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So I noticed this issue on what was probably my second time using 4WD. The first night it was no problem but the second time I had to use it, I was taking my newborn son to his one month old pediatrician follow-up appointment and it happened when we were halfway to the office (what a scary time to be swerving all over the snowy roads!)
The issue occurs exactly when I NEED FOUR WHEEL DRIVE! Regardless of whether I am in 4A or 4H, it happens. I haven’t even bothered with 4L. Whenever the car hits a rough patch that and it needs all four wheels is when the message pops up on my screen. If I am in 4H, only the rear wheels are spinning, 100% of the time. I have a little truck diagram on the screen and it shows me when the front/rear wheels are spinning or when the rear differential is locked, and obviously it is inaccurate because when I am in 4A or 4H, it shows all 4 are spinning. Even after 4WD is disabled, they are still showing to be spinning (see picture to see what I mean).
I took it to the dealership on attempt #1 and it had a bad shift motor or a transfer case I believe is what they said (I’m going from memory here, not very good with cars). They rebuilt it and did some other things (I will upload a photo of the mechanic’s notes when I get home so you can see exactly what the issue was) and the 4WD worked as intended. Everything was good, I tested it on the lot before leaving and on the way home. A few days later, I had the same exact issue again and got stuck trying to get out of my driveway. I had to end up taking my wife’s Subaru Outback to work, which had performed better than my truck haha. So now my truck is back at the dealership again, as of yesterday. The service manager took me for a spin again to try to reproduce the error and it was mildly embarrassing because he couldn’t get the “4x4 disabled” message to populate again while I was at the dealership, but they tried more after I left and they told me they got the error screen to show up and they are corresponding with Ford right now. So today is day 2 of having a rental. I googled the issue to see if anyone else had my scenario and see if they ever had a 100% permanent fix, and like you said this is a rare situation - either that or not talking about online by many people.
It is very bizarre!!!!! And a nightmare because I am paying $1k per month for this thing, which is not cool when it doesn’t meet manufacturer expectations. I will upload the mechanics notes from the first time around and also keep you posted with new developments as we find out from Ford what is going on.
Yes, I am experiencing the same exact thing, my lariat has that power distribution diagram also, and mine also shows all 4 spinning which is incorrect. I have a feeling they either changed your shift motor or rebuilt the trans case for no reason since the same thing happened to you the next day, although I would be interested In seeing there notes if you dont mind. Also I am very interested in seeing what Ford comes up with about the problem. The 4x4 disabled message is only suppossed to appear when the system is overheated, but it's next to impossible that it is actually overheated since it happens immediately after switching to 4x4. Look forward to hearing from you, and I hope everything works out for you in the end!
Yes, I am experiencing the same exact thing, my lariat has that power distribution diagram also, and mine also shows all 4 spinning which is incorrect. I have a feeling they either changed your shift motor or rebuilt the trans case for no reason since the same thing happened to you the next day, although I would be interested In seeing there notes if you dont mind. Also I am very interested in seeing what Ford comes up with about the problem. The 4x4 disabled message is only suppossed to appear when the system is overheated, but it's next to impossible that it is actually overheated since it happens immediately after switching to 4x4. Look forward to hearing from you, and I hope everything works out for you in the end!
Hi Fritz,
I posted a photo a couple of posts ago at 8:30 pm of the sheet they gave me the first time around as the temporary fix. I like the part where it says “there is no ppt for this type of scenario so m time was used” which leads me to believe that it is an unusual scenario as we have already speculated. As soon as I hear back I will let you know what the new fix is. I will not be shocked if it ends up being the same fix DK15 had.
First and foremost, my 4x4 woes and "temporarily disabled" problems seemed to have been solved like I mentioned before. We still have tons of snow and I'm able to test it out just about every day. The front end has been grabbing like it should since I got my truck back.
Here is everything that has been done to my truck since I first got it back after the major collision repair which is when I think the issue started, or was created. My truck and the 4x4 system worked perfectly fine before the collision, and resulting repair.
