Spare tire size

[Waldo]

Driving a quarter mile on the brake rotor wouldn't cause the AWD system to fail. There is no need to put a matching size spare tire on an AWD system, your problem was either already there or is something else.

 

The intelligent and "correct" thing to do is to properly diagnose your problem before jumping to conclusions.

Edited January 8, 2015 by Waldo

[akirby]

There is no danger if you use the spare that comes with the vehicle. Ford has taken that into account with the AWD software. If something failed it wasn't because you used the factory spare.

[FordService]

I have a 2009 Ford Edge with the 20" wheels. Had a flat tire due to a cracked rim. Spare was installed @ tire shop,and I was directed to a place to have my wheel repaired. I made it about a quarter of a mile down the road when my car began to violently pull, jerk, grind, and clunk. I pulled over quickly wondering if my wheel had come off the car or something.(??) At this point car was un drivable in drive or reverse without doing the same. Long story short,wheel was repaired,reinstalled on the vehicle,and it was back to normal. Although I wondered ever since how much damage was done before I was able to stop the car. I have since had some intermittent clunks, until this week all of a sudden I'm getting a whining,grinding sound coming from the all wheel drive unit (verified by a very reputable auto repair facility in my area).. the spare is about 7 inches smaller in diameter as was pointed out earlier in the comments. I checked with the dealer to make sure this was the original spare size that Ford Motor Co. provided with this vehicle since I bought it used (and It is). Bottum line, I need some expensive repairs on this vehicle because of this issue. If there is supposed to be some sort of override to disengage the AWD while using the (obviously dangerously undersized) spare tire, IT DIDN'T WORK! Who do I even begin to complain to?

Welcome to the community, Billy Critcher!

 

I’m the Ford Customer Service Representative on this forum, and my name is Tricia. I’ll be happy to look into available options to assist. What’s the current mileage on your Edge?

 

 

Try calling Ford National Customer Service, or if that doesn't work out, Lincoln Customer Service. I hope our Ford rep on here (Tricia) will see your post soon and step in with advice.

 

WWWPerfA_ZN0W,

 

Thanks for the mention and have a great week!

 

Tricia

[tbg8099]

I have a 2008 Edge Limited that came with 20 inch tires and for some dumb reason a 17 inch spare as well. After having my front drivers side rim crack I had to use the 17 in spare. It was driven on for only a few miles but it started making a whining & grinding sound (similar to that described by Billy) as well as making the steering difficult. I ordered a new rim and replaced the spare and it seemed to correct the problem temporarily. Recently it started making the noises again (but louder) and then I heard a loud "clunk". Luckily I was seconds away from my house and was able to coast into now my driveway but now my car will not drive forward or reverse! Like Billy now I have an undrivable car and a huge repair cost due to the size of the spare tire. BOTTOM LINE -I will not drive on the provided spare tire for even a few miles and I am VERY dissapointed to hear that Ford would provide a useless spare tires to its cutomers.

 

Maybe Tricia may have some advice on this problem after helping Billy.

 

For those who don't believe this can be caused by the spare tire that is 3 inches smaller than all the rest of the tires, I hope you don't ever need to use your spare!

[WWWPerfA_ZN0W]

Sounds more to me like the TSS/OSS sensor problem or something. But if you have AWD, I suppose the PTU could be a factor as well.

[enigma-2]

Billy, I have a 2009 MKX with 20" wheels and a T165/80D17 spare. The car had originally come with 18". (Don't know if they used a 17 with factory 20" wheels or not, but based on the size of the spare storage well, it's probably standard).

 

I've used my spare a couple of times without any problems. Rides hard, noisy and rough, but it is what it is.

 

One thing that may have contributed to your problems, and I seen this first hand on mine, is the pressure in the spare. Tire states to inflate to 60 psi.

 

When my tires were getting to the point of needing changing, I remembered to check the spare's tire pressure. It was low, way low. (Probably had not been checked since the car left the factory). I plugged in the air compressor and brought it up to 60 psi. It was the very next week when I picked up a lag screw and had to use the spare for the first time. Did you ever check your spare's pressure?

 

I would have your local Ford garage check to car over and see if it's the tranny sensors or PTU failure. Whichever it is, can't rule out the age of the car, service history (did you ever drain and refilled either the PTU and transmission with fresh fluid)? If you don't do the service, you can expect the parts to fail.

 

Anyway, was just reading a post where a forum member was going to buy a PTU online for <$600 and have a local mechanic install it for jus a few hours labor. (Think it was three, but may have been five. Still cheap considering ...) Either way, you could get the problem fixed for under a grand.

 

If you go the Ford garage route, they have a credit plan (which I use all the time) where you put the bill on Ford Credit, take a year to pay it off WITH NO INTEREST, and get a check back in the mail if over $200. They can sign you up at the service desk. Good luck.

Edited August 12, 2017 by enigma-2