Anyone disassemble a grinding EIWE?

[WhiteLightningnshitshadow]

Hi guys,

Anyone break down one of these sticking EIWEs? I'm trying to understand how bad the damage gets and around what mileage the failure was observed. Id imagine the grinding is leaving metal shavings at a minimum.

Are they even able to be disassembled? Is there a way to check, clean, and regrease with something less temperature sensitive?

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[HammaMan]

The issue I see going with a different grease is that it eventually heats up. I haven't seen anyone do a tear down, so if you do, don't be like me, take pics.

 

[WhiteLightningnshitshadow]

The issue I see going with a different grease is that it eventually heats up. I haven't seen anyone do a tear down, so if you do, don't be like me, take pics.

I ain't touching it while under warranty. I do plan on having mine replaced, but much later to really give Ford enough time for TSBs and new parts. I'll certainly ask for the part back once I have it swapped.

 

[superfordman]

The drivers side one on my old 21 started giving me fits last winter, but she is down the road now so never did anything with it. The 23s+ totally ditched it now, most likely due to these issues with them, so it leaves the front live all the time now. If anything, I would imagine a TSB would be to just remove them and not mess with them anymore for longevity sake.

 

[Hfyvr]

The drivers side one on my old 21 started giving me fits last winter, but she is down the road now so never did anything with it. The 23s+ totally ditched it now, most likely due to these issues with them, so it leaves the front live all the time now. If anything, I would imagine a TSB would be to just remove them and not mess with them anymore for longevity sake.

What do you mean the 23’s ditched them? Once I was <0c I most definitely noticed the grinding EIWE on the truck. In the 4 months I had it preceding up to that point I never once had it do the warm up or whatever it’s trying to do.

 

[JoeRedFly]

23s with 4A don't have IWEs. No idea why. I hated that on my Tacoma but with all the issues I guess I'm glad not to have them.

 

[WhiteLightningnshitshadow]

23s with 4A don't have IWEs. No idea why. I hated that on my Tacoma but with all the issues I guess I'm glad not to have them.

Yeah the 4A trucks never had them I think? Could be wrong. My truck is the XLT so it has them.

 

[Sneezy]

Are the EIWE’s problematic? I’ve not heard heard much about them. Knock wood mine have been fine, but it seems like it would be more reliable than the previous vacuum system.

 

[WhiteLightningnshitshadow]

Are the EIWE’s problematic? I’ve not heard heard much about them. Knock wood mine have been fine, but it seems like it would be more reliable than the previous vacuum system.

It's undoubtedly better than the vac system, but I think the cold is affecting the grease, which means they don't fully disengage once the front diff is warmed up and can grind. I really want the stupid TSB to stop the behavior of warming the front diff more than anything. I have 0 reason to give a shit about the front diff 99.999% of the time. A software update to stop the EIWEs from engaging for the first few miles when it's below 30 degrees would seem only too sensible @fordmotorcompany

 

[Sneezy]

It's undoubtedly better than the vac system, but I think the cold is affecting the grease, which means they don't fully disengage once the front diff is warmed up and can grind. I really want the stupid TSB to stop the behavior of warming the front diff more than anything. I have 0 reason to give a shit about the front diff 99.999% of the time. A software update to stop the EIWEs from engaging for the first few miles when it's below 30 degrees would seem only too sensible @fordmotorcompany

Oh gotcha that makes perfect sense with the cold grease binding things up.

 

[JExpedition07]

And there is no need to warm up the front diff idk why they are doing this now. The vacuum system pulled engagement as soon as you start the truck. There was no cycling on and off. It was 5 degrees last night here and mine started grinding about 3 minutes into my drive (so I could tell they were trying to disengage). No reason for this. They should disengage on startup.

It takes some serious abuse to strip these or do any damage. The IWE teeth are soft and designed to sacrifice themselves to save the splines on the CV axle. It also takes a long time for the soft teeth to even wear. My Expedition grinded bad for a few months on occasion and when I disassembled them the damage to the teeth was minimum still. Still worked too.

 

[WhiteLightningnshitshadow]

And there is no need to warm up the front diff idk why they are doing this now. The vacuum system pulled engagement as soon as you start the truck. There was no cycling on and off. It was 5 degrees last night here and mine started grinding about 3 minutes into my drive (so I could tell they were trying to disengage). No reason for this. They should disengage on startup.

It takes some serious abuse to strip these or do any damage. The IWE teeth are soft and designed to sacrifice themselves to save the splines on the CV axle. It also takes a long time for the soft teeth to even wear. My Expedition grinded bad for a few months on occasion and when I disassembled them the damage to the teeth was minimum still. Still worked too.

exactly the info I was looking for. Thanks

 

[Hfyvr]

Why does everyone think it is a grease issue? Generally speaking the viscosity of most greases doesn’t magically become peanut butter at 0C. This happens exactly at 0C or less which seems like more of a software or built in feature, not that it should be of course.

 

[hotrodmex]

23s with 4A don't have IWEs. No idea why.

Yeah the 4A trucks never had them I think? Could be wrong. My truck is the XLT so it has them.

21s had them, 22+ do not. Not yet determined if it was a late 21, early 22, or hard year change.

 

[fordtruckman2003]

Confused because I don't recall seeing them on my truck but I was not spending much time under there just looking for leaks. 21 trucks supposed to have them though so I'll need to give it another look.

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