2016 Ford Edge Sport AWD not active?

[RyanGlenn]

Hi All, 

 

Just purchased a 2016 Ford Edge Sport with about 28k miles on it. Love the car so far! Had been looking for a new car to replace my 2005 Saab for about a year, but hadn't found a car with all the features I wanted at my price point. Was really across the board with my search, looking at everything from a Lexus GS350, Volvo XC60, BMW X5 & X3, Genesis G80, Jeep Cherokee & Grand Cherokee. Happened upon my local Dodge dealership that took this car in on trade. With '16s having the ACC and the 401 tech package, I took it for a drive and was sold! Hadn't really considered a Ford prior, but wow I was impressed what you get for the money. Great car so far!

 

Now onto my question: The northeast had a big snow storm this past week and I had driven up to my cabin for the weekend. The driveway which is just dirt was covered in snow, but packed down from a few cars. Long story short, my car had sat for two days before I got in to leave the cabin. When I put the car in reverse, got no traction at all. Felt like the front wheels were just spinning, which makes sense... snow and ice! Driveway is pretty flat so I had some family come out and help me push the car backwards to get out of those little divots that form from spinning the tires (maybe only 2-3inches deep at this point). I had my brother hop into the driver seat so I could help push backwards. As he was hitting the gas, I noticed only the front wheels were spinning and the rear wheels weren't moving/spinning at all. I tried to find traction control to turn off, thinking maybe that would get power to the rear wheels, but doesn't look like turning that off is an option. Anyways.... and I feel silly for asking this, but I thought these were AWD? I consider myself a pretty knowledgeable car guy, but don't know much about Fords. Is there a way to get power/traction to go to the rear wheels? I watched for a while as only the front wheels were spinning and nothing was being sent to the rear wheels. Went through the range of trying to "creep" out of the holes and my brother tried hitting the gas with more gusto to propel it out, nothing seemed to get the rear wheels to kick in. Is there something I was doing wrong here or are these cars known to have AWD issues? I feel like my 2005 5-speed Saab (FWD) would have had an easier time getting out of the snow with the manual trans, but was surprised how seemly poor the traction was in the Edge. However, could absolutely be driver error as I've only had the car for less than a week.

 

Really appreciate the help that anyone can provide!

Edited November 18, 2018 by RyanGlenn

[lildisco]

Traction control can be disabled in the left side of your menu, i believe under settings. There's also a display on the instrument cluster that shows you how much power is being sent the rear wheels. I would also look to see what tires you have. If you have High Performance summer tires, then your winter traction will be next to nothing.

 

My bet would have been traction control was going crazy because of the snow/ice under your car. There should have been a dash light indicator if abs/traction control was kicking in. If you have it, i would suggest reading the owners manual & get more familiar with your vehicle. If not available, you might be able to download a copy from fordowner.com

[RyanGlenn]

Thank you very much! Taking a look at the owners manual now, would turning off traction control help engage the AWD system better? Tires are all seasons, have about 50% tread left. I'm less concerned about their grip as I will probably be replacing them come spring time. I'd say they have another good winter left in them for winter road driving. More so trying to figure out how to get the AWD working if there are settings for it. Doesn't look like it from the Owner's manual, but didn't know if other owners have run into similar issues with the rear wheels not engaging.

Edited November 18, 2018 by RyanGlenn

[akirby]

I thought there was a display that would show you the torque distribution.

[RyanGlenn]

16 minutes ago, akirby said:

I thought there was a display that would show you the torque distribution.

Yes I did manage to find that and it wasn't sending any torque to the rear wheels. That's why I was kind of wondering there might be some type of drive mode selection or awd on/off options. I did test on the highway when I floored it the rear wheels showed they were getting torque, just surprised on snow it wasn't sending any traction to the rear. 

[ben senise]

9 hours ago, RyanGlenn said:

Anyways.... and I feel silly for asking this, but I thought these were AWD?

 

No. Some are just front wheel drive. Did you just assume that it was AWD or was it sold to you that way?

 

Another thing is that tires make a huge difference. Summer tires have no traction in snow. zero. nothing. all seasons are barely better. for winter driving you need winter tires even if you don't see snow. cold temps reduce traction dramatically on non-winter tires.

 

There are websites that let you get your original sticker if you put in your VIN. That will give you 100% positive information as to whether or not your car is AWD.

Edited November 19, 2018 by ben senise

[ONEDGE16]

2016 to 2018 sport are all AWD. only 2015 had the option FWD-AWD.

[WWWPerfA_ZN0W]

Need to get a visual on the PTU.  I believe if it gets too hot, the car will revert to FWD.  Same with the RDU.

[RyanGlenn]

13 hours ago, ben senise said:

 

No. Some are just front wheel drive. Did you just assume that it was AWD or was it sold to you that way?

 

Another thing is that tires make a huge difference. Summer tires have no traction in snow. zero. nothing. all seasons are barely better. for winter driving you need winter tires even if you don't see snow. cold temps reduce traction dramatically on non-winter tires.

 

There are websites that let you get your original sticker if you put in your VIN. That will give you 100% positive information as to whether or not your car is AWD.

 

I actually have the window sticker & can confirm that it is AWD. Completely agree on the winter tires being better in the snow. I may pick up a set at some point, but will likely ride out this winter. There are some decent all-season tires on there now, but need to find me a set of winter alloys :)

 

I'm less concerned with getting good traction in the snow due to tires, trying more to figure out if my AWD is working as it should or if there were settings I was unaware of. I didn't want to band-aid the issue with winter tires if my rear wheels aren't engaging properly. Sounds like i should look into the PTU/RDU a bit more and see if that is causing the issues. Still under the bumper-to-bumper warranty so at least if anything is wrong, should be covered by Ford. Thanks again everything for some ideas, will keep digging into it to see what I can come up with. 

[ben senise]

9 hours ago, ONEDGE16 said:

2016 to 2018 sport are all AWD. only 2015 had the option FWD-AWD.

 

my bad. for some reason i though it was a titanium 3.5 but that was another thread. doh!

 

1 hour ago, RyanGlenn said:

but need to find me a set of winter alloys :)

 

yeah, i had the same issue. ended up going with the ford package. not the most beautiful wheels but they work.

 

good luck with finding the issue and please post what you find.