- Shift motor at the transfer case was replaced
- Vacuum solenoid, and what appears to be the check valve that causes most of the infamous IWE griding issues, and all related vacuum lines up near the drivers side firewall replaced.
- Some random electrical connector was found to be unplugged, and was plugged back in.
My opinion is that the first 2 problems/solutions did nothing to fix the issue. In fact I'm positive the shift motor didn't fix the issue because I got my truck back after that and I still had the issue. The other 2 fixes happened after it went back to them for a second time for this problem. I think my issue from the get go was caused by the electrical connector he referenced. I think that issue was a result of the fairly major collision repair that I had completed just prior which involved a frame swap as well as several items on the front drivers side corner. The collision repair also resulted in a cracked valve cover as well, that I believe is probably unrelated to the topic here.
Here is the service managers direct quote regarding the electrical connector: "The connector that our technician found not completely seated was on the drivers side of the engine compartment near the master cylinder. It is part of the harness that sends power back to the transmission and transfer case."
One thing I did not check that you guys did, was the power distribution screen. If I had to guess, mine too would have shown power to the front, but I'm not positive.
When my truck was having the 4x4 problems, it never once worked. I slipped and fishtailed all over the place for days in the snow. Traction control going nuts. The only time the "4x4 Temporarily Disabled" message would pop up is when I would first get my truck to spin the rear end and break free. This happened both in 4A and 4H. It was then and only then that I would get the message. The rest of the time, my trucks' electronics assumed everything was working fine. On a couple of occasions I also got the "4x4 Restored" message whenever I would straighten out and quit spinning any rear tires. No rhyme or reason to this otherwise as I didn't get that message nearly as often as the disabled one. I know for a fact that the front end was not getting power regardless of the 'restored' message. All I had to do was break the rear end free and I would get the disabled pop up again immediately.
I did test 4Low range one time. It shifted into 4 Low perfectly fine, however even then the front end still had no power. Same 'Disabled' pop up as when in 4A or 4Hi.
I sure hope you guys get your issues figured out. I will continue to monitor this thread and answer any questions or help out in any way that I can.
First and foremost, my 4x4 woes and "temporarily disabled" problems seemed to have been solved like I mentioned before. We still have tons of snow and I'm able to test it out just about every day. The front end has been grabbing like it should since I got my truck back.
Here is everything that has been done to my truck since I first got it back after the major collision repair which is when I think the issue started, or was created. My truck and the 4x4 system worked perfectly fine before the collision, and resulting repair.
- Shift motor at the transfer case was replaced
- Vacuum solenoid, and what appears to be the check valve that causes most of the infamous IWE griding issues, and all related vacuum lines up near the drivers side firewall replaced.
- Some random electrical connector was found to be unplugged, and was plugged back in.
My opinion is that the first 2 problems/solutions did nothing to fix the issue. In fact I'm positive the shift motor didn't fix the issue because I got my truck back after that and I still had the issue. The other 2 fixes happened after it went back to them for a second time for this problem. I think my issue from the get go was caused by the electrical connector he referenced. I think that issue was a result of the fairly major collision repair that I had completed just prior which involved a frame swap as well as several items on the front drivers side corner. The collision repair also resulted in a cracked valve cover as well, that I believe is probably unrelated to the topic here.
Here is the service managers direct quote regarding the electrical connector: "The connector that our technician found not completely seated was on the drivers side of the engine compartment near the master cylinder. It is part of the harness that sends power back to the transmission and transfer case."
One thing I did not check that you guys did, was the power distribution screen. If I had to guess, mine too would have shown power to the front, but I'm not positive.
When my truck was having the 4x4 problems, it never once worked. I slipped and fishtailed all over the place for days in the snow. Traction control going nuts. The only time the "4x4 Temporarily Disabled" message would pop up is when I would first get my truck to spin the rear end and break free. This happened both in 4A and 4H. It was then and only then that I would get the message. The rest of the time, my trucks' electronics assumed everything was working fine. On a couple of occasions I also got the "4x4 Restored" message whenever I would straighten out and quit spinning any rear tires. No rhyme or reason to this otherwise as I didn't get that message nearly as often as the disabled one. I know for a fact that the front end was not getting power regardless of the 'restored' message. All I had to do was break the rear end free and I would get the disabled pop up again immediately.
