"Limited slip differential reduced torque"

[lurch]

I am starting to get this message once or twice a week. My Expy hasn't hit 5K miles yet. Tires are fine and within 1 PSI of each other. I am mostly in 2wd on dry pavement when it happens.

 

[RustyOval]

That error is displayed when the vehicle thinks there is something out of place between the sizes of the two rear tires. For example, if you were running a spare that was smaller than the other side, it would/could display that. So, if your tires are the same size, and both aired up to the same pressure (not sure if a low tire pressure would be enough to cause this) then I would suspect it is a bad wheel/abs sensor or whatever sensor they are using to match the two sides. Basically, it thinks one tire is turning at a different rate than the other. Again, a bad sensor, a bad connection, bad wiring. Now days, with all the sensors they have to see it happening to get their computer to pull the code to tell them which sensor is malfunctioning. I still don't know why these auto manufacturers don't program in the system to log all faults and errors. Even if they just held all faults for a few days it would be very helpful.

I don't see this damaging anything on your expy, it is just limiting the diff from locking up as much as it could. I would want it fixed but I wouldn't be worried something major is wrong. I think a chat with another dealer would be worth it.

Update: This response is very close to my problem. I took the Expy in to the dealer and they checked several things pulled codes (they tell me there were none) and then they noticed that there are different tires on the front vs. the rear. This is the cause of the horrible transfer case noise I was hearing. The tires read the same size but are different makers and a little different in diameter and that is all it took to mess it up.

I am now tire shopping and feel like an idiot for not noticing the tires when we looked and drove the Expy. I will contact the Ford dealer that we bought it from and see if we can work a deal before I leave thenma bad review ... whoever checked out/tested the 2018 Platinum should have picked up on this....

 

[Dakota4ce]

Thank you for updating this! Amazing. Good luck with new tires.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[lurch]

Yea, thank you for the update. Unfortunately, that does not shed any light on my issue. I have 4 matching brand new snow tires that I just had installed in November. I am getting the same error frequently but no sound from the transfer case.

 

[Calidad]

Oh yeah no doubt AWD mode any brand will get very grumpy with tires that are not the same size. By the way dry pavement when you put it in Sport mode it goes into awd and will elicit 4 wheel gear noise and slight binding even with proper tires! Which suggests that Ford is fairly aggressive in power split front to back in AWD so odd tire sizing differences would for sure cause issues.
BTW Sport mode 2H drives nice on dry pavement

 

[Calidad]

I am starting to get this message once or twice a week. My Expy hasn't hit 5K miles yet. Tires are fine and within 1 PSI of each other. I am mostly in 2wd on dry pavement when it happens.

I haven’t seen this with my Platinum 100% 2H so far. Having said that I have have seen more cases of failed rear diffs in a few different awd brands in recent years. All brands running the independent rear suspension/ pumpkin diffs with very similar limited slip tech seem to have a higher number of bad rear diffs right off the show floor. Not sure why other than they are probably easier to screw up during assembly. I wonder if the actual rear diff has a sensor or if this error would be more likely from the clutch pack in the 10spd that pushes power through to the front end? I don’t know enough about how the awd system works yet. But first thoughts are correct fluid at correct level being first check when getting odd errors like that.

 

[duneslider]

I haven’t seen this with my Platinum 100% 2H so far. Having said that I have have seen more cases of failed rear diffs in a few different awd brands in recent years. All brands running the independent rear suspension/ pumpkin diffs with very similar limited slip tech seem to have a higher number of bad rear diffs right off the show floor. Not sure why other than they are probably easier to screw up during assembly. I wonder if the actual rear diff has a sensor or if this error would be more likely from the clutch pack in the 10spd that pushes power through to the front end? I don’t know enough about how the awd system works yet. But first thoughts are correct fluid at correct level being first check when getting odd errors like that.

Each wheel has a wheel speed sensor, not sure if the diffs have sensors too. My Dodge pickup had a rear center diff sensor. My current jeep has at least one malfunctioning sensor and if abs ever activates I get all sorts of errors popping up. This shouldn't be a hard thing for the dealer to diagnose and fix if the error is showing on the display. Their computers should pick it right up and know where it is coming from.

 

[jking05]

I had a message this morning that said something like slip differential reset which I had never seen before. It showed up right when I started my car. Its been extra cold in the mornings here in AZ so no idea if that has anything to do or what. I will keep an eye on it.

 

[duneslider]

I had a message this morning that said something like slip differential reset which I had never seen before. It showed up right when I started my car. Its been extra cold in the mornings here in AZ so no idea if that has anything to do or what. I will keep an eye on it.

http://www.fordservicecontent.com/F...d=4740&vFilteringEnabled=False&userMarket=USA

The above link might be helpful for some in determining what the messages are trying to say.

 

[CC350]

I just got the "ELSD Reduced Torque" message on my new 2020 Platinum 4wd. 2,500 miles. Just driving down the highway at 82 mph in Eco mode with the cruise on. Curious to see what the dealer says but it doesn't sound like an isolated incident judging by this thread! The Expy replaced my 2018 F150 I bought new that I put 18k miles on and was absolutely perfect. Compared to that truck the fit/finish and trim quality on the Expy is disappointing. I'm also getting the loud "pop" from the stereo upon start up. I'm a diehard Ford guy but starting to wonder if 2020 was a bad year to buy something built in a factory under Covid protocol!