No problemo.

 

now I can bookmark it.

didn't want to while a possibility of title change existed


thanks

 

yesterday i was stuck in some snow and hammered it in reverse while in 4hi and the front left started to squeel a bit so i stoped and then went at it again and it was quiet then today i was in 4hi and had my foot on the brake and i heard a vibration kinda noise also from front left dont think the last one could be my iwe because i wasnt going anywhere, not sure why it was squeeling when i was stuck though? any thoughts?

 

Wow! No offense but that was hard to follow. Use punctuation next time.

Ok...if you hear squeal, I'm not sure what you're hearing. The IWE makes more of a high pitched gear grind noise.

 

good thread, I'm bookmarking it

 

Ok, So i picked my truck up last night after having this same problem and believe it or not, the dealership got it right on the first try!!! TN-F150 they confirmed what you just said about it being the other side causing the problem.
I was hearing and feeling the grinding noise on my passenger side but they told me the problem was actually the solenoid on my driver's side. The noise was caused by the failed solenoid causing the drivers side 4x4 to engage and leaving the passenger side to grind and probably cause more problems for later.
As for our Temp related theory, it was 9 Degrees when i left the house this morning and i had no issues. I'm glad to say i think i finally got it fixed, atleast until the next time this happens. Probably in another year or so. I'm glad you figured it out on your own! I'm looking you up the next time i have issues with my 4x4.

 

Not to confuse but mine was the passenger actuator first, as evidenced by the pics, and possibly the drivers side now.

You mean drivers side "actuator" right?

I'm confused...if you mean actuator then the passenger side would be failing if IT is grinding. If you mean solenoid, I don't think it controls D/P side independently.

I'm not so sure on my solenoid being the "weakest link" in the system theory now though. My drivers side was fine until the first really cold day AFTER I fixed the passenger side, and I have a NEW solenoid (on the passenger side firewall BTW). I think these actuators may actually be a large part of the problem. My current theory: When I changed my old one Saturday it had A LOT of metal laden, gritty grease all in the area where the gears mesh and the surrounding area. They aren't water tight so dirt, water, mud anything can get in there and eventually make the gear "stick" (especially when really cold) when you start up and the vacuum draws the gear back. I think it might be a good idea to either have a couple of these on the shelf (I know I plan to) or take the time every so often to clean and re-pack the gears with new grease. I'm not so sure now the solenoid is that much of the problem. At least in my case, I changed it per the TSB and nothing changed. I think like I said before, there are so many places for failure in this system we could see any number of scenarios. I've read about melted vacuum lines, bad solenoids, bad actuators, bad TC shift motors, bad dash switches. Now granted the last two could happen on any SOTF system, the others are isolated to our trucks.

This is definitely a peculiar system.

BTW, it was 8 here this AM and no noise what so ever.

 

I dropped the truck off at the dealer this morning to replace the actuators. I don't have the time to do it myself right now and it is too damn cold to be hanging out in the garage.

The dealer suggested that I replace both actuators even though I was getting the sound from only the driver's side. He said that in the past they have replaced only one side and then within a span of a few days to a couple of months they have the truck back in replacing the other side.

I had both actuators replaced for $400. I was expecting it to be quite a bit more. The service manager did cut me a break on the labor since I had to bring the truck back again after they replaced the solenoid.

They also told me that they were blowing out the vacuum lines to make sure they were free of debris and moisture and the tech blew air in the wrong spot and the vacuum canister exploded. Luckily the Ford dealer 20 miles away had one in stock so they had to send someone out to get that.

 

I can vouch for that!

Mine quoted me $592 for one...

Whoops!

 

I had to replace my passenger side IWE. I found a good way to test the IWE was to use a brake bleeder http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/pho...2499/92474.gif. I just disconnected the IWE black rubber hose and put on the bleeder hose and applied some pressure. Most of them have vac gauges on them so you can see if you have a leak in the diaphram like I did. To test I just Jacked the front of the truck up and put the bleeder on each side and if it holds vac and alows the wheel to spin free of the axle then you can eliminate the IWE as the problem.

 

TN-F150

I am wanting to replace my driver's side IWE actuator and was wondering if I could get a copy of those pdf files you mentioned. I've been fighting this grinding noise for over a year now and I'm getting tired of it. I did a lot of research on this site and replaced the IWE solenoid first. Of course the damage had already been done and the grinding continued. I took it to the local dealership only to pay them $700 for the replacement of the passenger side actuator and hub assembly. They swore up and down the driver's side was fine. The constant grinding while driving stopped, but now it grinds when I actually try to use the 4 wheel drive. So $700 and still no 4x4. My guess is that the driver's side actuator (hopefully not hub also) was also bad, just not bad enough to grind constantly. I can't imagine it being anything else since everything else in the system is brand new. It sounds like it can be replaced pretty easily so I'm going to at least give it a try so I can minimize the additional money put into this P.O.S. 4 wheel system. Also, I noticed you said you ordered from Tasca Ford. Would it be possible for me to order one through them also? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Sure! Send me an email and I'll send them back. It's a fairly easy fix.

Anyone can order from Tasca http://www.tascafordparts.com//index.do, and I have, but I prefer Bob Utter out of TX http://www.parts.com/partlocator/ind...?siteid=213787. Just call either one and they can get what you need.

 

Thanks for your reply, but I actually decided to break down and pay for the 72 hour access. I figured it was better for me to just go ahead and download as many pdf instructions as possible on things that I'll probably be working on in the future.

I got the actuator ordered and hope to install it this weekend. I'll post my results when I'm finished. I'm praying to have 4 wheel drive again after going over a year without.

Oh yeah, one more question. I ordered part# 7L1Z-3C247-A. I noticed on the site I ordered from there was also a part# 5L1Z-3C247-A for about $15 less. I went ahead with the 7L1Z because it looks like that's what the dealership installed on the passenger side. Do you remember which part number you used? It looks like the descriptions are the same except the 7L1Z says 'new style' in it. I'm not sure what, if anything, was changed on this part.

 

Not sure the difference but mine were the 7L1Z numbers.

Good luck and if you have any questions, drop me an email.

 

Thanks for your help. I'm glad I ran across this thread.