IWE vacuum supply explaination

[fordfreek]

So I had my appointment at the dealership today. I asked if I could talk with the mechanic that would be working on my truck so there would be no miscommunication about what's going on with my truck. SA takes me right out into the shop to talk with him. I explained my situation, he pulls up a tsb that states if you have a 4A selection on your vehicle to disconnect the vacuum line at the check valve for the IWE system and plug supply side. Done. Fixed.WTF. Told him I could take care of that myself, my truck never even made it in the shop. I'm not happy. Guess I'll have to fix my fully warrantied vehicle myself, as I would prefer that all my front driveline is not turning all the time. Also is making me reconsider buying an esp plan if this is how Ford repairs things. Thanks Ford!

 

[FordTechOne]

So I had my appointment at the dealership today. I asked if I could talk with the mechanic that would be working on my truck so there would be no miscommunication about what's going on with my truck. SA takes me right out into the shop to talk with him. I explained my situation, he pulls up a tsb that states if you have a 4A selection on your vehicle to disconnect the vacuum line at the check valve for the IWE system and plug supply side. Done. Fixed.WTF. Told him I could take care of that myself, my truck never even made it in the shop. I'm not happy. Guess I'll have to fix my fully warrantied vehicle myself, as I would prefer that all my front driveline is not turning all the time. Also is making me reconsider buying an esp plan if this is how Ford repairs things. Thanks Ford!

The TSB specifically states “Except Raptor”. Therefore they should not have performed that procedure on your truck. Not sure why these people can’t read.

 

[fordfreek]

Well, I guess I'll give them a call Monday morning and bring that up. He showed me a portion of the tsb, but it was the diagnostic procedure portion.

 

[fordfreek]

Talked to my dealership this morning. Had them look up the tsb to verify that the raptor was the exception. Yes, FordTechOne, you were correct. Thank you. I have another appointment this Friday to hopefully get it diagnosed. In defense of the mechanic I talked with, he never saw my truck as it never made it into the shop, and I'm pretty sure I didn't mention that my truck was a raptor. So, hopefully we can move forward Friday and get a correct diagnosis and finally get it repaired.

 

[fordfreek]

So back to the dealership today. They were aware of what's going on with my truck and they were putting the same mechanic on it that I spoke with last time I was there. Truck was in the shop for less than an hour. Diagnosis: found dirt in the lines to the iwe's. They're ordering all new lines. I opened the hood when I got home and the vacuum line to the items is disconnected from the solenoid and I can see it's not perfectly clean inside. I don't believe this has anything to do with my problem. So I hooked up a vacuum gauge to the vacuum supply line in front of the check valve, iwe system unhooked. Took a video while driving but it won't upload. Anyway, it's just like it's hooked to manifold vacuum/ boost. Saw as high as 10 psi. Can hear an intermittent fluttering noise in the gauge, but it's not seen in the needle of the gauge. This was as far as I got tonight.

 

[FordTechOne]

So back to the dealership today. They were aware of what's going on with my truck and they were putting the same mechanic on it that I spoke with last time I was there. Truck was in the shop for less than an hour. Diagnosis: found dirt in the lines to the iwe's. They're ordering all new lines. I opened the hood when I got home and the vacuum line to the items is disconnected from the solenoid and I can see it's not perfectly clean inside. I don't believe this has anything to do with my problem. So I hooked up a vacuum gauge to the vacuum supply line in front of the check valve, iwe system unhooked. Took a video while driving but it won't upload. Anyway, it's just like it's hooked to manifold vacuum/ boost. Saw as high as 10 psi. Can hear an intermittent fluttering noise in the gauge, but it's not seen in the needle of the gauge. This was as far as I got tonight.

Dirt in the lines will definitely cause an issue, as it acts as a restriction between the vacuum source and IWE. That may also explain the repeat check valve failure, contamination will damage the valve.

 

[fordfreek]

No dirt on the check valve side of the system. Miniscule amount of dust on iwe side at the solenoid. Truck is a pavement princess, probably seen less than 15 miles of gravel road. Lines have never had a vacuum leak. I could understand if a line had been knocked off at the wheel and pulled a bunch of dirt in or something. 22k miles. If this truly ends up being the problem, maybe I should just leave the vacuum supply line blocked off and call it good. My other question is can the dealership say this is my fault and charge me for replacing all the lines? They hinted that Ford may not approve this a warranty claim.

 

[FordTechOne]

No dirt on the check valve side of the system. Miniscule amount of dust on iwe side at the solenoid. Truck is a pavement princess, probably seen less than 15 miles of gravel road. Lines have never had a vacuum leak. I could understand if a line had been knocked off at the wheel and pulled a bunch of dirt in or something. 22k miles. If this truly ends up being the problem, maybe I should just leave the vacuum supply line blocked off and call it good. My other question is can the dealership say this is my fault and charge me for replacing all the lines? They hinted that Ford may not approve this a warranty claim.

I guess the question would be how did the “dirt” get in there in the first place? If all of the lines were found to be connected and leak free, how could that possibly be your fault? That’s probably the same reason they’re saying Ford may not pay the claim, contamination isn’t warrantable. Which makes me question if they really found what they say they did.

At this point I think it should be on them to repair the issue, regardless of whether they get reimbursed under warranty. They performed an inapplicable TSB the first time, and didn’t even admit it until you brought it up after getting the truck back. That’s inconveniencing you, performing an incorrect repair, and wasting your time. Personally, I wouldn’t agree to pay out of pocket for anything unless it’s determined that root cause is damage (road debris, rodents, etc.)

 

[fordfreek]

That was my question. Did he simply pull the line off the solenoid and see some dust in there and call that a diagnosis? Wouldn't this be the first place dust would show up from releasing the vacuum to the atmosphere every time you turn the truck off in 2wd? Never heard of such a thing until I spoke with the SA at the beginning of all this. My only question at this point is why boost pressure is reaching the check valve. One of the check valves I replaced was completely blown out. Same air flow either direction. When I get the time I'll continue checking out the supply side of the system. At this point I'm convinced that's where the problem lies.

 

[fordfreek]

I was wrong about no dirt at the check valve. I happen to look closely at one of my old check valves today and it had dirt in it. Cut it open and it had quite a bit of dirt in it. Probably why it wasn't working properly.