I was just curious if anyone has disabled the automatic function on their 01 expedition; one that has the 3 position switch (a4wd, 4 HI and 4LO). I'd really like to have a 2wd only position, as in the earlier expeditions, and am just starting to think about how I could go about getting one. So far, I've been thinking about some sort of interrupt switch on the wires that feed the t-case shift motor...but I haven't gotten too in-depth in my study of it just yet. Before I start that study, I wanted to know if anyone else had done it/thought about it/studied it.

Reasons I want to try it?
1. I frequently find the "a4wd" setting very annoying.
2. The principle of how the a4wd system operates is very disturbing to me...shifting in and out of 4wd repeatedly, while the rear wheels are spinning and the front are not...well, that's just not a good idea.
3. From time to time I'd like to have 2wd only driving dynamics, rather than unexpected bursts of 4wd.
4. When I go racing little rice-boxes, I'd like to be able to smoke the rear tires. (Just kidding)

 

Farm Law.... I have sucessfully disconnected the A4WD in my brother-in-laws Explorer. I removed the fuse for diagnostic purposes. It worked like a charm! I don't know if you can do this with the Expeditions though. If it does work the same, I don't see why you couldn't cut a switch into the wiring and just shut it off. It is a completely electrical system that trips vacuum solenoids which run off 12 V. Just a thought, but worth a try. You might want to consider this also..... Mine has a 2WD selection. It was offered in 97 and 98 and now it has returned in the 03's. Maybe you could find a way to retrofit this system into yours!

 

Hmmm....I'll have to check and see if the A4wd on my expy is on its own fuse...that would sure be a simple fix, to isolate and put a switch on that circuit (or just pull the fuse when desired).

 

Have you found out how to disconnect the a4wd yet. I have a 2002 Eddie Bauer expedition and I agree that this auto 4wd is a terrible design. It can't be good for your transfer case and front end to kick in and out of operation while tour gassin the engine and spinning the rear wheels. I didn't see a fuse that was marked auto four wheel or anything that looked like it would control it. if anyone comes across any info on how to disconnect this feature PLEASE LET ME KNOW....THANK YOU

 

I dont like the idea of having the front drive kicking in and out either. It cant be that great for things!

I am in Western NY and we get a lot of snow. What I do is just put it in 4x4 and shut if off when I dont need it.

... now all I have to do is edumcate the wife

 

I purchased my 99 Expy in August and didn't find out until the snow hit that my A4WD wasn't working. The 4WD-Hi and 4WD-Low work just fine when the switch is in those positions. After reading this thread, I don't think I'll bother to get the A4WD working.
Keith

 

Hey Keith could you check your fuse panel and see if any fuses or relays are pulled or blown. The owners manual doesn't specifically say there is a fuse or relay for the afwd. But if you find a missing or blown one than we can pinpoint a solution to this bad design. Thanx..

 

I'll try to check it soon. It's kind of cold and snowy these days, so I may not get to it immediately.

Keith

 

I would love to retrofit the 2wd selector onto my 99. I hate it when I pull away from a light on wet pavement and “bang” the AWD kicks in. That has to be taking its toll on the driveline.

The design of the selector switch in general stinks. The location is too close to the fan control. One time in heavy traffic I reached down to turn on the heater fan and turned the selector all the way to 4Lo. Why isn’t there a lockout on 4Lo? As for me, bring back the lever on the floor. At least you knew when you were engaged.

 

FWIW, I dug into this a bit and it appears that the system uses the output shaft sensors (front and rear) for detecting the slip condition.

I don't know if the Output Shaft Sensor is the same as the ABS Speed sensor, but it looks awefully similar in the picture.

It lists 6 components involved with the electronic shifting system:

• Transfer Case Shift Motor
• Front Output Shaft Speed Sensor
• Rear Output Shaft Speed Sensor
• Shift Range Selector Switch (on the dash)
• Digital Transmission Range (DTR) Sensor
• GEM Module (Electric Shift Only)

I hope this helps...

XXL

 

The front speed sensor and the rear speed sensor are what governs the A4WD. If we could find a way to switch a 97-98 Setup into a 99-02 thats all you would need to do. I personally don't need to do this because I have the 2HI selection on the dash, but it would be worth it to figure this out.... I have 2 family members with 99's that would benifit from this modification!
The shift motor doesn't move into the 4hi setting unless you select it on the dash so I don't believe we'd have to modify that. It might be the simple matter of changing out the gem module and the selector switch. I can pull my switch and see how many wires are going to it and someone could pull their switch and we could compare. It might be as simple as cutting in another switch to disable the GEM!

 

Just happened to have that dash panel off today on my 99 with the A4WD, 4HI, 4LO selector switch. There are four wires running into the switch Black, Blue, Blue, and light blue with a black stripe.

Now we just need a comparison with a 2H,A4,4H,4L selector switch.

 

This sounds awesome! Keep me posted as well. Thanks

 

Ok fellas..... here ya go! I pulled my switch out today. I got the 2HI, A4WD, 4HI, 4LO. The wire colors are as follwos.... Black, Blue, Blue, And Light Blue/w Red stripe. Hope this helps. This might be as easy as changing out a switch and finding out the difference between the red stripe and the black stripe. Im pretty sure it's gonna run a different GEM.

 

Ya know.. I'm going to have to get a freind to look at that stripe for me. I posted Black stripe, but I'm a bit color blind so it could have been red and I didn't distinguish the difference. I know it was a light blue wire though, just like you posted.

I doubt that Ford would simply change the color code of the stripe... One of the four wires, and leave the rest the same for two different operations. It'd drive their techs nuts.