Got your email ramjones. I'm not that familiar with the vacuum part of the system since it was not an issue with mine but it sounds like that may be the biggest part of your problem. I wouldn't remove any part of the system such as Y's or T's or valves because they are all there to make the system function a certain way. You'll just have to narrow down the problem by diag time and process of elimination, then replace what needs replaced. If you can get your hands on a vacuum diagram so you can see on paper HOW the system works, that could be a huge help.

 

Yeah I figured that, just have to keep tracing the prob.'s. Vacuum is such a pain, makes me wish I had a diesel F250 or F350. I would not leave out the fitting, I was just observing the fact that the faulty part seems to cause more than one problem. It's just a rubber Y but I can't for the life of me find a pinhole or any other flaw in the part. That is where the decrease in vacuum to one side starts so I'm deducing that it is bad. Since the truck locks firmly in 4wd by manually disconnecting the vacuum from the IWE's, I think they might be OK for now. When I started tracing these vac. lines out I can see that someone has been there before because they're all pulled around in the protective sheath!

 

Just replaced both actuators and the solenoid (2006 L.ariat SCAB 4WD)

Relatively easy thanks to all the great info here.

I knew my front axle (hubs/actuators) were not engaging (got stuck a couple of times as a result).

1) Before I started I checked the front wheels on jacks. The 2 front wheels spun freely as they should. Then with the 4HI switched the drivers side wheel caused the half axle to turn as it should.......but, the passenger wheel spun freely without the passenger half axle turning (definately a passenger side problem).

2) Hooked a vacuum gauge to the vacuum line one actuator at a time with the engine idling (simply pulled the line at the actuator and attached the vacuum gauge). At each actuator the vacuum was about 20 lbs at idle. Flipped the 4wd switch and vacuum went to 0 lbs.

Since the vacuum appeared to operate normal at each actuator, the problem had to be the passenger side actuator.

When I pulled the spindle from the hub to expose the actuator.........I found the actuator gear completely broken and pulled apart.........it was toast. I poked through the grease and found quite a few pieces of actuator debris.......most of it was left in the lower portion of the hub assembly side.

Since I had the parts and it wasn't to bad........I went ahead and replace the drivers side and the solenoid while I was in the mood.

NOTE: The little shed area where the solenoid is mounted actually has an area to hold 2 solenoids. I installed the new one and left the old one in the little shed (with the vacuum ports capped). This way I have a spare ready to go .

 

Originally Posted by robertbeadel View Post
I have a 2005 and it's doing this same thing only with a twist. Mine ONLY does this when cold out, below freezing. When warm, no issues. I replaced the part on the firewall that has the rain hood. No fix. The sound comes from both sides but I don't think it is the parts on the wheels. I think I have a leak in the lines or maybe the check valves. Does anyone know what size the IWE vac hoses are and have pics or locations to the check valves?

When it's doing it in the cold, I can shift the ESOF switch to 4w HI and it stop for a sec and then continues the same sound and I dont think it's in 4w drive even thou the light is on. Seems like if I had a lot of water in the lines it would tear up the bearings or leak.

Thanks!!

 

Not exactly sure the noise you mention but it will take very little water in the lines or the actuator to block vacuum. The water in the lines doesn't get near the bearings, they are sealed in a different part of the hub. It will leak if you pull the lines off the actuator and it's not frozen. Both of mine dripped out black milky water when I was in a warmed up garage. Your description of switching, noise going away then comes right back sounds exactly like when mine did it.

I would change the solenoid to the new style if it isn't already and replace both actuators and make sure you have no water in the lines. If you see water make sure you clean it out by whatever means necessary. WD40 will remove water but you will have to start at the top of the system of lines and work down. If you read back several pages, someone tried blowing out the lines with compressed air. I would not advise that. He blew the check valves apart. They aren't designed for those pressures. They handle in/lbs not psi...

FYI, mine started when it got cold.

 

Got my parts installed today consisting of two IWE's and a leveling kit from Fat Bob's Garage. A few things that everyone should know about what I found. First off, in my case the IWE on the passenger side was FUBAR to the point that the bladder WAS leaking and sucking up water and road salt from slush etc.! That was a suspicion of mine from the start, because when I replaced the solenoid and check valves there was rusty water residue in the system. The driver side IWE was also screwed and was actually locked in the engaged position. How long this was the case I don't know but I'm glad that something else didn't tear up due to one side being engaged. The cause of these problems is the ineffective seal on the OD of the IWE actuators. I suggest to anyone installing these in the future to apply a small bead of sealant to the spindle housing before install. This would be especially advisable to those of you who live in the frozen nawth because of the liberal use of road salt! So after my installation, I had to go back and blow the whole system out again, especially the solenoid itself, because of re contamination and the amount of crap that was in the vacuum lines! Definitely would do the whole thing at once; both actuators and the solenoid and the check valves. That would ensure that the system would be properly cleaned once and all your parts will be right. Thanks for all the info. By the way, I would say the best leveling kit would be 1.5". I installed 2" and it is slightly nose high. Very happy though, can't wait to get to the tire store!!!

