Intermittent hum or howl from front end

[sbouffleur]

Just now listened to your video and exact sound mine is making.

If this is just a "warm up the diff fluid" thing on cold days.... then can Ford please update us or the dealerships to let us know this is intended function?

Otherwise I think there is an issue here, clearly.

MIne is doing the exact same thing - usually when cold, but not always. The Grinding/humming sometimes starts when braking to a stop - but also sometimes just when driving along around 35mph in 8th/9th gear. At first it would only happen when the truck was somewhat cold, but yesterday it happened 3 or 4 times right in a row after the truck had been driven for a while and coolant/trans temp were all the way up to full. I have had mine to the dealer once already and of course they found nothing and were unable to replicate. 2023 XLT/5.0/Screw/6.5 - just turned 2000 miles.

Shifting quickly to 4WD and back to 2WD usually solves it for me, but I've had 2 occurences where it stopped the noise momentarily but it came right back.

Edit - a couple pieces of additional info based on further reading in this thread

1. I have noticed this noise when shifting out of 4wd back to 2wd - but I have only had the need to use 4wd a couple fo times. Almost exclusively, mine manifests randomly - usually either when braking to a stop or travelling at a consistent speed in 8th/9th gear.

2. I have never logged or seen an error code or error light.

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[TJE]

Today mine did it after driving for a while when it wasn't that cold. Always when coming to a slow stop. I honestly don't know that I'd notice it if I didn't feel a slight vibration in the brake pedal. I can only hear it if I have everything turned off and I'm really trying to hear it.

Not consistent at all, happened today when it was 40 degrees, was in the 20's this weekend and it didn't happen. I have noticed I've never had it happen when in 4A.

 

[mkevans_ca]

Weighing in here too - 2023 XLT - has happened to me 3 times now 7000Km on the truck. watched the video above and it is the same as the video i took in my truck when it happened the last time.. couldn't come up with a set of conditions to recreate it for me as of yet.

 

[mackverde]

adding that my truck at 1000 miles started doing it. i am in florida and it was 45* this morning

engaged 4wd and then disengaged at a stop, made a right hand turn and the fender liner rubbing on a tire noise started showing up at 35-50. engaging 4wd immediately stopped it.

this is wild to see it happening and it’s very disappointing that Ford has no solutions for us. i will be doing my best to reliably recreate to show the dealer.

 

[flynavy]

Glad I ain’t crazy. My 21 with 30,000 does it, can anyone confirm if this is causing damage? I agree I don’t think temp matters. Mine has done it all over the spectrum.

For me I notice it most when slowing down, it’s a very rhythmic wom wom wom if that makes sense. Like a brake issue or tire rubbing. But like others have said if I go 4A it goes away. If it’s an annoyance that doesn’t hurt the truck I’ll deal with it, anything to avoid the dealer.

 

[judgewapner]

adding that my truck at 1000 miles started doing it. i am in florida and it was 45* this morning

engaged 4wd and then disengaged at a stop, made a right hand turn and the fender liner rubbing on a tire noise started showing up at 35-50. engaging 4wd immediately stopped it.

this is wild to see it happening and it’s very disappointing that Ford has no solutions for us. i will be doing my best to reliably recreate to show the dealer.

same for me. Took to dealership. Ford supposedly is aware. They’d better fix this and offer a HUGE extended coverage in all these associated parts.
Ford rep…please feel free to contact me.

 

[AR.223]

Add me to the list, 23 fx4, has happen twice. Second time was today. switching to 4h stopped the noise. Sounded more in the driverside. It’s 29 out right now, truck has just under 2700 miles on it.

 

[Jwademn]

Have done a little more debugging now. 23 XLT PB, shout 4500 miles.

Has happened 7 times now. Confirmed that it goes away immediately when switching to 4h. Also resolved when coming to a complete stop. Verified it’s related to ground speed and not engine speed or transmission gear.

Already going to the dealer in a couple weeks for something else so I’ll finally bring it up.

 

[Chefrouge]

I have the same problem happened the day I picked my 2023 xlt powerboost less than 100km on it. Usually happens between 60-90kmph when it's colder below freezing had it to the dealer and same story could not replicate. Will go away when placed in 4H and sounds identical to the video posted. I belive its similar to the old IWE problem even though they are electronic now its a case of the gears almost engaging to lock 4H PLEASE HELP FORD! THE DEALERS ARE STUMPED TOO!

 

[Ptturner]

I would like to chime in! I joined this just for this exact issue. Brand new 2023 XLT 5.0 I live in Canada got about 500 km and it’s happened a few times. Haven’t bothered with the dealer yet as I figured they wouldn’t be able to replicate it. Mine also is the first little bit from start. I today went for a drive to test the 4H from 2H and it did work. Very interested to hear fords response to all this!

 

[WiscoFord]

This exact thing happened to me in my brand new 23 XLT when I was below 1K miles multiple times.

Haven’t noticed it since give or take 1K miles….hopefully nothing broke but haven’t noticed anything.

 

[Ptturner]

This exact thing happened to me in my brand new 23 XLT when I was below 1K miles multiple times.

Haven’t noticed it since give or take 1K miles….hopefully nothing broke but haven’t noticed anything.

Unbelievable same mine is also brand new. Seems this is a widespread issue. Wonder if ford will do anything

 

[Blue Chips]

2023 with less than 500 miles on it.

Below 32F it makes a humming sound that fluctuates with road speed; sort of an umm-umm-umm sound. It's not loud, but it's annoying to me. My wife didn't notice it until I brought it to her attention. It's most noticeable at low speeds (below 40 MPH).

It's not tire noise, and the noise disappears after two or three miles.

I haven't yet tried 2H-4H back-and-forth switching to see if it makes any difference, but I'll do that the next time I'm out. It's snowing quite hard at the moment, so maybe tomorrow.

Note that it's NOT a grinding sound, and I can't feel any vibration.

I'll watch this thread to see what develops. Please continue to report all feedback from Ford or dealers.

 

[Jerome10]

I live in an area getting hammered by this ridiculous cold.

Truck hadn’t done it for weeks as we’ve been above freezing.

took it out today it’s cold, and again, the hum showed up. This is 3-4 times for me now.

My opinion…. Ford has a problem here. That this is showing up on basically brand new trucks right off the lot and lots of trucks with very low miles.

 

[Chefrouge]

Going to go back to the dealer, this is not acceptable, there is an issue ford needs to address. All of us in northern climates are now experiencing this as soon as the weather turns bet most of out trucks were delivered to the dealerin the summer months and this wasn't caught during the PDI inspection. Last time I was there the personal in the service department told me he had a truck in the day before with the same issue and they are basically waiting for a service bulletin from ford to deal with this. FORD are you listening?

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