'06 Mounty AWD system

[thebrakeman]

Tell me about my Mountaineer's AWD system (just purchased). We bought, wanting the V8 and tow package in anticipation of getting a larger camper. But 2WD, 4WD, or AWD was not a concern. I was searching for Explorers and Mountaineers of all trims. Just stumbled on a great deal with this one!

I'm pretty sure I have open differentials front and rear (?), but what do I have as far as a center diff, transfer case, power transfer unit, etc? For that matter, do I have a transfer case at all, or is that only on the Explorer's selectable systems. Mine has no buttons/selecting at all (which is fine, I won't be offroading). Does that mean the center diff is standalone, or is it simply the same size transfer case, with less "stuff" inside? Or is the center diff (of whatever type) a smaller, stand-alone unit?

I've poked around here, and looked around at "How Stuff Works", Wikipedia, etc, and still am not sure what hardware I have.

 

[thebrakeman]

PS - I've read the owners manual (I'm an engineer, I can't help it...), and I remember reading that you can lock the center diff thru the "settings" menu. I think it stated that this should not be used on dry pavement for risk of damage. That sounds like an actual part-time system, just harder to engage. Seems like this is more than just an viscous fluid system, and has some electronic clutches or something.

 

[DavidEBSmith]

From the owner's manual:

AWD lock (4.6 L engine vehicles only)

Select this function from the SETUP MENU to display the AWD locked function.

1. To disable/enable the AWD feature, select this function from the
SETUP MENU.

2. Press the RESET control to select the AUTO or LOCKED mode.

3. Press the RESET control for the next SETUP MENU item or wait for
more than 4 seconds to return to the INFO menu.

Note: When the AWD system is in the LOCKED mode, the 4X4 indicator
will be illuminated.

and

Normal operation (4.6L engine vehicles only)

During normal operation the AWD system is in AWD AUTO mode (AWD LOCKED will illuminate in the message center for four seconds when you first start your vehicle). The 4X4 indicator in the instrument cluster will also come on.

For instructions on selecting the AWD LOCKED mode, refer to Message center in the Driver Controls chapter. This mode is not intended for use on dry pavement. This mode is appropriate for severe winter or off-road conditions such as deep snow, ice or shallow sand.

and ????

Autolock operation (4.6L engine vehicles only)

If the AWD system begins to overheat, the system will place itself in the Autolock mode:

• the 4X4 indicator light will illuminate in the instrument cluster and AWD DISABLED <LOCKED> will be displayed in the message center.

• AWD LOCKED will be displayed in the message center for four seconds and a warning chime will sound. This condition may clear without any action being taken by the driver.

• the 4X4 indicator light in the instrument cluster will turn off when the AWD system cools down.

Not really helpful.

There's also this article:

http://media.ford.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=24795

also not really all that helpful.

I also have the factory service manual, as far as details on how it works, it's less helpful than the above.

 

[Beargap]

PS - I've read the owners manual (I'm an engineer, I can't help it...), and I remember reading that you can lock the center diff thru the "settings" menu. I think it stated that this should not be used on dry pavement for risk of damage. That sounds like an actual part-time system, just harder to engage. Seems like this is more than just an viscous fluid system, and has some electronic clutches or something.

We got a Mounty with V8 and AWD with the trailer package last Spring. I had an Explorer with Control Trac before, and was very familiar with that package, so I wanted to understand this system. It is, basically, the same 4WD setup as the Explorer has, but without a low-range in the transfer case. The system uses a clutch pack that engages for something like 10-15% of the time in normal operation, but when the system detects that the rear wheels are moving faster than the front it steps up the engagement time of the transfer case clutch in increments (all in fractions of a second) to supply more power to the front wheels until the discrepancy is resolved, then it ramps back down to the standard cycle. This is the same as 4WD-Auto on the Explorer. You can lock the transfer case through the setup menu, which really helps in poor traction situations (nothing has to slip before getting 4WD), and this setup is the same as 4WD-Hi on the Explorer. There is no 4WD-Lo.

=Vic=