andrewe539

I already posted this but I figured I would try to explain it a little better so I apologize for that.

I had a 2" leveling kit installed on my truck and tires one size bigger. Driving off from the shop I noticed a loud humming noise, I heard a pop and the sound went away but then I had a rattling noise. I parked the truck and the next day I couldn't hear any noises. Everything was good for about 3 weeks. One day I turned hard all the way to the right and I heard a loud pop about halfway through the turn. After that the rattle was back and is no more pronounce, however it doesn't rattle constantly but does it on select bumps and vibrations in the road. I can still make the popping sound by turning all the way to the right or left.

I took my truck back to the shop last week to have them check everything. Everything checked out. Just to check I put the truck to 4WD and everything worked but back in 2WD the humming was back but went away about a mile down the road. So I did some research and found out it was most likely my IWE.

Last week I pulled through a drive through and when I got back up to about 30 mph the humming was randomly back but went away after about a mile.

This past weekend I drove about 3 hours and kept hearing the rattle. I had to put the truck into 4L and everything shifted and worked perfect. I turned left onto a grass levee and stopped and shifted into 4H. I got a "Shift Delayed-Pull Forward" message, so I shifted from Neutral to Drive and hit the gas. I didn't move anywhere. Tried shifting back and forth with no luck. After about 30 seconds I heard a loud whining nose and some grinding and then a loud bang and the truck shook. I put the truck in drive and I was now in 4H. I parked it for a while thinking it was some kind of freak thing but the same thing happened when I tried to shift back into 2WD. I had my switch in 2WD however my 4H light was still on. I finally got it into 2WD after having to go through the same scenario that happened before. Got onto the road and the humming was back but went away.

On Sunday I tried to check the 4WD and found out that the whinning and loud bang along with truck not driving after the shift delayed message only happened going into or out of 4L. 4H works fine.

I also bought a vaccum pump, IWE and vaccum system all checked out fine(25 in/lbs with vaccum pump and with engine running).

I could really use some help on this as I am pretty concerned. It seems like I have an IWE issue but I don't know why it randomly locks in if my vaccum is working. I have no Idea what the rattle sound or popping sound when I turn is. And I don't know what is causing the issues I am having when engaging the 4WD system.

Thanks for any help guys.

techrep

iTrader: (1)

What year truck we talking about ?

Meathead

iTrader: (2)

The humming and loud bang between 4H and 4L is the transfer case. Probably an issue there. The rattle in the front is more than likely an IWE. A lot of the hubs are damaged by shops not knowing how to reassemble the front correctly.

andrewe539

Sorry I left that info out. It is a 2014.

Thats what I'm thinking. Is there a way to test the IWE besides check for vacuum since it's holding correctly when I test for that?

techrep

iTrader: (1)

Is it venting properly ? How are you entering 4L from 4H ? shift into "N" with foot on the brake ?

andrewe539

I haven't check the venting, how do you do that?

So so this morning I unhooked the vacuum line from the solenoid and drove to work. Didn't hear any rattling so it seems like that IWE is bad. It's just weird that it randomly engages but my vacuum tests show it's working right.

correct. I put it in neutral anytime I engage 4wd. In neutral I'll try to engage and it says pull forward. So I put the truck in drive and hit the gas and I don't go anywhere. Shift back into neutral and back to drive and same thing. Then comes the noise.

andrewe539

So I've been doing some more thinking about the grinding noise. I've read over some other forums about transfer cases. If my transfer is messed up wouldn't I be hearing noises or my shifting be messed up in 2wd?

Meathead

iTrader: (2)

Not in 2wd. Only when shifting between 2 and 4wd.

andrewe539

So last couple of questions.

1. I plan on changing my IWE out just for good measure. Like I mentioned above I tested the vaccum on the entire system and it held at 25 for almost 5 minutes. If the vaccum system seems to be working why would the IWE randomly halfway engage. I was thinking the solenoid or check valves could be causing that but I think both IWE's should be doing the same thing. Plus I never had an issue until after the leveling kit.

2. I just check the 4WD system again. Everything successfully and smoothly shifted into 4H. 4L is still doing the grinding. Is there a way to test if just a piece of the transfer case is bad? I would hate to change the whole case if there is a way to just change a piece of it.

3. Someone mentioned at work to check the transfer case fluid. I personally have never changed it, all my oil changes have taken place at the Ford dealership so I would hope they were checking that as they were supposed to check all fluids. Could low fluid in the transfer case be the reason for the grinding?

Thanks for all the help.

andrewe539

So yesterday I was driving and I hit the gas pretty hard. As soon as I let off the gas my IWE half engaged and started humming. So it looks like my vacuum is actually dropping. Could this be the check valves?