 

ramjones: Glad u got it all taken care of.

Great idea on sealing the OD of the actuators.

You may want to take it a step further. It seems like the vacuum hose connection should be sealed at the actuator. Assuming you ever ride through any water (some truck/@4WD drivers could do this on occation )............water could easily be sucked into the vacuum lines......especially if you are in 2WD........it is sucking vacuum.

It seems lke anyone traveling in any amount of water would want the actuator vacuum hose connections sealed.

I believe the other vacuum connections are high enough in the engine bay to worry about sealing them.

 

I have read this thread all the way through, and first of all you guys have been great with sharing info., Its been a huge help already just trying to understand some of this stuff.

My question is this... I have also been battling this grinding issue, I just replaced the IWE solenoid, but after taking it to the dealer they now say I have water in the vac lines and the hubs, and they need to replace the hubs.

Please help me here: I have 2 questions...
1. Do I truly need to replace the hub assembly's or just the actuators ? does the water in the hub ruin the hub assembly or the actuator ?

2. If I cant afford to get this fixed right now what are the consequences of driving on this for a few months until I can save up some cash ?

Thanks for any help, Chad

 

Just from what I understand on the issue, most dealerships quote the entire hub assembly, instead of just the IWE. From what I've seen, there is nothing in the IWE that affects the hub, or vice versa. The IWE is sealed separately from the hub, so I'm not sure why the dealerships quote the entire hub, other than to make money off of the uninformed. It's not really good to run the truck if the hubs are grinding, but I'd suppose the worst that could happen is completely ruining the IWE and grinding up pieces of the gear, but I would be afraid of ruining the gear on the half shafts. I know that TN originally said that the shaft gear seems to be harder to save it from damage, but grinding up pieces of the IWE gear and running them through there has to be hard on the shaft gear as well. I'd be afraid to advise you on what to do as far as that goes. For what it's worth, you can order the IWE actuators for less than $80 each from Tasca and do it yourself. Much cheaper than letting the dealer if you feel comfortable doing so. Hopefully some others will chime in as well, to let you know their experience on this issue.

 

First off, glad the info helped you understand things. That's the main reason I started this thread and documented my repair and added pics. Because I couldn't find much info when I went through it the first time.

Second, if the dealer is for sure telling you you need a *HUB* because of water in the lines, they are wrong. Water in the vacuum lines has nothing to do with the hub. The actuator is what needs replaced it you have water in the lines and the grinding consequently ruined the actuator. When I had mine in to my dealer they told me the same thing so it could be a matter of terms and they, for whatever reason, don't call it an actuator even though the Ford parts counter and catalog does. My guess is they quote the higher of the two, the hub, and fix what's actually wrong once in there. Not the best way to run a business. Especially the way these things go out, they HAVE to know it's not the hub making the noise.

Third, if you can't get it fixed right now and the actuator is grinding when you drive it, short of manually applying vacuum to hold them disengaged, I'm not sure what to tell you. If you keep driving it while it's making the noise, it may do damage to the hub gear and result in having to replace the hub when it's time to DO the repair.

Hope at least part of this helped..

TN

 

Thanks guys... yeah, I have read so much on here, that I figured thats what they were doing is assuming I had no idea, and calling it one thing, but doing another.

My grinding noise right now only comes when its been really cold outside, and its a faint sound for about the first 2 or 3 miles. It used to be worse, but once I had the IWE solenoid changed it seemed to get a little better.

So as long as I'm not hearing the sound, is it safe to assume that I may be ok driving it ?

I've thought about changing these myself, but I'm not really that mechanical, and worry I may be getting into to much, and I dont really know of anybody right off, that might be able to help... could any garage do this ?

 

Mine started when below freezing then as the months got colder, it got worse to the point of replacing them. Typical...

Any shop that does most heavy work, probably like most independent shops, should have no problem. You can check with Firestone etc. but this may be more involved than they get.

Good luck and let us know back here how it turns out.

TN

 

TN F150, I joined this forum to say thank you. The pictures etc, will make my work much easier next week. Both my IWEs are kaput and the Haynes manual is next to useless for 4WD repairs. Greg

 

No problem. Glad to help! Stick around and get a lot of good info from a lot of good people.

 

WD40 will remove water but you will have to start at the top of the system of lines and work down.

TN-150 I assume you mean start at he IWE solenoid and work down with the WD40. I won't hurt any of the rubber lines will I?

I have all the symptoms everyone has posted here it looks like I will have to replace the actuators next weekend. I will be using your posts to guide me.