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Hi x gurus. I have a 2004 X limited 6.0 4x4. I am having an issue with the ESOF inconsistently shifting between ranges. About a month ago i got in and turned the truck on noticed it was lighted up 4x4 low on the instrument panel but the MSS dial was in 2wd. Tried turning the dial but the dash was still reading 4low. Drove around a little and in fact the vehicle was in 4low. The light on the back of the MSS was out so i replaced it thinking it was a bad switch. Fixed the light, didnt fix the problem. Through 5-10 min of switching the MSS back and forth and putting the vehicle in N, driving in reverse 5 feet, back in N etc etc finally got it to switch back into 2wd to make it drivable on the road. There was no noticeable pattern to getting the switch to communicate wth the 4wd actuator. I tested the circuit at the transfer case and did not get any power when switching the MSS between 2wd and 4wd. I trouble shot the driver side relay under the hood with no change (cleaned and replaced with known good relay). i ran a fordscan and will attach the results. I have no other electrical gremlins with this vehicle to indicate it could be a bad GEM. Any advice, areas to look at, similar issues, workarounds, etc? I read the 4x4 post in the tech forum but am stuck unfortunately.
Swapping a manual transfer case in is the best solution.
And this is not helpful at all.
For it to actually shift in/out of 4 lo, you need to be in park or neutral, canr remember which,WITH your foot on the brake. Otherwise nothing will happen, no matter how much you turn the ****.
For it to actually shift in/out of 4 lo, you need to be in park or neutral, canr remember which,WITH your foot on the brake. Otherwise nothing will happen, no matter how much you turn the ****.
Assuming the system is working correctly, the computer needs to see the transmission in neutral before it will command the transfer case motor to shift into or out of low range (no input from the brake switch that I can see or that I'm aware of ,although it'd be a good idea to have your foot on the brake for sure).
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For it to actually shift in/out of 4 lo, you need to be in park or neutral, canr remember which,WITH your foot on the brake. Otherwise nothing will happen, no matter how much you turn the ****.
How is it not helpful? A manual transfer case is a direct swap and gets rid of all the electrical issues.
Fuses are all intact, from what i read F27 causes all sorts of electrical headaches. This problem only seems to be the MSS switch not communicating with the actuator.
Just as a note, your truck doesn't have a GEM module. The 4WD drive subsystem is controlled by a discrete module just for that purpose which Forscan, apparently is still calling it by it's name used in previous iterations of Fords.
In the tech folder, the linked thread contains the documentation for the early Super Duty 4WD system troubleshooting. However, Ford did a significant rework of the electrical system for the 2002-on SD making the earlier data not so useful for newer models. Primary difference is the deletion of the original GEM module and the relocation of those control functions elsewhere.
If you have the paid version of the Forscan mobile app, you should be able to both run the self-test for the 4WD control module (aka GEM in Forscan) as well as look at the PIDs for the MSS switch and other module inputs as detected and reported by the 4WD control module. This assumes that your OBDII interface supports communications via the correct communications bus.
I replaced the 4wd module and was able to get it to go back into 2wd but esof still doesnt work. I paid for the forscan lite and throwing 2 codes. the 4wd light does not cycle on with KOEO now. Narrowing it down
While I'm not a advocate of just throwing parts at a problem, its sure seems like everyone and their brother makes or sells the transfer case shift motors.
Can't image there would be this much supply if there wasn't a demand for them. Have you done any troubleshooting that rules out the motor itself as being the problem?
