good write review

 

Alright, just thought I'd follow up on the results of my actuator replacement. I followed the instructions from the service manual and it took me about 20 minutes to get everything apart. Removed the old actuator and was expecting to see damage to the gears. I started to get a little nervous because everything seemed to look okay. Then I noticed that it seemed like it was stuck in the disengaged position. I pushed it in and out a few times and it shot a bunch of rust particles and dust out of the vacuum inlets. This was probably a result of the water entering the solenoid and running down the vacuum tubes. So anyway, I reversed the steps and put everything back together. It took a little longer because some of the parts can be a pain to line back up. I then went to the nearest gravel parking lot to test it out and everything worked perfectly with no more grinding. The only thing that annoys me is that I could have saved about $600 by replacing both sides myself. Overall I would say this project is pretty simple. I did it by myself, but it would probably be easier with someone else helping.

 

No Problem.

 

Cool! Glad you got it done. I still need to do my drivers side, once it warms up a little. I did mine myself and the only times I needed a second set of hands was when I had my wife start the upper ball-joint nut while I held the CA down. Where did you think you needed another person? Just curious. It's definitely cheaper if you can DIY most work.

Congrats!

 

Same part you did. Getting the nut started on the upper ball joint was a major pain for me. I had to pull down the control arm while getting the threads started on the nut. Other than that, it was fine though. It kind of annoys me that the dealership insisted on replacing my passenger side hub. I have a feeling it would have been fine with just replacing the actuator.

Oh well, I don't plan on ever taking anything back there again. The guy who worked on my truck somehow broke the CV axel in the process. After doing it myself, I have no idea how that's even possible. Must have taken a sledge hammer to it or something.

 

Mine quoted $594 for passenger side and also said HUB. I KNEW it was not the hub after researching and understanding how the system works. I think most use the word as a broad term but mine actually quoted me for the HUB so it may be a case of quote the higher priced part and replace the cheaper part and Joe Customer knows no different.

I only go back to mine at the Quick Lane for oil changes.

How he broke the axle I sure wouldn't know! Even with a BFH it would take a lot of work to break one.

 

Yeah, the itemized receipt from the dealership said they replaced both the actuator and the hub. I thought about replacing both on the driver's side as well, but the hub is about a $250 part. It looked fine when I got in there so I'm glad I didn't go ahead and order a new one. I think it's one of those things where the hub will be fine as long as you don't let the actuator grind for too long. The driver's side was essentially seized in 2WD so it only made the grinding noise for a second while trying to engage the 4WD. The passenger side was probably bad because the gears were grinding pretty much non-stop on that side for quite a while. It got to the point where I would have to flip the 4X4 switch on and off every 30 seconds just to keep the noise down.

 

Know what you mean. My drivers side has to be babied for the first 5 mins or so if the temps are under 20. Then it's fine till the truck gets cold again.

I think the IWE actuators are intentionally made softer so not to trash the high dollar hub and instead round off the gear in the $75 actuator. Good plan, but somewhat weak system IMO. I love my truck but that's one thing they could have left alone from previous model years. I'll take the lower gas mileage for a more proven and less breakable, less parts to break system. In fact, my 2000 got almost exactly the same mpg, so to me there was no benefit in the redesign. This system just has way too many points of potential failure.

 

I know I'm will be the minority saying this but I would love to see a manual locking hub again with the manual transfer case. Very few parts to break. Just have to plan ahead a little to know if you are going to need 4wd. My ranger I would lock the hubs if was supposed to snow a decent amount and leave them until the roads cleared up. Not a big deal. But somewhere along the line everyone decided that push button 4wd, electronic/ vacuum controlled hubs were better???

Edit: Ranger with 250k rough miles never had a 4wd problem except for the occasional U joint.

 

I agree that it is a very **** poor excuse for a 4WD system. Even when it's working correctly, it seems like a very fragile setup. Most people rarely ever use their 4WD, so I guess it doesn't matter all that much. Ford would probably re-think the design if they were forced to pay for the repairs on enough of these vacuum controlled units. I think a large portion of these finally go bad once they are out of warranty. Then the consumer is forced to pay for a poor design on Ford's part.

 

Is there only one solenoid that controls both sides or are there 2 separate ones?
I had this problem about a year ago and the dealership replaced a solenoid the drivers side acuator and the hub under warranty. Now I am out of the warranty and I started hearing the whining noise this morning coming to work on the passengers side. I am thinking I should just order the actuator and replace it and be done, but I didn't know if there could be a second solenoid that could be bad. I want to get on this quick so that I don't have any more damage.

 

Nope, just the one. If the dealer replaced it, you should be fine with just the actuator.

 

Thanks. Is there any special grease you need for the replacement or does the part come with it?

 

Yeah, it comes greased. Just the tools I listed are needed. Did you get the install PDF's?

 

I don't have the PDF's can you send me a copy of them?