I have a 2000 F250 5.4 litre superduty 4x4 and the transfer case stopped shifting. I found one of the problems (the shifter motor gear drive was chewed up).I changed that but still no shifting so I checked the fuses, All good and the relays there good still no power to the shift motor. So I want to know how hard is it to switch to a manual shift on the tranfer case and what is needed to mount the manual shifter and linkages to the tranfer case. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

First things first.
You may have a vacuum problem.
Flip it to 4x4 high on the dash.
Turn on your heater.
Does it blow out of the defrost?
If so, you have a vacuum leak.
Trace it down from the right fender to the hubs.
Manually lock the hubs and flip the dash switch when you need 4x4, that should hold you over until you fix the leak (replace hoses).
Do a search on here for ESOF, you will find all the info you need.

 

I don't think a vacuum leak is the problem as I installed warn manual locking hubs a few years back because of vacuum line breakage. Unless the lack of vacuum can cause no voltage to the shift motor on the tranfer case.

 

Also when you say turn heater on and if it blows out the defrost there's a vacuum problem I assume that the heater must be to another setting ie floor or panels right?

 

Yes, floor heater, but it doesn't apply now that you have provided more info. You have manual hubs, no vacuum locking. Is there anything else you have done other than stock?
Check your wires to verify nothing has burned up.

 

Thanks for the info Steve. I put manual hubs back a couple of years back as I work in northern Ontario in the bush and the lines were always getting torn off and until the shifter motor piled up it worked great. The new shifter motor is working as I put 12v across it on the transfer case and it shifted. I was really wondering if it was possible to put a manual 4x4 shift lever on a esof transfer case as I can pick up the linkage at the scrap yard for $65, problem solved, no chasing wires.

 

Well if you figure it out let me know Im haveing the same problem

 

Look on the drivers inner finder near the battery for a small black box. There are 2 relays. These 2 relays are for the transfer case engagement/disengagment. Check to ensure plugs have not pulled loose or are corroded.

 

I found the fuse box (there are two of them one has nothing in it) and on my truck there is only one battery and its on the passenger side by the vacuum pump and canister.the relays were good as I swapped them out with the relays in the engine compartment fuse box and there is 12 v at one of the pins on the relay harness. I checked at my switch on the dash and the highest voltage I get there is 6 or 7 volts. I'm not sure if this is the correct voltage for the switch or not all I know is there is no voltage getting to the shift motor.

 

You can put in manual hubs, but you can NOT convert an ESOF transfer case to manual shift. You'd have to get an entire transfer case and linkage and make a hole in the floor

 

Thanks krewat for the info, judging by the amount of post you have I'll take your word for it. I guess I'll have to do some more trouble shooting. The only thing I'm not sure about is the switch, as I swapped the relays and I have 12v in the relay harness. From there it should straight to the shift motor if the switch is activating the relay, so it must be a switching problem. I think.

 

So is the the transfer case a vacuum link too, or just the hubs?

 

On my 04 I remember there being a removable plate. Still a hole though.

Your right though, you can't just switch the hubs and get a manual transfer case. you can though get manual hubs that way but you still have to deal with the electronic shifting in the electronic transfer case. Man do I love my manual TC.

 

I picked up a switch at the scrap yard and it still isn't shifting. Is there any other suggestions? I have 12v at the relay harness in one of the pin don't remember which pin off hand but both relays had 12v in one of the pins, from there it should just receive a signal from the switch and drop 12v to the shift motor right or is there something else I'm missing. I'll check the posts tomorrow as I got to get up at 4 am to go to work. Thanks in advance.

 

Yes, you're missing an entire computer module. The switch doesn't connect directly to the relay, it just goes to a module. I'm not sure about your model year though. I have a 2004 and there is a module specifically for the ESOF system. On earlier models, it may have been done by the GEM module.

The switch is simply connected to the module. When you switch from 2WD to 4WD, the module first activates the relays to activate the shift motor. The shift motor has some switch mechanism in it that gives the position of the motor back to the module. When the module knows that the shift has occurred, it then activates the vacuum pulse module to lock the front hubs. The fact that you have removed the front hubs and presumably blocked off the vacuum ports shouldn't have any effect. The module is also responsible for turning on the 4x4 indicator light in the instrument cluster.

I wouldn't rely on the voltage at the switch for anything. It appears from my wiring diagram that it is not a simple 3 pole switch, but instead uses resistors to apply different resistance on the circuit to the 4WD module depending on the switch position.

You should be seeing 12v constant one of the relay pins to supply power through the relay to the shift motor. You should also see 12v to one of the other relay pins when the 4WD module is trying to activate the relay. I don't know how long the 4WD module will attempt to send power to the motor though. I've attached some diagrams that I found in my service manual that may help you, although my service manual is for a 2004. If you're not getting the signal to the relay from the 4WD module, it may indicate your 4WD module (or whichever module does this on your model year) is bad.