Last night driving home from work I started hearing a pretty bad noise. It almost sounded like something was stuck between the pad/rotor but the more i listened, it sounded almost like cans being drug behind a car, or like a pop can filled full of rocks. Hard to describe, but doesnt sound good. The noise seems to be coming from the front of the truck, somewhere in the center, or from both sides. It only does it under load. I can be driving and it will make the noise, and then if i put it in neutral it goes away. I can also sit at a stop light and rev the hell out of it, and it wont make the noise either. Under light acceleration it doesnt seem to make the noise until I reach a higher speed where more gas pedal is needed.

Any possible ideas?

The trans shifts fine, the motor sounds fine, it just has a weird noise coming from somewhere else. The truck is stock as well minus some slighter larger wheels/tires and a leveling kit.

If anymore info is needed, please let me know

 

Search for IWE. Assuming you have a 4wd.

 

just searched it and it sounds pretty dead on with my problem. sucks that mine only has 60k miles on it and its already happening. hopefully this will be covered under my warranty.

so since this just started happening yesterday, it sounds like i should only be driving around in 4WHi correct? I'll need a few days to try and get it in to the dealership so hopefully this would be ok??

*edit- and yes, mine is 4wd

 

you have a problem with your 4wd. that noise is your vacuum failing and your hub trying to lock in. bring it to the ford dealership nearest you and they'll fix it.

 

yes its fine to drive with, just a little annoying. it is covered under the powertrain warranty too

 

if you have a deductible it might be cheaper to just replace the solenoid that most likely is your problem. i paid about 18 bucks and it took less than a half hour to do.

 

Would it be better to drive around on with it in 4wd or in 2wd?

And yes, i do have the full warranty on the truck so I would assume this would full under it. Where did you find the part for $18? I'd almost rather go that route just because of funds being so tight. I was thinking $100 or so (which is my deductible), which, in that case, I'd rather take it in since I've noticed a whine from my tranny lately.

 

sometimes, when my truck was making this noise, i would switch it in to 4hi and roll around for a little while, then switch it back to 2wd and the noise would go away for a while. you could replace the solenoid but in my case thats not what was wrong, my vacuum hose had a small tear where it connects to a barb on the hub and they had to do a hose swap... but then again that may not be your problem. i'd still recommend bringing it to the dealership especially if you still have your warranty.

 

i got it from tasca.com. but you can just put the part number into google and it will bring up every site that has the part. i think if i remember right the part was about 40 bucks at the dealer. but if you have other problems it would make sense to get it all done at once.

i would think the least you drive it the better. in 4wd you will tear up your tires. in 2 wheel drive your wheel ends (the iwe's) will get torn up.

 

I had the IWE solenoid go out on mine 3 or 4 times in the first 3 years before it went out of warranty. Mines an 05 as well and Ford eventually came out with a better solenoid that was more water proof (at least that's what the dealer told me and what I've read on the forum). Mines been good ever since getting the revised part installed.

Mine would either quit grinding on its own pretty quickly after it started or I would pull over and shut the truck off and then start it back up and it would quit then.

If it's just solenoid then it should be an easy fix...it's located on the passenger side firewall. Although I have no idea how much they cost and it could possibly be another part of the IWE system going out too.

 

Mine only started doing it as of yesterday, but its been constant when driving depending on hard the gas is pressed and if its in gear or not. The lighter the gas is pressed, the lighter and more intermittent the noise is. Anyything under about 20mph it doesnt make the noise at all.

 

So on the way home I switched it into 4whi and the noise definitely disappears. So I'm guessing it went into 4wd and the light came on as well. Does this sound more like a faulty vacuum line at this point?

If so, how hard are the vacuum lines to replace?

 

I had the same problem on my 05 at arounf the same mileage. Took it in and had the IWE fixed under warranty. No problems since.

 

I guess i'm just trying to avoid the dealership for right now if possible. Creates a huge inconvenience by having to be without the truck at the moment. So I guess if I could figure out if its either the solenoid or the vacuum lines, I'd rather attempt it myself since it'll be cheaper and and something i can handle saturday afternoon.

 

It could be the vacuum lines, solenoid or a bad IWE. You won't know which until it is checked out.