Intermittent hum or howl from front end

[JINash]

My '21 is having the same issue, dealership has replaced driver side eiwe and problem still persists.

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[Snakebitten]

I can't for the life of me figure out why Ford would have IWE partial engagement issues now that they have FINALLY moved away from vacuum operated IWE.

It should now be so simple to just be engaged or not engaged. Similar to the Electric E-brake. It's engaged or it isn't.

And it seemed like there WAS a period of time that there was zero IWE posts, as the new IWE was deployed. Basically the first year.

Then I think Ford got cute with the software and started introducing engage/disengage programming that was independent of whether folks were manually choosing 4WD or not. Maybe they had good reason to, but it sure seems that now we have the same exact issues with E-IWE as we did with V-IWE.

I'm actually thrilled Ford removed the IWE altogether from my 2022

 

[richardrocks]

Yup. My dealer replaced my left front IWE at 400 miles and it persists. I would say that the noise at 45 MPH after shifting out of 4H lasts a much shorter amount of time now. I took it back and…

 

[Vick!]

Yup. My dealer replaced my left front IWE at 400 miles and it persists. I would say that the noise at 45 MPH after shifting out of 4H lasts a much shorter amount of time now. I took it back and…

So toggling back and forth from 4H to 2H fixed it, "according to the dealer," lol?

 

[bgip5oh]

So toggling back and forth from 4H to 2H fixed it, "according to the dealer," lol?

Lol wow now thats some troubleshooting. My truck did this a couple times going from 4h to 2h. Thought it was just because it didn't like the dry pavement (switched on it's own going to tow mode accidentally instead of sport) but it seems like it doesnt matter. Really wish 4H wouldnt engage in certain drive modes on its own.
So is there really a resolution for this vibration we are experiencing?

 

[SIMSY03]

Iv had me 2023 FX4 3.5 for 2 months and have just over 3000KM. I heard this exact noise first time yesterday morning and also this morning. Exact same spot after making a left at a light, 5 mins into drive and lasted maybe 20-30 seconds. I am in Ontario so we are just now experiencing colder weather with past 2 mornings at -5 Celsius. first time I pulled over right away to check tire as it sounded like something was rubbing hard as described by others on here.
This thread is great and full of info that I will gather up and track to take to dealer. Ill make sure its documented with them as I'm sure they wont be able to replicate as they never can with any issues.

 

[Rineland]

Iv had me 2023 FX4 3.5 for 2 months and have just over 3000KM. I heard this exact noise first time yesterday morning and also this morning. Exact same spot after making a left at a light, 5 mins into drive and lasted maybe 20-30 seconds. I am in Ontario so we are just now experiencing colder weather with past 2 mornings at -5 Celsius. first time I pulled over right away to check tire as it sounded like something was rubbing hard as described by others on here.
This thread is great and full of info that I will gather up and track to take to dealer. Ill make sure its documented with them as I'm sure they wont be able to replicate as they never can with any issues.

It is replicable. Have them shift in to 4H, let everything engage, then shift back to 2H and wait about 30-60 seconds and you should hear it.

The reason it does it when it’s cold is to warm up the front differential fluid. It’s not engaging the transfer case, just the hubs so the half shafts spin the differential. I believe it is distance based so it makes sense that it’s happening at the same spot.

 

[SIMSY03]

It is replicable. Have them shift in to 4H, let everything engage, then shift back to 2H and wait about 30-60 seconds and you should hear it.

The reason it does it when it’s cold is to warm up the front differential fluid. It’s not engaging the transfer case, just the hubs so the half shafts spin the differential. I believe it is distance based so it makes sense that it’s happening at the same spot.

Thanks for that info, I will try this myself so I can hopefully show them.
Is the fix just to replace the unit then?

 

[Rineland]

Thanks for that info, I will try this myself so I can hopefully show them.
Is the fix just to replace the unit then?

That’s what the dealership did for mine and I regret it because I think the new IWE makes more noise and lasts longer than the old one. Mine was replaced this past March and when they test drove it they still heard it so they then also changed the wheel bearing. That supposedly solved the noise per the work order but I can reproduce the noise by shifting from 4H to 2H without fail. I’ve decided to just let it ride because I don’t think replacing the IWE again is going to solve anything.

 

[SIMSY03]

That’s what the dealership did for mine and I regret it because I think the new IWE makes more noise and lasts longer than the old one. Mine was replaced this past March and when they test drove it they still heard it so they then also changed the wheel bearing. That supposedly solved the noise per the work order but I can reproduce the noise by shifting from 4H to 2H without fail. I’ve decided to just let it ride because I don’t think replacing the IWE again is going to solve anything.

annoying system. I guess periodic noise is better than all the time. I will take in so to have it documented but probably let er go, don't see point in replacing new parts with new parts that are still crap.
Thanks again for the info, appreciate it.

 

[Snakebitten]

In my opinion if the pcm commands the IWE to engage, and it did engage FULLY, it would not result in the noise/vibration described.

And the whole point of Ford finally moving away from vacuum actuated IWE was to eliminate the infamous "partial" engagement of the IWE. With the stepper motor, it should be far more reliable regarding engagement.

Makes no sense that Ford is struggling with this. At least not to my layman understanding.

 

[Rineland]

In my opinion if the pcm commands the IWE to engage, and it did engage FULLY, it would not result in the noise/vibration described.

And the whole point of Ford finally moving away from vacuum actuated IWE was to eliminate the infamous "partial" engagement of the IWE. With the stepper motor, it should be far more reliable regarding engagement.

Makes no sense that Ford is struggling with this. At least not to my layman understanding.

I don’t think it’s a problem with engaging, rather disengaging. I’ve only noticed it going from 4H to 2H. 2H to 4H is pretty smooth and I’ve never heard them engage when it’s cold in the morning, you only hear after driving the set distance and they disengage.

I suppose the good thing with it disengaging is that it’s not under power like it would be during an engagement situation and the transfer case is locked and trying to send power to the hubs, which might only be partially locked. That’s a recipe for shredding the hubs which is what the vacuum operated generation did. On this generation, the hub is rotating and trying to disengage from the half shaft after the transfer case has already disengaged. I think the noise comes from the half shaft’s rotational resistance while the hub disengages.

It’s kind of funny, we’ve traded an engagement problem for what seems to be a disengagement problem.

 

[astrand1]

I’m having this exact issue. I just turned 36k miles today. Mine sounds like an all terrain tire or kinda like in a very light rumble strip. I can feel it in the floor board and also very lightly in the steering wheel. Any speed over about 30mph I start hearing it. If I go into 4A or 4H the sound goes away completely once the iwe’s lock in. Totally silent. Go back to 2H and the sound come right back. Truck was fully warm. Outside temps in the high 50’s. Definitely feels/sounds like front left.

 

[TJE]

I've been having similar issues with my 22 tremor. Seems like it only happens when I'm slowing down in 5th or 6th gear, and it's a very light tire rubbing sound. I can even barely hear it when the window is rolled down. It does remind me of engine breaking down a hill on my old truck in 4WD. I've notice temp seems to have an effect, first time I noticed it was on my way into work when it was about 20 degrees. Noticed it this morning probably more than I ever have and it was in the mid 30's, I was just running errands so maybe the truck didn't have time to fully warm up.

 

[BigShan808]

IWE problem for sure...been having that issue on my '21 for a while. Way out of warranty and if you check out the other forum there's also extensive discussion regarding this and the lack of support from Ford. Dealerships here in the islands suck in regards to service.

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