through for you. The most interesting thing is that it only happened in sport mode. I had a 2021 Edge ST that was a nightmare from day one:

I won't go into too much detail but-

at about 1100 miles while out in the middle of nowhere a cooling hose came off (at the ptu cooler) causing overheat and leaving me stranded. Only to find from the dealer that there were three clamps not properly installed on the hoses from the factory. The car was never the same after that. It drove normal but the transmission developed a Slam sound randomly on acceleration from a stop. Multiple visits to the dealership and a lot of wasted time they changed some components of the transmission. The Slamming was gone but the shifting was always unpredictable and in sport mode a funny humming sound came from somewhere in the engine compartment area. In reverse there was a slight delay in response under acceleration. They drove the vehicle multiple times and said it was normal. BS.

 After two years and at 12000 miles (Jan 2023) I ended up trading it in for an identical 2024 St. 

After all the hell I had been through it wasn't a very smart decision on my part. Even though I had the extended warranty I never felt comfortable with the vehicle after an overheat. If I had been smart, I would have taken legal action and forced Ford to take the vehicle back under the California lemon law. 

The only reason I stuck with Ford is because I loved the Edge ST and knew it was the last year they were being made. I got the 8-year extended warranty hoping I never have to use it. I am at 6550 miles and only after driving both vehicles I notice there is a big difference in the transmission between my old 2021 and the 2024.

 

[ZcO123]

44 minutes ago, STBEAST said:

The one positive thing I get out of what you pasted is you were so lucky to find a Ford Tech that was willing to give it all he could to try a figure this out and fix it for you. Looks like he went the extra mile and gave it 100% to try and fix this issue. That in itself is a rare thing to find these days. 

What a nightmare to go through for you. The most interesting thing is that it only happened in sport mode.

 

We were beyond lucky to have this master mechanic work on this problem for us over the last month. He said it was the hardest thing he has ever had to figure out and resolve in his career. Also, we don't really ever put the car in sport-mode, but the noise was still present. Putting the car in sport-mode seemed to be a "cheat" to allow the mechanics to hear the noise better (and at all) as the noise didn't occur 100% of the time when hitting 2100 RPM. So it is false that it ONLY happened in sport-mode. The mechanic just forced the issue as it seemed to occur more often in sport-mode during his tests and stuck with that mode throughout the testing. 

[ZcO123]

1 hour ago, 1004ron said:

I find it somewhat puzzling - the front bearing support bracket was mentioned as problematic - correcting the bracket with the old drive shaft still had the noise.

 

A new driveshaft resulted in no more noise - so was it a problem driveshaft all along?

 

 

I might get this wrong with what was explained, but we were told that the incorrect install from factory with the bracket and the driveshaft caused for the driveshaft to contort a little bit due to misaligning the bolts. The bolts were able to fit perfectly into place with the bracket on the new driveshaft. I apologize for my ignorance as this is like a different language for me.