I had the annoying noise come back on my truck. I had the IWE solenoid replaced at 28,000 miles due to leaking. Now at 69,000 miles I had the noise come back although this time it was worse. Last time I only had the noise when it was cold out and I was driving on the highway. This time I would get the noise when turning corners, on the highway (it was intermittent). If I was towing or bucking strong winds the noise was almost constant.

The dealer did a vacuum test and found nothing. Then they put the truck on a rack & did the same test with the wheels turned to the full lock position and there was a leak on the passenger side.

I had a kit from Ford installed on the truck that included a IWE solenoid & both front actuators. After the mechanic disassembled everything he did see the passenger side was clearly bad and needed replacement while the drivers side looked okay.

It was probably over kill to have the whole kit installed. I have a long trailer towing trip coming up so I didn't want the added concern of having a problem with system out in the middle of nowhere. Since it's 1 degree outside with a windchill of 16 below I just didn't have the motivation to tackle this in the driveway.

Did anyone else have this done? It cost $720 out the door. In hindsight I should have just had the right side done for the $425 estimate.

 

it was a better deal to get both done at the same time. IMO sometimes it's worth spending a little extra money for the piece of mind that you know everything is new.

 

Hey guys I replaced both my actuators and the solenoid on the firewall this weekend, wish I knew the solenoid would do this damage, I wouldv replaced it sooner, guess I need to do some research, does anyone know of anything else that's going to cause other issues like this $30 part did thanks

 

Next time you have this issue, turn off your traction control everytime you drive and see if problem goes away. I just replaced all the 4x4 related stuff on my truck and problem did not go away. The computer showed traction control was engaging and causing my problem.

 

Thanks for the reply, my 04 f150 doesn't have traction control

 

Sorry, saw this posted in the 2009 - 2014 Discussion page, assumed your truck was in that range. Anyway, have a great day.

 

Oops I see that now, any way thanks and you have a great day too

 

No Worries this is an issue that vehicles outside this year range & class have. According to the Ford mechanic this problem occurs in pickups & full size SUV from 2001 to 2012.

 

Just getting ready to roll 70,000 and guess what. A strange rumbling noise coming from the front end. It happens after driving 10+ miles down the highway. Two trips to the dealer to find out the Front Right IWE actuator is bad. Just had those things replaced less than a 1000 miles ago. I guess the new units are good only till you get far away from the dealer.
Including the units installed on the truck when I bought it new (sounds more dramatic this way), that's 3 IWE solenoids & 5 Actuators. The interesting thing is this was the same noise my truck made at 800 miles. The purchasing dealer had it for 2 days & never told me what they did to fix it. I wonder if my total could actually be 6 Actuators.
Maybe part of the works oil change, rotate tires & replace IWE components?

 

Wow that sucks I wonder if there's something wrong with the vacuum lines on yours, I found a connector directly under center of engine and my steering had leaked power steering fluid on it and softened it up, I found it when I blew air through lines to make sure they were clear, good luck

 

Thanks Steve I'll check this out when I'm in Florida. It's too cold & wet to crawl under a vehicle in my area.

 

Good luck and have got time in Florida