paintballdude05

Pretty green to this forum, here's my "intro" thread.

https://www.f150forum.com/f3/another-new-guy-223665/

The truck is an '08 F150 XLT/XTR w/ nearly 290k km's on it. Amongst a few issues, one of the bigger ones is the 4x4 system not engaging.

I think I've got it narrowed down to a bad IWE. My question is, is the Dorman part inferior to the Ford replacement? I know the quality of aftermarket parts compared to the Mopar one for my 300M is usually pretty substantial (OEM being better). The Ford piece is $115 shipped while the Dorman is about the same price. However, I'd probably be buying the Dorman piece from RockAuto with other parts so the price difference is probably closer to $20 in the end.

What would you go with, a factory Ford part or the Dorman piece?

What I did to diagnose a possible bad IWE:

The previous owner brought it to the dealer about half a dozen times in the time he owned it just for 4x4 issues alone. In the end, they couldn't track down for sure what was going on and said it might just be a PCM issue. I bought the truck knowing about the issue so it's not a surprise to me.

What I know has been done by the dealer is the installation of a new style Ford IWE Solenoid and a new Ford Passenger IWE. When I first for the truck the 4wd system would seemingly engage when removing the vacuum lines off the solenoid. I cleaned out the solenoid and it seemed to work right so I put everything back together. I tested the IWE's and they seemed to be working okay too when removing the vacuum line. I did notice the drivers side IWE was slow to react compared to the new passenger side. I decided to blow the lines out with compressed air and this is where I think I found the problem. Water/fines/mud had gotten into the system partially clogging the line from the passenger side mid-way to the passenger side. Putting the compressed air in the line loosened the debris and then formed a clog. After about an hour of work I finally cleared out the vacuum line. I then blew out all the other lines with nothing else really coming out. I reassembled everything and tested the system out with the front wheels off the ground. With my girlfriend in the cab operating the 4wd switch, the system seemed to be working okay with the front wheels locking/unlocking.

At this point I thought the system was fixed. I tried the system out in 4hi on pavement and found that I sometimes got a grinding/clicking sound when turning. I found this odd but thought it might be the locker not liking all the traction. I proceeded to take the truck out to a sand pit to test it out. I nearly got got stuck but I made it home. This was in pretty small stuff, nothing a truck with 4wd couldn't handle. I wasn't able to notice if the front wheels were spinning though.

So with the clicking sound observed, the slow reaction of the drivers IWE and the fact that it's the original one I'm thinking this is the last part of the 4wd system that needs to be changed out. I would really like to get this fixed before winter in case I need to use it.

Thanks!

Ducky F150

First never engage 4x4 on pavement second oe usually is the best way to go its possible you had it fixed till you kicked in 4 wheel on pavement that has a habit of causein chaos on the system

techrep

iTrader: (1)

sounds like a vacuum leak to me...check the lines to make sure they are not cracked..there are a couple check values in the system also...the grinding you hear is an IWE not fully engauged...when engaging the 4WD system on dry pavement try not to turn...CV shafts will fight each other..

Masi1926

So these are items that I've gone thru or replaced. First was the new shielded solenoid, then replaced the 3 check valves. Take each one off and check that air only passes in one direction.
Now I pulled my battery out and took out the air reservoir box behind the battery and checked it for leaks.
Then I used my brake bleeder/pressure gun and built up pressure at each iwe actuator. Found the system held pressure at this point.
Replaced the iwe actuator on my passenger side. It was missing a few pieces that wouldn't hold air.
The system is fine now. I will do the drivers actuator, seeing as it was easy as pie, now that I've done it.
What I forgot to mention first off, is when I jacked up the front end, I found my passenger side halfshaft turning while I spun the wheel. It shouldn't turn while the system it disengaged.

paintballdude05

Interesting, I didn't inspect the check valves to see how they were operating, I'll have to do that. The vacuum line design is pretty poor in my opinion. The Ford Engineers put the splice between the drivers side line and the rest of the passenger ones on a crossmember that is probably the lowest part of the whole system. You can easily get the truck this deep in water which means you'd have a joint in the vacuum line underwater. If the joint doesn't seal correctly, you have a line sucking in muddy water which contaminates the whole system. I believe this is what happened to this truck which resulted in the various components of the 4wd system failing.

I think my next step is to inspect the whole vacuum system to make sure everything is moving well and that the lines are clean. I'll then seal up all the joints so they don't leak again. I'm also going to try and get a hold of a vacuum pump to test out the IWE to see how it behaves.

Going back to the original question, what's the preferred replacement vendor for the IWE on these trucks?

techrep

iTrader: (1)

Have never heard anything negative about the Dorman replacement.. But if you can afford to buy your replacement from ford.. Do that, but you stated above...its already been replaced ...

Crazy4x4

I have replaced both sides with Dorman replacements. No problems so far, it has been only a month. www.rockauto.com or www.ebay.com for the best prices.

GATORB8

It looks like $62+ship for the Dorman's at Rockauto (states limited lifetime warranty, half the price of Autozone or Orielly!) vs $90+ship for the OEM from Tasca.

Unfortunately, buying from rockauto, I'm not sure how the warranty claim would be processed without you sending in the old piece. With the failure rate of other aftermarket drivetrain components I've experienced (specifically hubs), personally, I'd probably swing towards the OEM part.

paintballdude05

The price difference between the two after shipping to Canada is pretty minimal. Looking through the receipts, the previous owner had the RF IWE and wheel bearing changed to the tune of $786. The IWE from Ford retails for $188, the bearing was $370 and labor was $230. Since it's been all Ford parts installed on the truck I'll most likely continue that tradition with the IWE. In the notes from the repair, they mentioned the hub splines being stripped and that's what warranted the replacement. Hopefully the left side wasn't as bad as the right!

paintballdude05

I just got my replacement IWE today. I went with the genuine ford part, totalled it came to $120 shipped w/ taxes. I'm going to attempt the replacement in the next coming weeks and will report back.