I am going to go ahead an apologize for the rather long post, just want to make sure I get all the information out that. I had another post a few weeks ago about a rattle noise I have had after getting a 2" leveling kit on my truck. After I got the kit installed the front DS IWE was making a humming noise but eventually opened up and the humming went away after about 5 miles. After that I noticed a random rattle, took the truck back to make sure everything was installed properly and was tight. I was told everything was tight and that the rattle was not related to the level kit install. When I left from the shop the second time, I decided to put my truck into 4 wheel drive to see if the IWE would do the same thing. Everything shifted properly, drove about 1/2 a mile stopped and put it back into 2 wheel drive. Heard the same humming noise again, this time it went away after about a mile. Rattle still there. I did a rough test to see if I was getting vacuum, I unplugged the vacuum hose at the IWE and put my finger over it, go pretty good vacuum. I am assuming they messed up the IWE when installing the leveling kit somehow.

Yesterday I was driving down some farm roads and I had to put my truck into 4 wheel drive. I put it in 4 Low and everything shifted and sounded great. I drove about 2 miles down a pretty muddy road and then turned left onto a grass levee and turned it on 4H. I stopped to shift, I got a on screen message saying "Shift Delayed - Pull Forward" so I put the truck in drive and tried to pull forward and my truck just revved up but would not move. So I turned the **** back to 4L and nothing happened, still could not drive. I switched it back to 4H and all of the sudden I heard the aweful grinding noise that gradually got louder, then heard a loud thud and the truck jumped forward. Now my 4H light was on. So I drive about 100 ft and tried to switch it to 2WD. Same exact thing happened. I had to drive 3 hours home so I was pretty concerned. I finally got it into 2WD and made it home. This morning I tried to change to 4H and 4L and the same thing happened.

I am pretty concerned about this cause I literally just ran over my warranty 1,000 miles ago. I don't know if this is a problem stemming from the IWE, transfer case, or something electronic. I had the **** in 2WD but it still said it was in 4H and wouldn't change.

It's a 2014 XLT. Thanks for any help.

 

Update:

I went to Autozone to see if they could check for any codes, was told unless there is a check engine light on then there wont be any codes. I thought there could still be codes even if it wasn't on. I also bought a vaccum pump to test that part of the 4 wheel drive system. The IWE on the DS that I have had issues with tested fine, 25 inch pounds for 2 minutes and no drop. Check the hoses and it held the same, dropped about 2 lbs probably cause I was holding my finger over the solenoid end of the hose so could have had a bad seal for a split second.

I also tried the 4 wheel drive system again. I only tried it once but when switching from 2WD to 4H it shifted fine, no issues. Then I switched from 4H to 4L and the same issues returned. However this time I heard a soft whining/grinding that slow got louder and lasted for probably 10 seconds and then it had a loud jump. Tried to switch from 4L to 2WD and it would not switch back. Finally got it back and I am not changing in until I take it in.

If the IWE and vaccum system seem to be fine, why would the IWE have partially engaged those two times. Its not always like that.

 

https://www.f150online.com/forums/ar...then-some.html

 

I read over it. Ive check the vaccum on the IWE and vaccum system. Everything holds correctly at 25 inch pounds. I can figure out why my DS IWE is not retracting all the way when coming out of 4WD if the vaccum system is working correctly.

And I am worried that the noises I heard yesterday are my transfer case. I did find out that switching from 2WD to 4H and back works fine. It's going in and out of 4L that has the issues. What is different in the transfer case from 4H and 4L beside the gearing.

 

I’m having the exact same problem. With the exact same truck.
do you have any more updates?

 

I have not found a solution, still haven’t the same issues. I have narrowed it down to either a transfer case issue or some type of sensor issue. I’ve read a few things that the transfer case shift motor itself contains a sensor that coordinates the shift. My plan is to change the shift motor out to see if that’s the issue, just havent gotten around to it. I find it hard to believe the transfer case is bad since I only used the 4x4 maybe 10 times before the issue started. To me when it happened it was pretty dang wet and muddy and something possibly happened to an electronic part. That’s my hope anyways

 

I’m thinking it’s the shift motor as well. My truck shifts smooth all the time and has no problem going in and out of 2x4 and 4x4hi. Literally everything else on my truck is sound. Except one day (the only day) I wanted to use 4x4 low to climb a curb with a load in the box. I remember some harsh grinding and a ping or a clunk. Haven’t needed to use 4 low but thought I’d try it since it’s snowed heavily here recently. But nothing. Dash says “shift delayed - pull forward”. But the transmission stays in neutral and won’t move forward or backward unless I switch it back to 2x4.