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2016+ PTU issues


kmorg52

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Hoping to buy a used 2016 Sport. Gotta admit I'm scared to death after reading on the net, including this forum, about all of the PTU failures. So... I'm hoping someone here can reassure me that maybe the rate of occurrence is less with the 16's and 17's? Or that with proper maintenance, ie: flushing every 20k or so, that there's little chance of failures. I'm coming from a CX-9, which I love but am concerned about keeping beyond 100k, because of these very issues: transfer case failure. Cannot stand all of my choices in the compact CUV segment. Way too tight inside. The Edge seems like the perfect size. About 10 inches shorter than my Mazda.

Thanks for any input!

 

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There are some isolated incidents, nothing wide spread like the previous generations.

 

If they're more incidents they are posting on FEWW on FB and not here.

 

Temperature seems to be the enemy. I plan on changing the fluid on my PTU with royal purple since it has a higher flash point than the Motorcraft fluid.

 

Is it pricier? You bet, damn near double the price depending on where you go for your fluids.

 

Is it worth the peace of mind? You got it.

 

MACT did a post comparing different fluids and made some conclusive suggestions based on his findings. While Royal Purple is not amongst those tested he did not suggest using Motorcraft int he PTU either. Take it for what its worth.

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I have a 2016 Titanium 2.0L AWD. It only has 8000 miles and it has had a PTU seal leak. I believe this is common and in my case the dealer installed a newer style seal under warranty. My PTU has a drain plug, I believe all PTU's in 2016 and newer EDGE's have the drain plug which makes fluid changes much easer.

Leaking PTU

Images of leaking seal and newer style replacement seal

New PTU seal

Edited by JSchneid
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  • 2 months later...

My wife has a 2016 Edge Sport. PTU failure at 9,500 miles. Previous Edge was 2010 Limited. PTU Failed at 59,000 miles and was replaced under warranty. I changed the fluid in it after the failure every 5000 miles (probably overkill, but cheaper than a repair) and it was still going strong after 130,000 miles. This has been an issue with the older Ford Edge AWD, I am surprised that they haven't addressed it in the newer ones.

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With my Edge Sport (Middle East - Hot Market version) there is a PTU oil change interval recommendation by Ford, 9K or 20K miles based on operating conditions (attached).

 

Also, there is a PTU temperature sensor and I can get the reading through ForScan. But I do not know what would happen if the temperature goes high, a light in the gauges or warning message? I don't know.

 

This article about the Police Interceptor Utility (Explorer) has a section about the PTU, and it seems there might be a warning message:

 

Second, the PTU has a gear lube temperature sensor. A module keeps track of the gear lube temp, and how long / how often it was at that temperature. When a threshold is reached, a change PTU Oil light activated.

post-24673-0-93720600-1530432343_thumb.jpg

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I have performed testing on gear lubes at a lab and researched the PTU gear lubes. The results and top gear lubes for the PTU are presented in MACT Ford Edge youtube and the discussions on PTU maintenance, drilling and plug installation for previous generations. Here is one video of many addressing the PTU. I will say the best thing Ford has done is install a drain plug, provided air induction for cooling and added coolant assisted cooling for the PTU with the addition of more gear lube volume.

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I have performed testing on gear lubes at a lab and researched the PTU gear lubes. The results and top gear lubes for the PTU are presented in MACT Ford Edge youtube and the discussions on PTU maintenance, drilling and plug installation for previous generations. Here is one video of many addressing the PTU. I will say the best thing Ford has done is install a drain plug, provided air induction for cooling and added coolant assisted cooling for the PTU with the addition of more gear lube volume.

 

My 2017 Sport has the drain plug, but not the air induction, nor increased gear lube volume - did the air induction and increased lube come later than 2017?

 

Not sure what the gear lube volume was on previous versions, but mine is just shy of a quart.

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Also, there is a PTU temperature sensor and I can get the reading through ForScan. But I do not know what would happen if the temperature goes high, a light in the gauges or warning message? I don't know.

 

 

 

 

 

I believe if the PTU gets to hot the vehicle reverts to front wheel drive only....I sure I read that somewhere.....

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I believe if the PTU gets to hot the vehicle reverts to front wheel drive only....I sure I read that somewhere.....

 

On older models (maybe the new ones too based on the market), there was no sensor for the PTU temperature. So no way AWD will disconnect due to PTU temperature. And yes, the owner's manual does state that AWD will turn off due to high tempreture, but I believe it would disconnect due to the coupling itself overheating as the Edge has the AWD coupling as part of the rear differential (RDU) and it is responsible for connecting the rear wheels & managing how much torque is sent to the rear.

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My 2017 Sport has the drain plug, but not the air induction, nor increased gear lube volume - did the air induction and increased lube come later than 2017?

 

Not sure what the gear lube volume was on previous versions, but mine is just shy of a quart.

Can anyone else confirm if the very latest models have air induction and increased lube volume as @macbwt

indicated?

 

 

 

On older models (maybe the new ones too based on the market), there was no sensor for the PTU temperature. So no way AWD will disconnect due to PTU temperature. And yes, the owner's manual does state that AWD will turn off due to high tempreture, but I believe it would disconnect due to the coupling itself overheating as the Edge has the AWD coupling as part of the rear differential (RDU) and it is responsible for connecting the rear wheels & managing how much torque is sent to the rear.

That sounds more plausible.

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I can't tell you anything about the air induction, but I can tell you that the fluid capacity of the PTU and the RDU have the same - or approximately the same amounts as the previous generation. In my mind this makes putting the BEST fluids in these extremely important.

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Isn't the "air induction" nothing more than a small air scoop moulded into the under cover that scoops up air and blows it onto the case of the PTU?

It could be, but would be great if @macbwt would respond and confirm what he was referring to.

 

One of our members posted pictures of his PTU that had cooling fins, drain plug, and the air scoop, which looked more robust than my Sport's PTU.

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It could be, but would be great if @macbwt would respond and confirm what he was referring to.

 

One of our members posted pictures of his PTU that had cooling fins, drain plug, and the air scoop, which looked more robust than my Sport's PTU.

 

IIRC the PTU that you are referring to is on the 2.0EB. Its definitely not on my sport!

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