I have been looking at the 05 escape xlt 4wd, can someone tell me is the 4wd actually an awd that splits the torque about 50% front and rear such as the subaru, or is it primarily a fwd that transfers torque to the rear when detecting slippage at the front? I like the price much better on the escape versus the compition.

 

Out of the Ford manual......

The vehicle is equipped with an intelligent four-wheel drive (4WD) system that is always active and requires no driver input. The system has no mode select switch. The system combines transparent all-surface operation with highly capable 4WD, and is capable of handling all road conditions, including street and highway driving as well as off-road and winter driving.

The 4WD system continuously monitors vehicle conditions and automatically adjusts the torque distribution between the front and rear wheels. During normal operation, most of the torque is sent to the front wheels. If wheel slip between the front and rear wheels is detected, or if the vehicle is under heavy acceleration (high throttle position), the 4WD system increases torque to the rear wheels to prevent or control wheel slip.
The 4WD control module varies the torque sent to the rear wheels by sending a duty cycle (percentage of time the coupling is turned ON) to the active torque coupling device located inside the rear axle. The 4WD control module also provides the brake system with its current clutch duty cycle and whether or not the brake system may take command of the clutch duty cycle.
The active, on-demand 4WD system uses data from other systems as inputs to the 4WD control module. The 4WD control module uses the inputs to determine the appropriate amount of current to send to the active torque coupling that delivers the desired torque to the rear wheels. Specific inputs to the 4WD control module are: throttle position and transaxle range from the powertrain control module (PCM), as well as brake system status from the anti-lock brake system (ABS), and wheel speed from all 4 wheels from the ABS.

 

Racerguy,

Thanks a bunch for the info., I have looked at a few 05 escapes and like what I see, however am a bit gun shy yet due to some of the horror stories of tranny problems. Hopefully ford has worked out the bugs for the 05, guess time will tell.

Thanks

Bill

 

I guess transmission problems happen more in some places than in others.
Where I work I dont recall seeing many problems with them.

 

My wife has an 04 and it has a switch that says Auto and 4X4 so is that like the 05 also or just front wheel drive untill you lock it it 4X4?

 

My wife has an '04 XLT and loves it. She's got 40K on it and had no problems besides all four wheel bearing that went bad at the same time.

 

Nope, the auto feature is new for '05. The 4x4 switch only locks the front-to-rear clutch so that there is virtually no slip between them. In auto there is an allowed amount of slip before the rear wheels start to be powered.

Just like a true 4X4, don't keep the switch locked if turning sharply on dry pavement or the drive train will bind.

 

Wheel bearings going bad at 40k? I assume it wasn't under warranty. Did Ford split part of the cost or charge $600 for the front axle?

 

Thanks, So even in auto the 4 wheel drive will work if it needs it?

 

Yes, it just takes a little slip to kick in. Its kinda fun stomping on it in lots of snow as the front starts to wander a bit then the rears grab and off you go, almost as quick as if there wasn't any snow.

Not that I would ever condone heavy-footed driving

 

Actually the wheel bearings went bad at around 14K and they covered them.

 

Just got my wife an 05 XLT, I'm looking forward to the snow. I notice at startup, there's a little light that says "4X4", I assume that it will light up when the 4wd kicks in. I might have to go find some mud, except the thing is to shiney to get all muddy.

 

if you read the manual, it explains when the 4x4 or awd light will turn on.
My system from 2 to 4x4 automatically when it slipping on wet road during hard acceleration, but the 4x4 light didnt turn on.