I was in 2H today and switched over to 4H. Upon accelerating my truck started to make a terrible grinding noise. I switched to 4L, same noise. Back to 2H, and it's fine-no noise. The noise was coming from underneath me, not the front end like most IWE issues. Almost like the T-case was not fully engaging. It was pretty cold today, -18F so I'm not sure if that could be part of it. Anyone else have this issue?

 

Never had a grind in any of my F-150s. I used to get an occasional "clunk" when I engaged 4wd initially after not using it for a long time.
I now made it a habit to engage it at least once or twice a month while driving......hasn't happened since. I guess it is like everything else, needs a little exercise every once in a while.

 

I have this happen about every third engagement. I have a level so haven't taken it in, not until I am ready for the bill.

But mine may be a hub so not sure about yours.

Were your rolling when you engaged? Or did it from a stop? Sometimes the t case needs to be turning over for the gears to line up.

 

I always shift while driving AND while coasting.

 

Same

 

Same here. I always shift with my foot off the gas. Once I heard the noise I tried shifting from a stop to see if that would stop it but didn't change a thing.

I drove a friend home tonight and engaged 4h again and same thing, then a loud pop and the noise went away. Either it finally engaged or I blew it up. But my 4x4 was working. Who knows...

 

Here's a bit of a rant...

Years ago I had a 4x4 with a manual transfer case. You could EASILY slip it into 4wd and EASILY tell that it was engaged. The most typical situation when I would NEED 4wd is when I was pulling into traffic and found that I was slipping. I could slip it into 4wd (feel it was engaged) and then mash the gas.

My next vehicle was a GM with ESOF. I design control systems and there can be only ONE good reason to add the complexity of electronics, and that is to put it under computer control to make it SMARTER/BETTER so it would not engage if there were parameters that would make grinding more likely. What I found is that they added the extra complexity and did not do ANYTHING to make it smarter. You would engage the 4wd, have no "feel" as with the manual engagement, and then mash the gas to find it just grinds. So basically they added the extra complexity, cost, and unreliability for NO reason. I ended up just leaving it in 4wd if there is any chance of slipperiness just to avoid the hassle.

I can't say if the f150 has the same design flaw as I have kept up my old habits of just leaving it in 4wd if there is the slightest chance of needing it. I notice that the they used a rotating switch instead of push buttons, and put it in the most awkward place behind the shift lever, so it does appears that they really don't want you using it.

 

These heaps clunk and bang when you engage them at times... both of mine do. I wait. ... it shows its engaged... and unless I am at a dead stop putting it in... if I apply throttle it bangs. 2 trucks... same results. If i am rolling at constant speed.. flick the ****.. coast and wait about 10 seconds to touch the gas it's silent. Otherwise it's a crap shoot whether it bangs or not. I get tired of it and try to just engage it while stopped.