I did test 4Low range one time. It shifted into 4 Low perfectly fine, however even then the front end still had no power. Same 'Disabled' pop up as when in 4A or 4Hi.
I sure hope you guys get your issues figured out. I will continue to monitor this thread and answer any questions or help out in any way that I can.
Thank you for all the great info, I am going to check my connectors Saturday (were finally going to have some decent weather.) I will post my findings.
Any updates from the dealer? My truck is doing it only in 4Hi when the tires start slipping. I didn’t know mine was broken until I tried climbing a hill cover in ice and snow. Luckily I was able to stop the truck and get it straightened out before it slid off the trail.
I'm having the same problem! Got stuck in front of my driveway last night only back tires spinning front not ingaging at all if they had I would not have had to be pulled out by a jeep wtf! So frustrating as this has happened 3 times this week and it's not fun putting chains on the rear and being pulled out by others when you 65K truck is sucking at it's job. So I made an appointment for service. I have 2015 F150 Ecoboost, 7" lift.
Thank you for all the great info, I am going to check my connectors Saturday (were finally going to have some decent weather.) I will post my findings.
Fritz, any update?
My truck is still at the dealership. They were told by ford to replace the IWE parts or something like that. Waiting on parts to come in this week.
Any updates from the dealer? My truck is doing it only in 4Hi when the tires start slipping. I didn’t know mine was broken until I tried climbing a hill cover in ice and snow. Luckily I was able to stop the truck and get it straightened out before it slid off the trail.
hi Baja. My truck is still at the dealership now. They are waiting on parts to come in, Ford has told them it could be the IWE components so they are going to replace them. 2,500 miles on it, no accidents at all, no off roading at all, and this happens to me with my first truck. Not a great experience especially when you drop over 55k on it. I really hope they can fix it, I would rather not go through the legal process of getting ford to pay me back for it or replacing it because I like this model exactly how it is, aside from this one fault!
hi Baja. My truck is still at the dealership now. They are waiting on parts to come in, Ford has told them it could be the IWE components so they are going to replace them. 2,500 miles on it, no accidents at all, no off roading at all, and this happens to me with my first truck. Not a great experience especially when you drop over 55k on it. I really hope they can fix it, I would rather not go through the legal process of getting ford to pay me back for it or replacing it because I like this model exactly how it is, aside from this one fault!
Damn man that sucks. I hope it's a simple fix for you and me. I have a rough feeling my warranty claim is going to get denied, so I want to see what could be causing such issues. I feel your pain. I'm really bummed my Lariat is doing this to me haha.
Thank you for posting this thread and all of the "4x4 Temporarily Disabled" occurrences you all have had. As I have been having the same issue since October of 2018 and haven't found any information on it. And even though my truck is under waranty with Ford Motor Company, they are not attempting to repair/fix/replace parts to get my 4wd working again. I have brought my truck in 2 times, and now its currently at the dealership for a 3rd attempt. 2018 Ford F-150 Platinum FX-4 Ecoboost 3.5L V6 (4x4) purchased end of July 2018. The dealership I've been bringing it to seems neutral/disinterested in this case, they contact Ford Motor Company and Ford doesn't give them permission to fix the issue only assess the issue. Photos and video are showed to mechanics and service managers on all 3 attempts showing them the persisting issue. They proceed to keep the truck for 9+ days at a time and don't do to attempt to repair it other than assess it and engage 4wd on concrete. The Truck will engage 4wd when on concrete/road when its easy, the truck disables 4wd when in thick sand when there is resistance on all 4 wheels. Below is a youtube video I have now made to address this issue as I need to seek help to get the 4wd fixed. Let me know if any of you guys have gotten the issue resolved or have any ideas?
02-21-2019, 08:56 PM
