[Richardh24]

I bought my daughter a 2010 Escape 4wd. It had bad front wheel bearings I replaced those a few weeks ago. I now have notice that the 4wd does not work at all. No noise, no lights. I have scanned it with forscan, no codes. The speed sensors all read the same speed. According to forscan it appears to be sending a 4wd signal. I can see the driveline turns. I cannot not turn the drive line by hand when parked .. Any idea’s?? The only thing I can come up with is the rear diff might be bad.

 

[tomw]

If you raise both rear wheels at the same time, and turn one, holding the other still, the differential should try to turn the driveshaft. If you try to turn both wheels at the same time, the driveshaft should try to rotate. If it is still intact.
The PTO on the side of the transmission on most is neglected, and the lube inside turns to essentially 'tar'. If it is intact and functional, it would try to turn the driveshaft when 4wd is engaged.
I am not sure how you test 4wd for being engaged and functional except by getting into a low traction situation, and seeing if the rear wheels spin. Having the vehicle raised on a lift, and engaging 4wd should make the rear wheels turn...
tom

 

[bangster]

What indications are you seeing that it isn't working? On slippery surface you get no action out of the back tires? In the very few times I have used AWD in slippery conditions, I am not sure I could tell. I data log the AWD percent PID and I see it going 100% (so 50/50 split) when I take off at WOT, and varies on driving conditions and how I am driving, but not much on dry roads when at speed.

Speed sensors, unless you are in a full on slip situation or all wheels are off the ground, are going to read very similar as that is the wheel speed on the road, doesn't matter if it is being driven or not. I also data log those and see variances when I turn corners, as expected.

 

[Richardh24]

The front tires are spinning easy when you take off.I got out of the car when on a icy hill, only the front wheels would spin.

 

[Richardh24]

I put it on a lift today, when in gear all 4 wheels spin, but if you hold both rear tires or put the parking break on the driveline spins but the tires do not. If you give it gas it makes a little noise like it’s trying to engage but does not. I’m leaning towards the clutches or whatever engages the 4wd in the rear diff.

 

[tomw]

If this is the same as the one I watched someone work on, it is likely under-serviced. Seemingly the PTO on the side of the transmission and the differential are more neglected than most. A YT video demonstration I watched made it appear that diff service was almost impossible due to the design/construction. The material removed did not look like any lubricant.
I really do not have any in-depth knowledge of the systems except the apparent lack of service that is so common.
tom
P.S. If you think yours is toast, likely you can get an indication of availability by doing a query of the web site
car dash part dot com. they have nation wide listings and show crosses to different models and years.
tom

 

[smario259]

I cannot tell if the system is identical to the 2005 model, but mine has a clutch between the diff and the drive shaft. The clutch is controlled by a wire that drives a coil. You may want to check if the cable and connector set have suffered physical damage. IIRC the connection is at the driver side of the clutch of that Haldex-type of clutch. There are some other posts in this site that covered that aspect of the 4WD drive.

 

[Mountain Escape]

I'm not trying to be a smart ***, but you just did work on the system. I would maybe go back through all of your electrical connectors.

 

[Vica153]

It seems you're discovering the flaws of the 08-12 Escape AWD just as I did. The 'AWD' only engages after wheel slip occurs and even then the PWM% to the rear diff only seems to be roughly equal to TPS%. So in slippery situations where you're trying to be delicate with the throttle and minimize slipping, the rear PWM% is very low and the result is minimal power to the rear.

At least that is also what I'm seeing in my 09 Mariner. I did some testing on snow hills and there was no indication that the PWM% would increase if slipping continued. 30seconds of intentionally spinning up a snowy hill and PWM% was still roughly equal to TPS%. Unless both of our vehicle are broken in the same way, but I think everything is functioning as designed.

I'm hoping to find more info about the 01-07 AWD control since it didn't seem to be as bad. Maybe the control module is interchangable. Wishful thinking I know. Worst case scenario I'll wire in a switch to ground the rear diff actuator and make it rear 4WD. I'm not sure how much the actuator will like that or if it will cause codes, but its worth a try. A replacement rear diff is only a couple hundred dollars and few hours of work.

 

[tomw]

Adding a mechanical switch to enable the rear diff should not cause problemrs, but it should be disabled as soon as you are on pavement or things will get damaged. The duty cycle would not be unreasonable.
Too bad there is not a switch to enable locking the rear diff, then it would be even handier.
tom

 

[Mountain Escape]

Adding a mechanical switch to enable the rear diff should not cause problemrs, but it should be disabled as soon as you are on pavement or things will get damaged. The duty cycle would not be unreasonable.
Too bad there is not a switch to enable locking the rear diff, then it would be even handier.
tom

I just don't see how locking the rear diff would transfer more power to the rear.
I don't know if you've driven a vehicle with a rear locker in the mud or the snow, but they are very tricky to handle.
I installed automatic lockers in my CJ-7 … If you forget to unlock, you wind up in a ditch.

I can't imagine they even make a locker for a tiny escape differential, if I remember right, in the rear, it is not even a differential.
I'm saying max 5 inch diameter housing, which must put the inner gears at 3 inches/od

I think these people are experiencing 'all season' tires in a winter weather situation. The difference between dedicated winter(studded), snow tires, and anything else is night and day.

putting a locker in the rear diff would eliminate the traction control computer module, and cause it to fight itself

you're not going to re-engineer your Ford escape into an Audi Quattro!

 

[Vica153]

Try to ignore the friendly neighborhood mountain troll.

 

[tomw]

A locking rear diff would be nice when one front wheel and one rear wheel are slipping at the same time, and the PTO/center diff is 'open'. In that case, all wheels would spin, and you go nowhere. If you could lock the rear diff, and at least one wheel had traction, you could drive out of the slip using that one wheel. That is when a switch-operated locking rear diff would be handy.
Driving down the road with it locked is not advisable.
If I had AWD or 4WD I would like to control a locking rear diff. If I had RWD only, as a 2WD Ranger does, a locking rear diff is one option I would desire above a lot of the 'bling' and 'blackout' packages.

You do you, and I'll do me.
tom

 

[Vica153]

Unfortunately no one makes differentials for the old escapes. The size and spline count doesn't match up with any other diffs either, so I think there is no hope for a rear diff short of making your own from scratch.

If I get some free time this weekend I'll try to look thru the wiring diagrams and look into adding a 4WD switch.

 

[smario259]

If you do that, please measure the resistance (impedance) of the clutch coil. If it reads high or open, well the coil is open... and you won't be able to control the clutch operation from a switch that feeds 12 volts (fused) to the coil.
On the other hand there might be a lot of Escape diffs in the scrapyards, given the amount that they produced.

 

[Richardh24]

I hooked up the laptop and gave 100% to the rear, and still only the front tires would spin.. looks like I will be swapping the rear diff. Too bad I can just swap the ATC.

 

[Vica153]

I'm surprised it didn't throw a code if it activated AWD and saw no change in rear wheel speed.

 

[dbass4856]

The front tires are spinning easy when you take off.I got out of the car when on a icy hill, only the front wheels would spin.

Same prob I have with my 2005. Driving on packed snow roadie i

The front tires are spinning easy when you take off.I got out of the car when on a icy hill, only the front wheels would spin.

I have the same problem on my 2005 escape. On slick roads rear wheels dont engage. Abs light is on but brake pads are good but pulse when stopping. If I accelerate the 4x4 light comes on then flickers before going off. Had a new fuel pump put in but it throws 2 codes that come back on after being cleared. Motor runs excellent and trans works fine. Just recently purchased it.