It started out of no where. I would get this nasty grinding coming from the front end. It would usually last maybe 10 seconds, then it would CLUNK and stop. It would do this randomly, sometimes I could go a full day without and problems, other times it would happen 3 times in one day.

After doing extensive research, I found out that it is the IWE SOLENOID. It is located behind the battery under the hood bolted to the top of the firewall. It is SUPER easy to replace, and you can buy the part at any auto parts store. It was fairly cheap too.

If you have this problem, when your truck starts to grind, throw it into " 4 HI ", it will engage the front axle. That is the only way to stop the grinding, other than that the grinding will stop by itself, but i'm pretty sure that it is HORRIBLE for the splines on the gears.

Ford does NOT recognize this as a recall or anything like that, you are to fend for yourself. Like I said, the part is very cheap, I paid around $20 CAN. and requires 2 bolts to be taken off, and thats it, you've got yourself a new IWE Solenoid.

BTW, Ford dealer charges over $400 for this job.

I have a 2008 Ford F-150 XLT pickup with an automatic transmission and 4x4. At around 5,200 miles while driving at about 45mph or so a loud grinding and scraping sound which slowed the truck down came from the drivers side wheel assembly. At the dealership, I was told that the four wheel drive system is activating on its own, and that nothing can be done until the system completely fails. The truck now has 6,000 miles and is experiencing the problem more frequently. Are others having the same problems?