2004 Mercury Mountaineer AWD

[BigAl90]

During this past winter I have had some questions about my AWD in my Mountaineer.

I have since replaced all 4 tires due to the old tires being mostly worn and only having a minimal thread left, and haven't been able to really see if there is a change.

My question is there a way to test the AWD on the 04 Mountaineer or should I expect the SUV to slide worst than my Taurus does?

I have tools for most diagnostics and a pretty simple OBD II scanner - Actron CP9580.

This is my first AWD or 4WD vehicle so my knowledge on them is very limited. Any input would be highly appreciated.

Thank you in advance.

 

[pet575]

What do you mean by "slide"? Are you talking about lack of traction from a stop or are you talking about turning, stopping, etc.?

I'm confused on what you are wanting to test? If you're wanting to test whether the AWD is working, if you have a true AWD model (which has no buttons for switching to 2WD/4WD/AUTO) then you are always in AWD whether you are on dry pavement or in wet, snowy, or icy conditions.

You could jack up the vehicle completely off the ground if you want to see whether the wheels all spin when the vehicle is in gear. This is something you should take every safety precaution possible in order to do in case it were to shift/fall off the jack/jackstands.

 

[BigAl90]

Hello,

Thank you for the response. I apologize about the wording of my original post. I meant sliding in the way of lack of traction in either rain or snow.

According to the VIN number for my Mountaineer it is AWD with no buttons for shifting, but I have never tested the wheels when the vehicle is in gear.

I have not experienced any heavy rain or snow conditions since having the new tires installed so I am unable to tell whether that was the cause for the lack of traction.

 

[pet575]

If they were getting toward bald I'd expect you'd have some traction difficulty in the winter. With mine there is a definite difference between good and worn tires, but with the AWD functional it never stopped me from getting around even with worn tires. Don't know how much that helps you.

 

[BigAl90]

Thank you for the information.

This may sound as a dumb question and I apologize in advance. How would I know if a true AWD wasn't functioning properly?

 

[pet575]

The force distribution is supposed to be roughly 60% rear wheels, 40% front wheels on these. Some might argue for another 5-10% toward the rear but the concept is the same that it is not true 25% equally to each wheel.

I've heard of some tests where the vehicle is off the ground and in gear and idle and then an assistant puts foot on brake. You grab one of the front wheels and assistant lets off of brake. If you can't keep the wheel from turning then it is functioning properly. If you're able to easily hold the wheel still then it is not.

Do the test on both sides of the front wheels.

 

[BigAl90]

I will perform that test most likely this weekend since I have some time off from work.

If the AWD system isn't functioning properly I know that it could be a few things, are there any common problems found in these AWD SUV's?

 

[pet575]

I'd be looking at the Transfer Case first if the test fails.

 

[Number4]

If your are spinning the back wheels, I'd say it sounds like 2wd.