Notahappyfordowner

2016, Lariat, crew cab. 5.0, 6.5 box: Purchased new August 2016. 23,xxx miles current. 6 months ago started getting a grinding noise up front. Started when braking at low speeds, or moving in low speeds such as through a parking lot. Got worse, took it in and was told its likely weak vacuum on the hub actuators. They verified the noise goes away when in 4wd. They acted confident its a simple fix. They replaced some check valves and I believe a solenoid valve and said its fixed. I drove off the lot and it was unchanged. Back the second time, they replaced my front wheel bearings, and again said I should be good. I drove off the lot and immediately it was doing the same thing. I contacted them back, and they came clean that this is an issue that is plaguing at least 40 other verhicles they have serviced, and Ford does not have a solution for it. They told me Ford field engineers from Dearborn were coming to their dealership to remove parts from another similar truck to take back to study. They have taken the position that there's nothing they can do, and are not offering to try anything else. Apparently because they have not been able to fix it on many other trucks and Ford has only recently acknowledged the issue. They asked me to bring my truck in the day the 2 Ford engineers were on site to remove parts from another truck, but they wanted to drive mine as well, which they apparently did.

Where the heck do I go from here? The issue is bad, at times it is constant and even at high speeds. The noise is terrible, and I can feel the vibration in my pedals and floor. Dealership is very non-apologetic, and want to make this out to be an inconvenience, but not a safety issue, yet they acknowledge they do not understand what is causing it, so how can they be sure?

How common is this?? I have a truck less than 2 years old, under warranty, yet nobody can tell me when, or if it can ever be fixed. I contacted Ford today for the first time and have a case number now. I'm waiting for a regional manager to contact me to speak about a possibly buy-back or replacement. Is anyone aware of any such thing? They were the one that mentioned it when I told them if this truck cannot be fixed, I do not want it anymore.

Am I dealing with an incompetent service department? If they are telling me they have 40 trucks, this tells me there are many many out there like mine with the same issue.

Anybody who knows anything about this I would love to hear. My truck has been in service way too much, the inconvenience is getting in the way of work and daily life.

Thank you!

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Nice username! Same exact issue here. Dealer is playing dumb and claims they can't detect anything and that i just need to let it get worse. Going back in to bark more next week. door locks are worse after the frozen latch recall than before they touched them.

GMC to Ford

Bad IWE (one or both)! If they replace the solenoid and check valve without improvement, the dealership already knows the correct answer, but you should already have this answer for a 8 month old post. I hope to save some time for others reviewing this post.

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Thanks for linking the actual TSB. They mentioned it and said the did the solenoid fix, but clearly stopped there. I'm going to print, highlight, and tell them to follow the F-ing instructions! I don't have a lot of patience for ineptitude!

I pretty much had zeroed in that it was the IWE/bearings, but I'm not doing my own driveway repair in the winter, on a vehicle that is under warranty. Although It may have been quicker and easier!

Notahappyfordowner

Update for you on this. I went to a different dealer and got much better attention to the issue. They are very familiar with this problem and this is what they have told me. This is an issue with the trucks that have auto 4wd. The grinding noise is a small needle bearing that is integral to the hub that supports the front axle. When in 4WD, there is no relative rotation between this needle bearing and the axle, because they are both turning at the same rate. In 2wd, the axle stops rotating and the hub continues to rotate and there is rotary motion between the axle and needle bearing. There is an issue, possibly loss of lubrication on that needle bearing that it begins chattering and vibrating on the axle shaft. That is the grinding noise heard. There is an issue and thus far the only fix recommended by Ford is to take it apart, repack the bearing with grease and put it back together. The dealer that did this on my truck said that the bearings were completely dry and they were surprised based on how many times the other dealer had supposedly had this apart. Their words were.... that's not how Ford wants us to fix them, they want us to pack the hell out of the bearings. They have told me over time, it is likely to come back, and when it does bring it back and the bearings will be repacked again. My truck has been trouble free for 4 months to date. There could be more issues to fix related to this issue. If this issue has caused the needle bearing to compromise the race on the axle, they may need to replace the bearings and axle. But none the less, it needs to be lubricated very well to work.

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Fantastic. That description makes complete sense! My truck goes in Monday. If they don't get it right, I'm off to a new dealer myself. This is the 3rd visit!

Notahappyfordowner

This isn't necessarily the exact hub, but doesn't matter, you can see the needle bearing I'm talking about in the bore of the hub. There's the source of the problem.

2dwoods

I took alot of them apart thru the years and always replaced that bearing it's relatively cheap when you already tore down for grease and they used to be individual bearings and the first to go. There almost like brakes and tires just one more thing to keep up with welcome to 4 wheel drive .I don't know much about auto hubs can u lock them and still be in 2wd maybe that 1 is not unlocking thus putting more ware on it, it shouldn't be in use if not locked

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Call me dense. I don't doubt that this may be the cause. But how does the rotation change in 2wd vs. 4wd. Those bearings rotate on the axle spindle in either mode. The IWE engages/disengages with the outer spline. I'm convinced this is likely the issue, I'm just not following the explanation when I think through the parts of the hub.

Notahappyfordowner

In 2WD, I believe you're front axles are not turning, but the hub is because the wheel is rolling. That's when there is relative rotation between the axle and this needle bearing. I may be corrected, but another issue the dealer talked about was that some trucks had excess drag on the clutch or whatever engages the front axle within the transfer case when in 2wd, which causes the axle to rotate slowly, (when its not in 4WD), which exacerbates the problem. He said they test for it by zip-tying the front axle to a stationary member on the truck, and then they take it for a drive in 2WD drive only. If the drag is enough that there is enough torque to break the zip tie, they have been successful several times with having ford also replace the transfer case. I'm not a mechanic, so I may stand corrected, but this is my understanding. I think engaging 4WD is't just done right at the IWE, its also engaged within the front transfer case.