I have a 1997 Ford Explorer V8 5.0 AWD and i would like to kwon how AWD system works.
The 4 wheels must turn at same time or like 4x2.

Please melp me...

 

Basiclly the truck normally drives in 2WD.. If at any time it detects a slip condition (IE - Ice, water, snow, or even if you were to drive off the road onto the gravel shoulder) the 4WD kicks in...

Make sense?

 

Actually the 5.0 awd is in 4 wheel drive all the time. When you go around a corner the viscious clutch in the transfer case allows slip. This viscious clutch setup puts about 35% power to the front wheels and 65% to the rear tires.

The setup that stunod2002 is referring to was in the 4.0 engine setups.

 

Thats correct, I have the 4.0 and was unaweare that they changed the 5.0 setup... Sorry about that.

Why would they do that anyway?

 

Perhaps my only complaint against putting the 5.0 into Explorers was that Ford decided that they wouldn't put a true 4WD system in with it. 5.0 Explorers either came 2WD or AWD. The idea behind an AWD system:
1) All four wheels are powered all the time. As mentioned, the t-case consists of viscous clutches. Under normal conditions, there is a 35:65 power split front to rear. The clutches are set up to allow differentiation during cornering and such.
2) When the computer detects wheel spin, it can adjust the power split at the transfer case, up to (I believe) 97% to either front or rear.
3) The AWD system operates without any input from the operator. There isn't a selectable 2WD mode, the transfer case isn't lockable like a part time 4WD system, and there isn't a low range. This is the part I would miss.

 

To be honest, I've never needed 4WD low range It took me a while to adjust from the 4.0 with selectable 4WD to the 5.0 AWD... now I'm a huge fan of it.

 

It's true -- many people don't miss low range. I, personally, would go bonkers without the torque multiplication/crawling ability that low range provides. It depends on what you want from the rig.

 

does crawling home from the bar on my hands and knees count?

 

My understanding is that the AWD is an entirely mechanical system (no computer control). Normal split is 65:35, but it is the viscous clutch, not the computer, that "locks up" the front and rear drive shafts when there is slippage in the front or back (the different rates of spin in the viscous unit cause the fluid to heat and thicken thus locking the clutch plates together--like the limited slip in the rear Trac Loc differential. The Control Track 4X4 computer (when in 4x4 Auto mode), on the other hand, will send power to the front if it senses too much differentiation between the front and rear drive shafts (i.e. rear wheel spin). I'm I wrong?

I do miss the low range (and the real lock up option--I think the viscous limited slip gets overwhelmed in real high-torque situations), but I love the way the AWD handles in snow and muddy roads. For the 2004 Explorer I opted for the 4X4 with advance trac. I'll do an offroad comparison-when my wife is done with it in a few years!

 

So, does that make my father in-laws truck an oddball? It's got the SOHC 4.0 with the AWD, but the selector also has 4lo and 4hi....just no 2wd. Is that different than the 5.0 AWD system, or the same one? It's a 97 XLT, but has (I think) every option you cold get except for the Eddie Bauer ground effects.

 

No...4X4 Auto is the 2WD mode (except when their is slippage, then the front drive axle is engaged.

 

I suppose in many ways it's a question of semantics. Some people will call any system that powers all 4 wheels AWD. In my mind 4WD and AWD are different. AWD doesn't have a way to lock the transfer case and doesn't have a low range. A 4WD system (control trac or otherwise) has a lockable transfer case and a low range. This makes the control trac 4WD system on your V6 Explorer different from the control trac AWD (do they use the term control trac for the AWD systems?) system that comes on the 5.0 Explorers.

Beausterling: I always thought there was an electrical element to the AWD system, just like the electrical element in the 4Auto mode in the V6 t-cases. I could be wrong on that.

 

My 97 5.0 awd also has a control trac emblem on the back of the truck. Also the awd are entirely mechanical. Although I don't know if that is true about the newer explorers.

 

The AWD in the earlier explorers with the 5.0 is entirely mechanical. It's basicly like a limited slip clutch. Power is mostly to the rear wheels. The viscous coupler goes to the front diff. It has a serious of clutches, and fluid that gets thicker as if gets warmer. When there is more slip, there is more friction (ie more heat), which makes the clutches lockup. I had the same system in an 86 VW Van with AWD, been around forever

 

I love the AWD in my 97 Merc mountaineer

. If I want low range,tons of tourqe
and going thru a lot of poo, then I either start up the 77 crewcab 4x4 with 460 or 79 Bronco with 460. My Merc is my city driver!