tvsjr

For those of you equipped with a 4-Auto capable truck, I need your input. I have been fighting Ford with my 2016 F150 501A 4WD truck... after 4 repairs, they finally figured out that there was a vacuum leak and replaced the check valve and lines to replace the noise/partial engagement issue that so many of us have dealt with. But, of course, with one fix comes a new problem. After one drive, running 4-Auto in the rain, I had two noisy metal-on-metal "crunch" noises out of the front end. One while driving straight, one while in a gentle curve. This has been escalated to Ford, who dispatched an engineer... to tell me that the sound is "normal" and was a result of the "gears meshing". Now, I'm no expert... but this wasn't a small noise - the second one was in a parking lot and loud enough that people standing in front of a restaurant a few hundred yards away turned to see what happened. Assuming this is really "gears meshing"', the gears wouldn't last long.

Keep in mind that I drove the truck for 35K with the partial engagement noise... but, in all that time, with significant use of 4-Auto, I never had any nasty crunching noises out of the front end.

So, what say you? If you have a 4-Auto equipped truck, have you ever had a metal-on-metal crunching noise out of the front end loud enough for you to say "WTF was that?" Your input would be greatly appreciated...

idrive

iTrader: (3)

Unacceptable.

Can you replicate the sound on demand? If so, video it and post it here.

icecoldak

You are probably going to need new hubs now!!

Bopete12

tvsjr

It's currently sitting at the dealership... again. This makes 5 times and 50+ days out of service. But, at 35.5K miles, it's just beyond Lemon Law. I had it happen twice and it was bad enough that I disengaged the system for fear that, the next time the noise occurred, I'd be calling a wrecker or suffer a significant loss of control. It literally sounded like I was about to shear a front wheel off.

johnday in BFE

iTrader: (1)

NOT normal by any stretch. When in 4A, the IWEs are pulled in, locked. I'm agreeing with the above poster, after driving like you had been, it wouldn't be a surprise to find your IWEs all ground to crap. The intermittent grinding is likely when the transfer case shifts power from one end to the other, in the conditions you describe.
IMO, they only halfazzed fixed it. So common.

tvsjr

To be clear, it's been through 3 sets of IWEs and 1 set of bearings:

Trip #1 - no problem found
Trip #2 - IWEs damaged, wheel bearings damaged, all replaced
Trip #3 - IWEs damaged, replaced
Trip #4 - IWEs damages, vacuum leakdown test conducted, both IWEs, check valve, and lines replaced

After the repairs, the constant light grinding noise is gone. Replaced by the occasional *CRUNCH*, "did we just lose a wheel?" noise.

This has all been escalated to Ford Corporate, which is why the Ford engineer was assigned. The first escalation was less than effective (she called the dealership for me - wow!) but, after a few letters, someone from Consumer Affairs is now involved. Waiting to see what they tell me, but I suspect it won't be good. The more examples I can cite of "gee, other people are driving around and not having this "gear meshing" problem", the better.

johnday in BFE

iTrader: (1)

How long after fix #4 until the problem? Mileage wise. Your original post it sounded like you drove 35k since the last fix.
Interested in what is found.

tvsjr

No, the truck has 35.5K on the clock now.

Trip #1 - was never documented in an RO, because they couldn't replicate the issue (and the service writer was a lazy f***)
Trip #2 - 16,792mi.
Trip #3 - 25,190mi.
Trip #4 - 34,050mi.
Trip #5 - the current trip - 35.5K-ish mi.

And trip #5 took a while because I had to wait 2 weeks for a loaner vehicle to be available (the dealership uses Fusions, primarily... and they all went out of service at once thanks to a recall). The crunching noise was heard only a few hundred miles after getting the truck back.

johnday in BFE

iTrader: (1)

Wow, looking at that, and has no bearing really, every 9k +/- it's acted up on you, except for the latest. Not good, and aggravating at best.
Hopefully you'll know something today. Nothing I can do for you, but I'm genuinely interested in what is found, and the fix.