Intelligent 4WD Driving Rough

[2018ExpXLT]

I have a 2018 Explorer with the Intelligent 4WD since 2022 and I have drove it in snow several times over winter 2023 and three times since December 2024. The first snow in December 2024 it worked no problem. However, the front differential pinion seal started leaking oil after that and it was subsequently replaced January 2. We received quite a bit of snow January 5-6, 2025 and I left the house January 7. After making it about 1/4 mile down the road it felt like the tires were all going in separate directions and once I hit 25-30 mph it's hard to keep it on the road. I thought I was losing my mind and made my husband drive it (and for reference we both have drove/owned 4WD vehicles since we first started driving so over 25+ years) and he agreed that he had never experienced that before. We took it to the dealer we use, (it still has 8,000 miles on an extended warranty) and they couldn't get it to do it (but also didn't drive it over 1/4 mile, just on snow covered large parking lot) and there are no warnings. Now, I also realized recently that the steering wheel is not properly aligned and that is getting fixed next week. Could anyone shine a light on what is going on here? Could it be tied to the steering alignment being off or could it be something different? This is a nightmare, it snowed again this morning and since that Intelligent 4WD kicks in automatically it was horrible driving this morning and it is handling different to my prior experience with this vehicle. The only things that have changed since the first snow in December and this week is the front diff pinion seal being replaced and the tires had some air added to them because of the cold weather.

 

[peterk9]

Welcome to the Forum. I'm not a mechanic but did replacing the front differential seal require a wheel alignment when completed? Has the alignment been checked lately? If the steering wheel is out of alignment then that is an indication that something was not set up properly as far as I know from reading other posts.

Peter

 

[2018ExpXLT]

Welcome to the Forum. I'm not a mechanic but did replacing the front differential seal require a wheel alignment when completed? Has the alignment been checked lately? If the steering wheel is out of alignment then that is an indication that something was not set up properly as far as I know from reading other posts.

Peter

The alignment is getting addressed on Wednesday, but it was just done in March/April because I had new tires put on it. Hopefully that sets everything straight, but we don't know how to test that because the snow will be gone and it only happens when the 4WD is required. The shop was able to drive it, with my husband as a passenger, and they definitely know what it is doing. If the alignment doesn't set it straight then they think the most likely culprit is in the transfer case. They were all stumped and no one had encountered this issue before when they returned after the drive to confirm what I was telling everyone actually happened.