Transfer Case problems of the 2013 Ford Explorer

Transfer case makes a lot of noise I have to replace it. I am electric wreck steering makes a lot of winding noise.

2013 Ford Explorer limited 4wd 3. 5l became undriveable in a matter of 4 days. It started as a squeal as I accelerated from a stop and quickly escalated to lurching, pulsating and bumping at all speeds. Mechanic initially thought it was a caliper that was locked up but when I brought it back 2 days later after the problem persisted and worsened he realized that the transfer case was faulty. He noted that Ford is notorious for faulty transfer cases and horrible warranties that end before the parts go. I'm told that my vehicle could lock up at any moment and cause me to not be able to react putting my families safety and those around me in danger. Help please! I'm told this is a common issue and not isolated to my vehicle. Multiple phone calls to Ford have me on hold for 15+ minutes with no sound and then phone call ends without the chance to talk to a representative. My vehicle had roughly 94,000 miles at the time. Repair cost was estimated between $3,000 - $5,000.

My car began lurching when I was driving and began leaking oil. When I took it in, I found out the pto needed repaired. The transfer case was filled with metal and covered in metal shards. Mechanic said the car wasn't driveable and would be dangerous to have on the road.

Transfer case leak and failure at 82755 miles. No apparent cause. Car lurched forward twice and almost hit vehicles in front of car.

Transfer case leak and failure at ~76000 miles. No apparent cause. Leak creates burning smell in cabin of vehicle.

2013 Ford Explorer transfer case.

Over the summer, I began smelling fumes in my vehicle cabin. The local dealer told me it was due to the recall, and I had no reason to be worried. Unfortunately, due to housing issues, the recall got pushed to the back burner. So, I had an appointment scheduled for yesterday, 12/11 to have the recall on my vehicle fixed. Then last Wednesday, 12/5 my car kept seizing when I was braking or accelerating, and I almost wrecked my vehicle multiple times. After ruling out the u joint or drive shaft, we then found the glistening leak on the ptu, and were able to deduce the smell as being diff fluid dripping down onto the exhaust and coming through the cabin. Since the vehicle was not driveable, the next morning, I contacted the Ford dealer, who put me into a rental, and we gingerly drove the vehicle to the dealer that afternoon. Yesterday, I get a phone call confirming what we suspected the problem to be. While on the phone with the service manager, he confirmed that this is definitely a known issue with multiple Ford models, and he is completely familiar with this problem. 24 hours into this, Ford is saying it's not their problem, and that there's no "promotions" that I'm eligible for. I'm about at my wits end. I have one child with special needs, and I'm a single mom. I don't know what to do to get this resolved and get Ford to fix their problem that is now costing me close to $2,000. To further describe the issue, when it finally got to its worst, when compressing the brake, you would hear a grinding noise and the car would jump as though it was going to stall. The same would occur as you were accelerating, and continue until you got to about 2000 rpm and steadily coasting. The dealer told me that the gears were so damaged they were unable to fix it. I will update this thread later with pictures of the transfer case that they took off my vehicle.

I was driving down the highway when the SUV shuddered and I heard something bouncing down the underside of the SUV, which isshudderong every badatthispoint so I stop seeif I could tell what the problem was. . . Indeed I did there was a large piece of my transfer case/ ptu missing I tried finding it with no luck . . I tried moving the SUV off the highway babying it jerked at 5 mph mind then awd light flashed and went right back off got out to look again yeah whole driveshaft hanging down. . . . Now outside my safety thank god this happened at low speed but think about the very large chunk of metal that shot out from under my SUV thank god no one was behind me this could have been very very bad please look into this if you would email me I will take pics next time I'm around the Explorer and email them back . . . Approximately 45mph when piece came off and 5mph when driveshaft fell down.

2nd time the transfer case has had to be replaced. 115k miles.

Exiting from parking lot and speed of about 15 mph on a straight road, no pot holes, at about 100 ft from the parking exit, it hit an electric post. Left front suspension, fender, wheels,pillars, rocker & floor, radiator support, front lamps, hood,steering rock, cradle, transmission transfer case, front door and manny more damage. All are in left side. I checked the VIN but it is not on recall for power steering problem however I suspect power steering was the caused of accident. It is a major damaged and the insurance is not yet decided if repair or total wreck. I asked the Ford dealership to see on the diagnostic computer of the vehicle but up to now they have not yet check.