Finch

Well, I took the car in today to the dealer. Wanted to have the PTU seal checked, as I'm getting the odor I've heard is such a tell tale sign.... I mentioned the issue with turning, again, with loss of control and such. He immediately told me this is common with the Edge. It transfers too much power to the rear wheels, causing it to break loose and act like a RWD car truck. They have had Edges come in frequently with very similar stories, and all they can really offer to improve the issue is a 4-wheel alignment. The best I can probably do is keep driving very slowly around turns, and maybe get some better tires. I'm stuck with the car now, but this makes me not want any AWD Ford ever again. Point of AWD is to keep you from losing control, not the opposite. How ridiculous. Anyone have good luck with any particular type of tire for All Season use, that does ok in snow/slush?

Ah, I'd be very interested in what your dealer says. Seems as though without some kind of warning light for them to look at, they are clueless. And I do agree with the feeling of it. To me it's as if the car just throws way to much power to the rear wheels. In a slippery situation, this causes them to break loose and the car goes into a sideways spin.

I do have to ask then, wouldn't most Edge owners have the same problem since that is the brand on most Edge's off the lot? And Mass, did you notice this problem when you first purchased the car, or did it start as the tires wore in a bit?

They are Hankook Dynapro AS tires that were put on the vehicle when I bought it in March '10. I've put about 13k miles on them and had them rotated about 5k miles ago. I did not do the tread measurements myself, but the last time I had the oil changed they gave me all the tread measurements, and they looked pretty good. Yeah, I'm trusting someone else's measurements, but those people are ALWAYS trying to sell you a tire if they can, and they didn't even try after seeing my treads. If it is the tires, then I think more people would be having this issue because there are plenty of people that don't change tires until they blow up, or are near bald. Also, most people don't rotate tires as often as they should. Now that the edge has been on the market for several years, there has to be a few thousand of them with sub-optimal tread wear running around. Of course I can be wrong, but it just seems like a stretch that the tires, that although are not the best brand, would cause such a potentially catastrophic loss of handling in an AWD vehicle of any type. I agree with ThinLine, unfortunately. Whatever the problem is, they aren't going to acknowledge it, much less try to fix it under warranty. Much thanks for all the good input so far, too. I appreciate the help trying to narrow this down.

I don't know if my imagination will allow me to blame this all on tires. Like I said they have a ton of tread on them, almost new. I don't expect it to handle like driving on dry pavement, but the ease at which it loses control on snow/ice/slush is just amazing. I compare it to the '04 4WD Bronco I used to own. That thing weighed more than the garage I park my edge in, and had nowhere near the computerized/mechanized traction controlling mechanism the edge is supposed to have. Yet it would never slide out of control like this thing does. I also have a couple FWD cars that are >10 years old with half bald tires that greatly surpass the edge when it comes to turning in slippery places. Again, when I'm going straight, I think I could drive through the Himalayan mountains without trouble (exaggerating of course), but when turning corners, it acts like a completely different vehicle in which I have no confidence whatsoever. Most edge owners I've read have the complete opposite experience with their AWD. That is why I bought this thing, to haul my family around in. It needs to be safe.

Hello all. I'm new here, but I'm sure someone has some input on this. Have a 2008 AWD Edge that I have had issues with in any type of slippery condition when turning. When I bought the car one year ago, the very first day we had some snow. Came around a corner at a stop light, lost control as the back end of the vehicle kicked out and hit a curb... 400 repair for a new front rim. Dealer gives the usual garbage "you can slip in slippery weather". Thanks!! So I've been patient with the vehicle, but living through this mid-western blizzard and driving the car a good deal this whole winter, the problem is always there. When I'm taking off and going straight, absolutely no issue. If I'm turning the corner and just barely hitting the gas and roads are slippery, I WILL start to lose control. My only fix has been to take corners going grandma speed. Many of the times, I'm losing control when I see FWD cars handling the same corner with no issue at all. The feeling I'm getting is that the thing is throwing all it's power to the rear wheels and it kicks out like I'm driving a RWD pickup truck with no weight in the bed. I have the crappy Hankook stock tires, but they have a lot of tread on them. Hate to buy expensive replacements when the tires look almost new. Also, I have noticed the dreaded sulfur smell when stopped, and I am assuming it's the PTU leak. Taking it in tomorrow to have dealer look at that, but I know they are gonna tell me the AWD mechanism is working fine. Any suggestions?