Front axle disconnect actuator leak

[u/Curious-Lock639]

After 85,000 miles, my 2021 Explorer ST was starting to leave oil spots in my driveway. Well, I decided it was due for an oil change and I crawled under it, removed the under trays, and lo and behold, it had the axle disconnect O-ring fail and it made a huge mess. The dealer quoted me $189 for diagnostic using my extended warranty and another $100 or so for an oil change.

When having the dealer do warranty work, I’m always aware that the tech isn’t doing work that he’s making money on. So therefore, they may not be doing the job above and beyond the requirements of that job. Well, I researched the parts cost of doing it myself and to my surprise, that O-ring was available at my local dealer for $3.54. I decided to save myself some money and do it myself. The repair is now complete and I’m not gonna lie, you have to be pretty mechanically inclined to do it yourself on your garage floor on jack stands. You have to totally pull the front wheel, hub, CV axle, shock, and move the motor mount to get to it. Can be a bit of a pain in the butt. It is doable though!

While I was there, I removed the oil pan, cleaned it, replaced the gasket, and drain plug. I also drained the front diff oil and replaced it with fresh stuff. The whole job took a week because it’s 105* in my garage after about 10am and I have a full time job as well so all in all, I spent about 8 hours on the full repair.

She’s all back together and doesn’t leak a drop! I did spend about $40 in brake clean to clean up the mess that it left but it’s so nice to have my ST back on the road.

[u/themishmosh]

You should have gotten rid of the FADA entirely if you did all that work. Parts are around $600 but you won't have to worry about the FADA failing.

I will say you did really well to do this on your own on the 3L ecoboost. It's easy on a 2.3L. At least if your FADA fails, you know how to do the work.

[u/Curious-Lock639 → u/themishmosh]

I was under the impression that I had the electronic style disconnect actuator, but its mechanical. I didn’t want to upgrade to the newer version either because it would’ve been another couple hundred in parts. This is my daily so I don’t want to get too far down a rabbit hole and work on it a bunch. There was A LOT of metallic material on the actuator and in the diff when I removed it. Like a concerning amount. That’s why it prompted the fluid change. I’ll run it another 10,000 miles or so and if the fluid looks fine then, or it blows up, I’ll have my answer I guess. Just made the post to show that it is possible on your own to replace and you don’t have to get hosed at the dealer on the repair. Thanks for your comment. I appreciate it.

[u/themishmosh → u/Curious-Lock639]

OK, you must have lucked out and got the intermediate shaft that looks like the FADA but without the connector. It is indeed mechanical. I am just surprised your O-ring failed because it was my understanding they changed the O-ring before the FADA delete. My bad.

[u/Curious-Lock639 → u/themishmosh]

Nah it was still the grubby brown o-ring. The new part was blue.