Bad IWE broke transfer case?

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Turbogoat324

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Good Luck Man! I had a similar random failure but it was my front diff. I fought Ford really hard but in the end they denied it due to my aftermarket shocks. Ford will not stand behind their warranty and because of that this will definitely be my last Ford. I ended up just buying a used front diff and installing it myself. I would say an IWE failing could technically damage the transfer case but I feel like it would probably be a pretty rare case.
 

Badgertits

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I agree with what you are saying actually. I pay to play fortunately. it’s fun.
This thread is about an IWE failure causing a transfer case failure. I don’t buy it. Neither does Kevin at HM neither does my transfer (Phil’s transmission in Mesa) case/tranny shop where we have done hundreds of trannys and dozens and dozens of transfer cases. Just wanting other opinions not a lecture on what I’m hiding or how I should spend my money on my truck.

BTW all my driveshaft angles are stock.
I hear ya- & I’ve modded mine too w/ lights/tune maybe front/rear springs eventually so could be in same boat, just feel like keep it “stock lookin” does help even tho it shouldn’t b/c, well....most dealers not that detail oriented (to put it nicely) & typically if they’re gonna put a stink up or put forth the extra effort to investigate it’ll be on the more obvious candidates.

Also FWIW I’m @ 19k miles maybe 5% of which was off-road, but do use 4A/4Hi quite a bit due to snow/heavy rain & I personally haven’t had Any IWE issue that I know of but did buy 2 of those new blue nippled vacuum actuators (found em cheap online like $12 shipped) & they’re sitting in my glove box lol

reading this makes me think I should swap out the stock one now & maybe also replace the solenoid for the hell of it? Preemptive maintenance no?

saw the Dorfman/fomoco solenoids posted in this thread- are those the correct ones for a gen 2 raptor?
 

smurfslayer

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Good Luck Man! I had a similar random failure but it was my front diff. I fought Ford really hard but in the end they denied it due to my aftermarket shocks. Ford will not stand behind their warranty and because of that this will definitely be my last Ford. I ended up just buying a used front diff and installing it myself. I would say an IWE failing could technically damage the transfer case but I feel like it would probably be a pretty rare case.

wasn’t coverage for your diff case denied for the perch / lift, rather than the shocks?
 

smurfslayer

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ok, I thought I remembered the ride height being at issue.
 

FordTechOne

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Good Luck Man! I had a similar random failure but it was my front diff. I fought Ford really hard but in the end they denied it due to my aftermarket shocks. Ford will not stand behind their warranty and because of that this will definitely be my last Ford. I ended up just buying a used front diff and installing it myself. I would say an IWE failing could technically damage the transfer case but I feel like it would probably be a pretty rare case.

Ford stands behind their warranty for their engineering, their design, and their parts. I have never personally seen in all my years a warranty claim denied when a stock vehicle was being used for it's intended purpose, whether that be a GT500 or a F-550. If the dealer played games, the Field Rep made the right call 99% of the time and had it warrantied. They are not, however, going to be responsible for failures attributed to aftermarket modifications. That is true with all OE manufacturers, don't kid yourself into believing that is unique to Ford.
 

FordTechOne

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I appreciate you being on the forum because you offer key insight that many of us do not have. But you are being disingenuous if you won’t admit that the IWEs are a terrible design. Yes, the points you made are correct in what Ford was trying to accomplish. But there is one big problem: the IWE systems are not reliable and do not age well with use! You can’t run them regularly and expect to even get 50k miles without something happening to them. So who gives a rip if your axles aren’t spinning to prevent wear, when you can’t reliably run your IWE system when you need to. Too many people have been left stranded and/or had problems with their 4WD—myself included—to say the design flaw isn’t real. Ford dropped the ball not changing the design on the Gen 2 Raptor.

I have watched videos from FordTechMakuloco and he seems to suggest that water gets into the IWE from water dripping from the cowl near the hood because the IWE is mounted near the cowl and firewall. Over time, the water/debris builds up in the IWE and effects the engagement, but can also effect the axle shaft and hub bearings depending on how much water/debris gets into the system.

Appreciate the compliment. Let me start out by saying that the high performance (i.e. Raptor) world is much different from the normal F-150 demographic, so please take that into account. That may explain why the consensus on here is that IWEs are problematic yet I've personally not had that experience servicing these vehicles. There are vehicles that need repairs of course, but I would not consider the system to be a terrible design by any means. I've also never (personally) seen a failure in which the IWE doesn't engage and causes somebody to be left stranded; but, once again, Raptor owners tend to use their vehicles to their fullest extent, just as designed.

Ford the record, the IWE system design on the Gen II is different from the Gen I; it was completely revised. The IWE system in general is not complicated; it's literally a vacuum hub disconnect controlled by a solenoid. In the absence of vacuum, the hubs are fully engaged. When vacuum is applied, a diaphragm pulls the hub inward and disengages the teeth from the hub. In the event of a total loss of vacuum (i.e. vacuum line ripped off) the system defaults to full engagement as a fail-safe.
 

FordTechOne

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You can break or cause malfunctions relatively easily if you try hard enough and I think this point gets overlooked on a lot of suspension modifications, altering geometry, lifting, leveling etc. The one comment I would make on this is that while Ford’s main testing is going to be focusing on the factory configuration, their certification is not snowflake. They don’t just test can it haul half a ton, they test can the truck haul a full bed of hardwood from temps between Alaska and Death Valley. We probably benefit from this by getting away with some mods that fly under the radar of this sort of testing abuse.

This is 100% true. Ford, just like GM and Chrysler, torture test their products; especially trucks and SUVs. Meaning they subject them to extremes that most owners and commercial users will never see. The entire purpose is to validation, because that type of abuse quickly exposes a weakness or issue that will show up at a higher mileage under normal or heavy use. If an issue can be prevented before it happens by testing at and above the limits, that is a win for everyone. A great example is Ford's Silver Creek test, which is a relatively basic yet condemning durability example. The F-150, Silverado, and Ram all pass the test with the F-150 being the best performer. Toyota's lack of engineering and durability testing in their "Tundra" shows through clearly, as the bed contacts the cab and destroys the body during the test. Very easy to find on YouTube for those interested.

That being said, those durability tests are not performed with modifications present. They don't install 37" tires, suspension lifts, aftermarket calibrations, etc. and then determine the results. Aftermarket modifications are the joker card; there is no way to predict what will happen and no OE is willing to shoulder responsibility for a failure attributed to a modification or part that they didn't sign off on. And understandably so.
 
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