^ this is what just happened to me. i'm a new user here, but found this post after researching what i was experiencing with my '17 3.5 eco 4x4 and thought i'd throw in my two cents.

at around 9,600 miles my wife told me about some weird noises coming from the engine bay -- she described the noise as "chopping vegetables in the food processor." turns out, that was a fair description of the noise (i thought it was a more metallic sound, but similar) and it was coming from both wheel wells inside the cab. it was intermittent, became louder with acceleration, ceased at idle, and ceased when switching into 4wd.

i made an appt with my dealership last week and rode with the tech today. he immediately diagnosed a bad driver-side front hub and guessed it was caused by the faulty actuator described by angrychicken. three hours later, i picked up my truck after having both front hubs and actuator solenoids replaced. the tech told me this system has been employed since '04 (as another member said) and this has been a common problem ever since. guess we're the lucky ones who get to deal with it while ford continues to use these components and fix the relatively small number of problems as they arise.

 

My 2018 F150 has 2200 miles on it and this problem first started at about 1500 miles. The first time it did it I thought I was dragging something metal. I stopped took a look a did not find anything. I got back in and drove home an no noise. About a week later it did it again. I pulled into local store, came out got back in and nothing. this past Friday while going to lunch it started again, this time I had others in the truck with me. the noise would only happen on acceleration, but this time I drove it several miles and sure enough it kept doing it starting at about 20mph. I even stopped at lights started accelerating again and the noise would come back. I parked to go get lunch, got back in an no more noise. Again today when i went out to local store it started up again but not as bad. I would describe the noise almost like a garbage disposal, or as one of my co-workers who witnessed it on Friday almost like when you drive fast through slush and the noise the slush makes when it is hitting up in your wheel well. I'm glad I found this post as I'm making an appointment with dealership and with something that happens intermittently it can be a royal pain in the *** trying to get it diagnosed and fixed. Hopefully with this information they'll find the problem right away.

UPDATE 1-22/2018:
Just got my truck back after dealer having it for over a week. they decided to replace both IWE but the parts won't be available until early February. A note on the way to drop off the truck at the dealership the noise came back, I followed suggestion in one of these post and shift into 4H and the noise immediately stopped. so now waiting for parts to come in so I can have them replaced. Hopefully this solves the problem.

UPDATE 3-12-2018:
After waiting 1.5 months for the parts to come in both IWEs have been replaced. We'll see if that corrects the problem.

 

new user here - this info is great to know. I just purchased a used 2017 F150 XLT 3.5 EcoBoost 10-spd w/16,500 miles on Friday...and this morning had exactly this same issue. Intermittent grinding/metal dragging/garbage disposal sounding noise. Started about 1-2 miles after leaving my house this am (21 degrees outside), happened on acceleration, continued until stopped at light, resumed on reaccelerations, stopped completely after 3-4 more miles and did not occur again today. My last F150 (2005 F150 XLT 4.6 V8...great truck, may he RIP - I'm a chick so my trux are boys) also did this for a couple of weeks after I first bought him then self-resolved?? Several years later it happened again and progressively worsened over 1-2 days at which point actuators/hubs were replaced. I didn't even remember this until I read this Forum so thanks for everyone sharing...can't tell you how many times over the years I searched this Forum for issues I had with the 2005, finally got around to joining.

One question, though - some of these responses seem about grinding noises on turns, some seem about grinding noises on straightaways - same issue for both problems? My noises are only on straightaways/driving/acceleration, not on turning in either direction...yet

 

Does the noise go away when you shift into 4Hi?

 

I also have a 2017 3.5 Eco but no noise yet.What exactly is the issue and what parts need to be ordered?

 

My '17 4x4 screw 3.5 ecoboost went to the dealership yesterday for the intermittent front end grinding noise. Service manager said they heard it, several times, not sure what it is, or if they can fix it as everything looks right and no codes thrown. Keeping it another day.

ETA- 3100 miles on it.

 

Just got my truck back after dealer having it for over a week. they decided to replace both IWE but the parts won't be available until early February. A note on the way to drop off the truck at the dealership the noise came back, I followed suggestion in one of these post and shift into 4H and the noise immediately stopped. so now waiting for parts to come in so I can have them replaced. Hopefully this solves the problem.

 

Don't keep it in 4H on dry pavement. It's now AWD.

 

To keep it from grinding, disconnect the vacuum from the IWE's. They will stay locked and is safe to drive that way in either 2wd or 4wd.

 

My 2017 F150 only 3200 miles started with the grinding noise about a week ago. The dealership said it was an issue with the actuator and the parts would be 2 to 4 weeks. They told me it was safe to drive the truck. Should I be driving my truck? Will it cause any more damage to anything else? Thanks

 

The noise you're hearing is your IWEs chewing themselves up. As long as your dealer replaces everything when they get the parts, you will be good as new. That said, if there's a lot of grinding, that's a lot of metal chips getting created and spread around. I might be inclined to do what GLC said and disconnect the vacuum lines so the IWEs lock up and don't grind.

 

I have now had my new iwe's in for over a week and have not heard anything. So one or both of the hubs is were I was losing the vacuum (they have an oring that can leak). I hope the new ones can last more than 6k miles. I would hope Ford has tried something different.... because they were on back order for along time.

If the people that hear it during a turn could comment whether or not they were perhaps slightly accelerating. Because a slight vacuum leak(which is the main issue on these new style hubs 2015-18) is overcome by the high vacuum during idle, making the problem go away until you start opening the throttle plate.

 

I had the same problem with my 2016, but it never did it when I took it to the dealer. It finally did it when passing dealership. I drove it in and they finally heard it. Scheduled an appointment. They replaced both front wheel bearings, both IWE's and the solenoid. This was about 9 months ago. No noise since.

 

Hello,
I bought a 2018 Raptor and experiencing "intermitted" grinding noise while driving too. Sound like gears trying to engage or something like?

Below is a link to a video I took so you can hear the noise.

Being intermitted my dealership does not believe me and can not recreate the problem. Maybe the IWE's and solenoid? I do experience under light throttle low RPM.

Secure link to video -> https://dataedge.egnyte.com/dl/XEEbL...tor-noise.mov_

Update! Feb 15, 2018. My dealership found the problem and over the past 2 weeks I have not experienced the grinding noise. They replaced the TUBE ASY FP-NUMBER = FL32-3A788-A. Has something to do with the vacuum with the braking system? Anyway, I'm happy Raptor driver again!

 

I brought mine in for the same noise. They traced it down to the transmission. 2017 Eco 3.5 Supercrew 4x4.

During the 62 days it was at the dealership, They disassembled the tranny. Rebuilt it (improperly) and had a new one shipped to the dealership to replace. I've had it for 2 weeks now. Last week it started making the noise again. This morning it did it again as well. (Both were cold mornings). I attempted to switch into 4 Hi this am to see if it would disappear, and it went away pretty quickly. (I was coming to a stop anyway).

I've already ordered a new check valve myself.