Does this sound like an IWE issue?

[Yukon Joe]

To the OP- I have now been through a lot (maybe 5) IWEs over a few years of hard driving in deep sand. My most recent switch was last week after probably 12 months of regular, hard, desert driving and a few big trips. Your experience is exactly what I have gone through- the IWE fails to engage properly, and slips/clunks. Then it seems OK for a few runs, before it slips again and eventually fails completely. I think you have now got the warning that the IWE is about to give up (i.e.- you will have no 4WD). I assume that this is because the teeth are getting worn and the slippage is intermittent because the wear/damage is in one area of the ring.

Oddly, it is really hard to see the damage when you take off the old IWE, although you might pick up bits of metal in the grease. It is pretty easy to replace the IWE (even for me- and I'm an idiot) but it is easy to damage the plastic ring on the actuator if you are not careful.

NB- if you replace the IWE, make sure that you replace the actuator also… even if this seems obvious, the dealership out here (thieves, fools) failed to do so of rme the first time I had this problem.

In my experience, the biggest causes of IWE failure are:
- Applying too much power when first starting in 4WD. Much better to shift when stationary (never on the fly), wait for the system to engage fully (i give it 30 secs at least) and pull off gently. You sometimes get an innocuous engagement clunk- different in sound and feel to the IWE fail.
- Power sliding!
- Excessive lateral load (for example, when attempting self-recovery in deep sand)
- plain crappy luck. These things seem to wear out…

Good luck! The good news is that, as someone said to me, now you know what it sounds and feels like, so you won;t be guessing next time. Some sort of comfort, I guess...

What actuator are you referring to?

Thank You for your donations to Avery. We hit our goal!

Yukon Joe
Snoball 3
Delta Lead
www.runraptorrun.com

 

[Rorywg]

The IWE hub actuator- it is the springloaded device that sits on the end of the axle and which inserts into the IWE hub assembly.

Ie- there are two parts to the 4WD activation mechanism- the bit that goes on the axle, and the (larger) bit that this connects with and which sits outside the main hub assembly.

Make sense?

 

[trayack]

The IWE hub actuator- it is the springloaded device that sits on the end of the axle and which inserts into the IWE hub assembly.

Ie- there are two parts to the 4WD activation mechanism- the bit that goes on the axle, and the (larger) bit that this connects with and which sits outside the main hub assembly.

Make sense?

Yes it does thank you. Truck is headed into the dealer to be fixed on Thursday.

 

[shooterAMG]

I know the 2012 and later (or is it 2013) has the torsion differential. I know it's a limited slip, but it still does slip, no? I think you might be looking at an instance where there might be enough friction on the tires that the differential opens up and slips, kinda like it's supposed to do.

From SnoBall this year, I saw repeatedly where the half shaft nut was actually loose, allowing the wheel hub gears and the haft shaft gears to separate enough to exceed the limits of the IWE, thus allowing grinding to happen.

So what do I think some of the blame is to lie with the diff and not the IWE? At pre-run I heard popping and saw my front wheel stop moving when in deep snow. I replaced an IWE and found that it was fine. The plastic ring was fine, the spring was fine, everything was fine. I replaced it and still had the same issue. I attribute it to the diff on my 2011 slipping like it's supposed to do.

Oh, and to attest how easy it is to replace, guys in my group replaced 5 total on the run. One of which was on the trail. The others in a snowy cold parking lot.

Just my thoughts on the situation.


Todd

 

[ITSALLGOOD]

Faulty iwe,torsen, etc !!!

My 2012 has been in the Ford Dealer on and off for over a month and still no fix for the 4x4 IWE popping and grinding when under a load on a slippery surface like snow or sand .

Now the trans is starting to have a delayed or harsh shift around 70 mph while it downshifts to make a pass etc. Ford says just a normal characteristic of the vehicle just like the faulty 4x4 system since day one. I have demanded that a Ford engineer come out and take a drive with me before I pick up the defective truck for the third time at this dealer and the dealer says since that they can't find a fixable issue Ford won't send an engineer out .

I am debating on a class action suite to wake up Ford at this point . 18k unhappy miles without a fix so far !

 

[Yukon Joe]

The IWE hub actuator- it is the springloaded device that sits on the end of the axle and which inserts into the IWE hub assembly.

Ie- there are two parts to the 4WD activation mechanism- the bit that goes on the axle, and the (larger) bit that this connects with and which sits outside the main hub assembly.

Make sense?

Yup. Completely understated. Haven't heard it called an actuator before, but your right. It is. Lol...

Thank You for your donations to Avery. We hit our goal!

Yukon Joe
Snoball 3
Delta Lead
www.runraptorrun.com

 

[Rorywg]

My 2012 has been in the Ford Dealer on and off for over a month and still no fix for the 4x4 IWE popping and grinding when under a load on a slippery surface like snow or sand .

Now the trans is starting to have a delayed or harsh shift around 70 mph while it downshifts to make a pass etc. Ford says just a normal characteristic of the vehicle just like the faulty 4x4 system since day one. I have demanded that a Ford engineer come out and take a drive with me before I pick up the defective truck for the third time at this dealer and the dealer says since that they can't find a fixable issue Ford won't send an engineer out .

I am debating on a class action suite to wake up Ford at this point . 18k unhappy miles without a fix so far !

This sounds a lot like theproblem that I had last year. In the end we swapped out the differential- I was sceptical as there was no obvious damage there, but we had already done the IWEs, axles and were down to the diff or the transfer case. We tried the diff and it has been good ever since.

In my view (which has been informed by many others much more expert than me), my problems with my differential were caused by a failing IWE which went with a pretty big bang. When I replaced that IWE, the differential was still damaged and was slipping too hard for the new IWE, which then broke. So I had a (pretty expensive) chain reaction going.

I still don't know for sure what caused my issues with my front end but I have done a lot of hard offroading since replacing the differential and I now accept that the driving I do is going to cause problems to even the best vehicle. These trucks are awesome, but they aren't bomb proof, and I'm not Robby Gordon... So they take a bit of a battering. I think it is worth carrying a spare IWE as part of the offroad kit and it is actually pretty easy to replace on the trail if you have a socket set and a big hammer.

I hope that youare able to get your 4WD working again. Maybe tell your Ford dealer about my experience and the solution (you should emphasise that there was no visible damage to the Torsen, no shavings in the differential fluid, etc) or PM me if I might be able to offer any more help. I realise that the problem with any forum is that you get a lot of amateur advice (that would be me!), but I hope that this might help a bit. For what it's worth, the feeling of relief when it got fixed and I could get the truck out for a big multi-day desert trip was, well, huge.

Good luck!

Rory

 

[Bulletnjm]

deleted

 

[Squatting Dog]

The other part of the puzzle is when the IWE wear, they produce metal shavings. These shavings will get in the needle bearing of the hub bearing. Then when you install the new IWE, the shavings will be in the new IWE and tear it up and ruin the wheel bearings.