IWE issues (vacuum or front hub?) on brand new 2017 F150
 

Hey guys,

First of all, I hope you had great holidays. Happy new year!

To add to the list of issues I've encountered so far with my 2017 F150 (bought in August 2017 - 3k miles on it as I write this), I noticed, last week, this weird grinding noise coming from the front only when I was accelerating. At first I thought ''damn, one of the turbo already blew up...'', but then I realised the noise was coming from the front left wheel. I must say that it was pretty cold outside (-40F), but I really don't think it has something to do with this. I've had other 4x4 vehicles used the same conditions and never encountered this.

The noise disappeared and reappeared randomly at first. It disappeared when the truck was on 4x4, but I can't keep on running it on dry pavement so I alternated. I immediately knew something was wrong my hub and I know these are vacuum operated by the IWE system so I could relate to that.

So anyways, there are 2 possible issues here according to me: 1) bad solenoid and/or vacuum line that causes friction and busted my hub or 2) my hub is simply a lemon and it broke. I am bringing it (again) to the dealership and will tell them to inspect all of these parts. I fear they might just change the hub, and that if the real issue is the the vacuum or another IWE component, it will only end up breaking the new hub again and I'll have to waste my time for a zillion time at the dealership.

As we speak, I feel like the truck is permanently on the 3x4 even if I'm in 2H. I tried to accelerate on a snowy road and I had plenty of traction, that's why I know one of the front wheel has traction. I also feel a vibration coming from my front wheel and my steering feels weird, even if I'm in 2H. My hub is shot, I'm 99% sure. The 4H works just fine.

What do you guys think? It's pretty impressive to see a failing 4x4 system after only 3000miles on a 50 000$ truck...

Replace the vacuum check valve attached to the firewall right in front of the driver. It is a $10 part and is fixing the problem for 90% of people with IWE issues. It fixed it for me.

Thanks - will do a visual inspection but I'll leave the fix to the dealership. As I said, I'm pretty sure the hub is shot and needs to be replaced.

My money is on the checkvalve as well. There's quite a few threads on here about the exact thing.
If your dealer can't replicate the sound, chances are you'll be driving out, the same way you came in. Stop at the parts counter before you leave, you'll need a YG360 valve.
Many guys are noticing it sometimes happens when the temps dip. I did as well.
It's the little round white thingy in the photo.
Hate to tell you to do a search, google is your best bet, since I assume you already did.

It has been in the single digits - teens here for the last week or two and I just noticed a similar issue on the way to work today. I could hear some sort of intermittent groaning noise at very low speed coming from the front driver's side wheel. This is the coldest prolonged temps my 2016 F150 has seen yet, and I am not even at 20,000 miles yet. I am going to look into this tonight. If my issue is a just the check valve I will replace that myself, if it is more invloved I will take it to the dealer since I am still under warranty.

Thanks for the picture! Yup, searched for it indeed, but wanted opinions before I brought it at the dealership... It's just hard to find actual pictures and troubleshooting since it's a recent model and new/very recent vehicles usually don't have these kind of issues. To be honest, I'm a little disappointed by Ford so far. It's my first American vehicle and my experience is not really as...exciting as I was expecting. Hopefully the dealership will handle this in a timely matter.

In my opinion, nothing should be acceptable, even little noise when it's very cold outside. It's even worst in my case: the front driver wheel has traction even if it's on the 2x4... Makes me believe that the hub is engaged and stuck there.

This is why I love this forum. I have had a grinding noise show up very intermittently while braking once in a while from the front driver's side. I though it could be the brakes but it goes away. Will pick one of these up at the dealer as I don't much like brining the truck in. Thanks Johnday

I'm in the same boat. Had the IWE grind (dealer swapped the check valve mentioned above and a solenoid after 2 visits), Roll Pin recall (where they drained all the fluid out of the tranny and replaced something inside), and now I have some weird smell that only happens on a cold soak remote start first thing in the AM.

8k miles on my truck - its been in for service now more then any Japanese vehicle I've ever owned that had 8-10x's as many miles (not counting routine maintenance).

I'm hoping after this latest issue I'm solid for awhile.

Thanks guys.
Crazy, your problem seems a little different, since the grinding happens at low vacuum.
When you're applying the brakes, the vacuum in the system would be "normalized", in other words, there shouldn't be a loss of vacuum since the engine is more/less not under load. When accelerating, is when the engine looses vacuum. It doesn't take much to affect that checkvalve, you might not even notice the engine being under load.
Sounds like you might have something else going on, ice might even be the culprit this time of year
I'm no expert on anything, but replacing the checkvalve wouldn't hurt a thing, but I think you have something else going on.
You could try throwing it into 4Hi the next time it happens to see if the grinding goes away, that WOULD indicate a vacuum problem with the IWE.

EDIT; just went and saw your profile, and noticed your truck is a '14. The system works the same way, but your check valve and solenoid are on the right [passenger] side,

Exactly what I'm experiencing... But now, my front driver wheel hub seem to be locked - I have traction even if I'm in 2x4! This is just crazy.

Booked an appointment this Friday AM. Will let you know what's going on.