I have a 2004 F150 4x4 Fx4 supercrew with 5.4 engine and 46,000 miles. For the past three weeks now I have a periodic Grinding /scraping sound that seems to be coming from the front passenger's side of the truck. It can come on with light driving and braking in town or start while driving 70 mph down the interstate without even touching my brakes. The thing is I just about always have to come to a complete stop to make it go away. 10 Minutes later it comes again. It's loud enough for everyone around me to start staring at my truck. Sounds like metal scraping concrete and gets deeper as I slow down and when I fully press my brake pedal it goes "curchunk and the sound is gone for a while. I thought maybe my caliper was sticking or maybe the truck is trying to go into 4x4. One friend even suggested me to check the dust cover behind the brake for rocks. Any suggestions or should I just take it in to Ford?

 

I've had lots of these come into the shop with rocks wedged between the rotor and the dust shield......That's a quick and easy check.

Cody

 

Sounds like the hub trying to engage to me. Could be the hub itself, the IWE solenoid or even a vaacume line. Have Ford check it out.

 

I got a better listen to the noise today. It seems that the sound is coming from both sides. One independent from the other but occuring at the same time. When I come to a stop, the noise on the left side stops and soon after the right side stops. Weird!!!
The left side seems to be louder than the right.

 

Next time it happens and you're slowing down, pop it into 4wd. If the noise disappears you've found your problem.

 

We have a 2006 Ford F-150 that has the EXACT same problem. In fact, you describe it perfectly.

Have you had it repaired? We took it to the dealer and they didn't know what it was. They told us that they test-drove it and since they couldn't re-create the problem, they couldn't fix it.

Please let me know what happened to you, so we can tell the dealer what the problem is.

THANKS!!!

 

I forgot to mention, my husband did try turning on the 4WD (as you describe) and it does stop the noise. But what is causing the problem?

We've also told the dealer about popping it into 4WD and their basic response was "too bad" until it does it 100% of the time, they can't fix it.

 

i think this is what he meant was the problem

 

Replace your IWE Solenoid part# 6L3Z-9H465-B. It was about $47.00. Ask the service desk guy to print you out a diagram showing you where its located on the vehicle.
I'll attemp to tell you. It is located on the passenger side firewall almost in the corner under the hood hinge. It has two vacuum lines attached to it plus a wire plug-in. It is clipped on the firewall. You can do it yourself and save some money on labor. Which there really is none actually. Ford would probably try to charge 100.00 bucks to put it in. Crazy. Anyway that solved my problem. The solenoid becomes faulty and tries to engage the 4x4 hubs while driving.
Glad to help. Let me know what happens.

 

Could also be one of the vacuum lines. Inspect lines for wear or cracks.
That new of a truck shouldn't have damaged lines.
Usually the IWE Solenoid just gets wet and doesn't dry properly. Its worth 47 bucks to try and keep any other damage from occuring.

 

IWE solenoid fixed mine.. 2007 f150 supercrew...

 

I have one in my shop right now doing the same exact thing. It has been to the Ford dealer numerous times, and the lady has spent about $2000 trying to get them to fix this. My shop is primarily GM, but this is for one of our loyal customers, and would sure like to take care of it for her. I am going to try the valve you are talking about, and will be sure to update with the results. (Unfortunately I have not been able to get the vehicle to do it, so it will be one of those, "here, try this" deals.) Thanks for the great info.

 

so...........what was the verdict here?