2007 Explorer - 4wd and traction control engages with turns

[george919]

Hello everyone. Whenever I turn the steering wheel, traction control and 4wd is engaging. When this happens, there is a low grinding/crunching type noise. Any ideas on this? My mechanic, who is not a Ford guy is stumped. At first he thought it was the brakes, but he says the brakes are fine. He changed the speed sensor and same problem. He disabled the 4wd and the truck drives fine as RWD. Any ideas on what to do to fix the truck?

 

[96firephoenix]

brown wire mod lets you selectively disable the 4wd on 3rd gen. not sure if the same thing can be done to the 4th gen.

Replacing your front wheel hubs might also be needed. the Auto 4x4 and Trac control run off the ABS sensors, which are housed in the front hubs. when you turn, it detects that one wheel is turning slower than the other and kicks the traction control and 4x4. Defective bearings can amplify that.

 

[george919]

brown wire mod lets you selectively disable the 4wd on 3rd gen. not sure if the same thing can be done to the 4th gen.

Replacing your front wheel hubs might also be needed. the Auto 4x4 and Trac control run off the ABS sensors, which are housed in the front hubs. when you turn, it detects that one wheel is turning slower than the other and kicks the traction control and 4x4. Defective bearings can amplify that.

The driver side ABS code came up. Changed the sensor, however still have the problem. Do you recommend changing just the driver side Hub only, or do both sides?

 

[MotorCityFats13]

only change a hub if the bearings are going bad... its a waste of money just to replace something because you think it will fix the problem... mine does a poping grind sound when I turn at low speeds... nothing that I have checked is going bad so I have learned to deal with it... some days it is worse than others and other days it does not do it at all... but I have never had luck just replacing the abs sensor, all it does is trigger the abs 100% and makes driving almost impossible....

 

[Flag Gibby]

The driver side ABS code came up. Changed the sensor, however still have the problem. Do you recommend changing just the driver side Hub only, or do both sides?

Just my preference, but if one hub is bad then typically the other is not very far behind so change both fronts at the same time. Your issue sounds like a typical worn out front hub that has enough play in it that it causes the ABS/traction control system to kick in under heavy side loads. Also, be sure to use good quality hubs or you will be having them replaced again in a very short period of time.

 

[george919]

Just my preference, but if one hub is bad then typically the other is not very far behind so change both fronts at the same time. Your issue sounds like a typical worn out front hub that has enough play in it that it causes the ABS/traction control system to kick in under heavy side loads. Also, be sure to use good quality hubs or you will be having them replaced again in a very short period of time.

I know it has been a while, however wanted to give an update. Flag Gibby was right. Changing out the hubs fixed the problem. The crazy thing was the code threw for the driver side sensor, however it was actually the passenger side with the problem. I wound up changing both.

 

[DarOlson]

I changed my wheel hubs, abs sensor & new brakes & still the speed/traction light comes on & grinds & car goes much slower, front passenger side