Back again guys..I had sold my Explorers but just picked up a 2000 Excursion V10 plow truck. It has been hacked and slashed I find cut wires under the dash and hood.
I have tried everything to get the 4x4 to engage and no luck.
It is used just for my driveway no road driving...so question is:
Can I engage the 4x4 at the transfer case so it will go, and stay in 4 wheel drive. If so do I take the shift motor off or does that big *** bolt by the motor do anything LOL
Thanks
AL

 

First, a few questions...
Does the light come on saying 4x4 at all?
Have you tried manually locking the front hubs?
Yes, you can remove the motor, and manually shift the transfer case. There is no neutral, so the detents are 2hi, 4hi and 4lo.
If the hubs are not engaging, but the motor shifts, you should get th 4x4 light, but you will not have the 4wd, until you engage the hubs manually. This may be a vacuum pump problem, or a vacuum leak.

Hopefully this helps you diagnos what area your problem is in.

And by the way, WELCOME!

Garry

 

You could save some time by doing a search in here and you could read about it for hours.

 

I have read hours of info on this, I don't like posting questions without checking first.
Thanks for the help Garry.
I have no 4x4 light on the dash at all even on start up.
And yes I locked both hubs and still nothing. Like I said it is just to plow the lane on the farm.
It is to bad the truck wiring has been butchered...I don't understand why people do this, yellow wire into red wire into white wire LOL.
Could be vacuum as well but I didn't hear any pump with the key on.
I figure the best way is to just remove the shift motor and go that route...thanks again for the info Garry.
AL

 

Sure, anytime.....

 

Thanks Brent, funny thing is I was looking for something small..to take up less room on the driveway.. and I end up with this lol
AL

 

What year Ex do you have? If it is a 2000, I just bought a full electrical diagram book. I could probably help you figure out how to run new wires from the switch to the motor to get that to work. Let me know.
Garry, Kodiak, AK

 

try something first

take a hammer and give the solenoid shift motor (on back of t-case) a few healthy love taps.

over the years, moisture wicks into the solenoid and "freezes" it up. love taps can loosen the corrosion and allow it to work. I had an old Bronco that worked for years with this trick. then I used pliers to shift into 4x4 and back to 4x2...then finally got tired of getting dirty and replaced the stupid shift solenoid. but free is always best IMO


alternatively, check your relays for the 4x4 under the hood

 

Tylus we think alike ....that is the first thing I did lol.
Garry I bought one of those Chilton manauls because I was thinking of running some new wires. I know why they seal them in plastic rap now....otherwise I wouldn't have bought it LOL.
I really appreciate the offer Garry but we could be dumped on anytime by old man winter, and the sooner I get the 4x4 up and running the better.
Worst part is I can"t even get it in either garage to work on it...*g*
I will pop the shift motor off this weekend and since it won't be used this winter I can bench test it and rule that out.
Thanks again everyone.
AL

 

I know the deal on chiltons... That is why I bought the Ford factory wiring manual. It wasn't cheap, but it has been so worth it all ready! It is also not the easiest manual to use at first, but I am starting to get the hang of it

Good luck, and let me know if I can be of any other help. I know about the snow... I have the plow and studs on my F350. And while my hubs are manual, my shift motor will work to go into 4hi, but not 4lo.... I have most of the parts to convert it to manual shift, just no time or garage space

Maybe over Christmas, I can do it when I take some time off...

Good luck!
Garry

 

Thanks Garry...I have always prefered the manual shift over electronic..the less wires the better LOL.
Here is a neat read on the Explorer forums about a swap:
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/...d.php?t=125545
Thanks again my friend
AL

 

Update:
I asked if the 4x4 could be engauged by hand at the transfer case and yes it can...so I tryed...no I couldn't LOL
I removed the motor and put a wrench to it and it would not budge.
So I put the motor back on and put a battery under the truck and with some leads and kept switching them back and forth on the motor and after a couple times heard a crack and the motor turned full...reversed them and the motor turn full back.
After it freed up, the 4x4 light and low light came on the dash.....I did not have that before so progress was made *g*.
I just use the truck for the driveway so not a big deal, but it will not shift into 4x4 high, stays in 4x4 low and it also seems to want to stay in low gear now and will not shift up into drive, even with the gear selector in drive I have to rev the truck a couple times for it to shift.
I was wondering if this could be due to the larger wiring harness on the shift motor, it did not do this before when the shift motor was not working.
Thanks
AL