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2012 F250 with 6.2
This truck is pretty much a "pavement princess" because I don't like beating the hell out of the vehicle I am going to rely on to pull my trailer all summer long.
Having said that, I needed to do some off-roading today and flicked the switch in the cab to 4H as soon as I hit the gravel.
The hubs were in the AUTO position, so I assumed that all 4 wheels were driving at this time.
At one point, I had to back up a hill and only the rear tires were grabbing and spinning...so I went out and rotated the hubs to LOCK and tried again.
This time all four wheels gripped and there was no spinning of the rear wheels.
Does this mean there is something wrong with the "auto" feature...or was it because I was on an incline...or something else?
It is possible that it is the hubs themselves, too, don't rule those out right away. There are seals (generally o-rings) in them that will fail over time if they aren't kept lubricated. Typically but not always, just actuating the hub manually then putting it back to auto a few times, a couple times a year, is sufficient.
So I traced the vacuum lines and found that the one to the LEFT (passenger side) was "connected" to the solenoid thingy on the left side of the engine...but when I peeled back some of the protective loom...it was broken inside.
As I traced it back downwards, the line appeared to be cooked by engine heat as it would snap off with the slightest sideways pressure. Ended up losing about 8 inches of line before it became "flexie" again.
I was able to put a vacuum gauge on the fitting, so that I could verify the presence of vacuum when I turned the 4x4 switch in the cab...sure enough, it shot up to 15" of vac when engaged and drop back to zero when turned off.
I made a quickie splice/fix and then put the front on jack-stands to verify that each of the hubs would lock when switched into 4x4 and disengage when turned off.
Looks like I need to make this a more permanent repair before winter sets in.
So I traced the vacuum lines and found that the one to the LEFT (passenger side) was "connected" to the solenoid thingy on the left side of the engine...but when I peeled back some of the protective loom...it was broken inside.
As I traced it back downwards, the line appeared to be cooked by engine heat as it would snap off with the slightest sideways pressure. Ended up losing about 8 inches of line before it became "flexie" again.
I was able to put a vacuum gauge on the fitting, so that I could verify the presence of vacuum when I turned the 4x4 switch in the cab...sure enough, it shot up to 15" of vac when engaged and drop back to zero when turned off.
I made a quickie splice/fix and then put the front on jack-stands to verify that each of the hubs would lock when switched into 4x4 and disengage when turned off.
Looks like I need to make this a more permanent repair before winter sets in.
Thanks for the help!
Yeah, they're just rubber lines, and after 14 years of use rubber will break down and you'll end up with the situation you're in. It's a relatively simple repair, but one that needs to be looked at from time to time.
So I've had multiple factory locking hubs replaced under the extended warranty i had, prior to it expiring last December, when the hub dials frozen up. I tried to get better and remember to turn them but at times, forgot. I have one that's newer than the other and the older one bound up.
I've been using Planet Safe Lubricants AiM oil in the house for different things as well as my door locks and tailgate lock. I believe it works well...
I never thought to use it on the locking hubs dials, to spray on the space where the body and dial meet. I did, waited for some time, and it turned by hand easy after that... I've always had to use a pair of pliers to turn them loose when that happened...
Already sprayed them a second time, may do a third time, but want to stay on them and see how they do once winter hits here in WNY...
What I don't understand is that on every other 4x4 I've owned (manual engagement) if BOTH hubs were not locked in and you tried to drive in 4x4 mode...you'd know about it pretty quick.
On these, I had no indication that both hubs were NOT locked in...until I tried backing up.
So is there some sort of safeguard in place that will prevent only ONE of the hubs from being engaged whilst in 4x4 mode?
