Ah, I see what you're saying...

Then yeah, you might see an increase in MPG.

 

Ok, update! I put the new vacuum box on and hooked everything back up and took it for a 50+ mile drive, and success! Its working the way its supposed to. I did notice a very minute leak down on my guage while cruising on the highway, i thought this was going to be normal, but then i thought about the check valves again. The leak down never dropped below about 17 on the guage so it wasnt enough to do anything. After i got home i tested my vacuum pump just to make sure (cause my last one took a dump while testing and gave me the same results) and sure enough the connection from the vacuum pump line to my test line i installed inline with the lines going to the actuators was leaking. I put some sealant on the connector (some sort of sealant that came with the pump) and bench tested the pump and test line again and it held fine. So there is a lesson to you guys, test your testing equipment also. Just for safe measure i retested the actuators and lines to make sure they were all ok too and they were, so everything is now working properly from what i can see. Im so excited the truck felt completely different now that everything up front wasnt turning as well. Much Better!

 

Good deal!

 

Well guys, I've been lurking around this thread for a few months and finally decided to repalce both of my IWEs - for all of the reasons you've seen here. I have to tell you, the instuctions that TNF-150 provided were awesome and the job is much easier than you might think. I had access to a garage with a lift, air tools and a good mechanic to help me. The elapsed time from putting the truck up into the air and the wheels hitting the ground again was 55 minutes total. Thanks TNF-150!

PS: I'm not sure if this is considered cheating, but we found that if you manipulate the half shafts correctly, you don't even have to remove them from the truck as it says in the instructions. That probably saved 10 minutes a side.

 

Good! Glad it helped! And I didn't remove the shafts either.

It's not cheating it's called working smarter not harder.

 

After doing this job, I kind of wonder how a dealer can get away with $400 or more a side to do it. It's a lousy system, but brain dead simple to replace worn out parts on.

 

Agreed!

Agreed!

 

They can charge that much cause most people when they hear what is wrong and brief decription of repairing sounds like a nightmare to people that arent that mechanically sound.

 

Wow this a great thread. Just got done reading all 7 pages and I think I'm having the same problem. I rarely use my 4wd. Maybe once every 6 months and just for a couple of seconds. Yesterday I made a left turn and heard a very loud shrill/grinding noise. It sounded like a brake sticking. Got out and looked and no grooves on rotors and no smell. After reading this I think it may be the solenoid or the actuators that you guys are talking about. This happened in 2wd. I then went home and put it in 4wd low and everything works fine but I'm nervous about this grinding that I heard. Like I said I never use the 4wd. Should I start with the solenoid? What do you guys think?

 

Did anybody throw any codes when this occured? I think Im going to start with the solenoid and the check the vaccum hoses for water and make sure they are in good condition. I don't think I have damaged the actuators so hopefully the solenoid will fix the problem. From what I have read the solenoid seems to be the fix, so I'll give an update tomorrow. Thanks

 

That sounds more like a wheel bearing than the IWEs. Normally the IWEs and system dont care if your turning left or right. The wheel bearings do. Turning left with a grinding noise, passenger wheel bearing is bad. Turn right and grinding noise, driver wheel bearing is bad. That is the case usually. You can still check everything out on the IWE system for peace of mind, but you may find that its going to be a wheel bearing.

But heck if your going to replace the wheel bearing, and your worried about you IWE actuators than replace them at the same time, you will have the same parts disconnected.

 

This system isn't monitored by the ECM so no codes will happen. Also, the solenoid may fix it if you got it in time and didn't do any damage to the actuators. IF that is the noise you heard. If you are going to replace the solenoid, if it were me and I heard the same noise I heard again, I would go ahead and replace both actuators. Here in IN, when it gets down below freezing and if the solenoid has let water in the system it will be in the actuators and freeze. Short of removing them to squeeze the water out, I'm not sure how else you could remove it. And if you are taking them out suspecting water, I would replace with new and check the lines for water. DON'T try to blow anything out with compressed air as you WILL damage *something*. It will take more effort to remove the water than air and will require taking apart the vacuum lines in the system. Pull the line off at each actuator and inspect for water. In mine it was black, greasy water. The last one I changed was pretty full.

As far as it being a wheel bearing, wheels bearings don't usually make noise at slow speeds unless they're REALLY bad. Without more info on the noise and when you hear it more, I wouldn't say it's wheel bearings, brakes or actuators. It's really hard to diagnose anything on the net but the IWE issues is a pretty obvious set of circumstances that tell the tale fairly easy with a little investigating and testing. Your noise description is vague so pointing to anything is only guessing and can expensive chasing a noise just replacing parts.

If you can get it to do it anymore and explain what you find will help.

 

True, unless the vacuum is restricted by water and the actuator tries to engage and the turn is only happen-stance.

The side to side explanation is correct as that is the side being loaded but it will need to be at a faster speed, usually on a straight road and only a slight weaving right to left (left weave=loading right & right weave=loading left). The slower speed in a TURN will not be fast enough to hear the bearing unless like I said, it's so far gone you could hear it without lateral loading.

 

Well, when it happened yesterday each time i was going anywhere from 15 to 35mph. I would stop and it would go away at about 5mph. When it went away it did with a loud clunk. The screeching sounded like a brake pad sticking or metal on metal. A grinding sound and then a loud clunk when it went away. This sounds exactly what you guys are talking about. Then thing is I never use 4wd. I don't think i damage the actuators since it has only done this a couple of times for about 5 seconds each time. I never use the 4wd so if it did hurt the actutators, I am in no rush to fix them unless it affects the 2wd as well. I took it out and played in 4 wheel drive hi and lo today and no problems at all. No problems in 2wd either with about 50 miles today. Maybe the solenoid got water in it or it somehow fixed itself. If it happens again, the solenoid will be getting changed.

 

Sounds like that be what you have then but I would describe the sound more like grinding gears in a manual transmission, but much higher pitched. They will clunk when you're moving and one engages. You may be early enough to try replacing just the solenoid and disassemble the lines and remove any water, remove the lines at the actuators and check for water (if you find any I would plan on replacing them because they WILL fail) and drive it for a few days to see if it helped. If it doesn't help, you will have to replace the actuators. They come sealed with grease and as they get old and water gets mixed in, they don't slide back (disengage) as well as they should and start doing what you are describing.

You don't want to let it go too long because it can cause damage to the hub gear that is part of the bearing assembly. The noise you hear is the gear in the actuator halfway engaging the hub gear while driving. I let mine go because of a few weeks of winter storms this winter, I wasn't able to get it in the garage, and it ground it pretty good on the passenger side. See the pics in the earlier posts to see what I mean.

Mine did affect 2wd eventually because they stayed half way engaged and almost everyday this winter, before I fixed it, they made the noise. They failed when I needed them the most. Figures!

I still have one of my old ones that I plan on cutting in half to see how it actually functions and what the water truly does when it gets in.