I have a 2001 Sport Trac 4WD with 66,000 miles. I used the 4WD, both HIGH and LOW, to pull a boat 3-4 times over the summer.

Two days ago during a snowstorm, my son put the four wheel drive selector into 4WD LOW by mistake while going 25mph. He said nothing happened (thankfully) but when he put it into 4WD HIGH the light didn't come on. He stopped the truck and put the selector into 2WD. Then when he move the selector between 2WD and 4WD HIGH he could hear the relay clicking in and out with the light going on and off.

Now when putting the truck into 4WD HIGH when stopped, the relay clicks and indicator light comes until the vehicle begins to move. The light stays out until cars stops and then comes back on. In some soft gravel, it appeared that the front wheels bite upon a hard start. At speed, the relay doesn't click, the light goes out, and does the 4WD appear to be engaged.

UPDATE- I got the truck into a few inches of wet, icy snow. While stopped, I put the truck into 4WD HIGH and and attempted to accelerate. The light stayed on but the front wheels weren't engaged (since the rear wheels spun and the truck went nowhere). After turning on and off the 4WD a few times, the 4WD engaged and stayed on. On wet pavement, I could clearly feel the 4WD engaged. After a few starts and stops including moving the selector, the truck appeared to respond to the selector switch (stayed in 4WD) but I had one instance of the 4WD dropping out at about 10 mph.

I haven't been brave enough to put the selector in 4WD LOW given the posting about trucks going in but not coming out!

Any thoughts?

 

First let me assure you, "son" did not damage the T/C, truck must be in nuetral and foot on brake before it will downshift to 4 low...
but you have the
Ah yes,
The notorious stuck in 4 low...

time to get under the truck and remove the shift motor off the T/C, you can then manualy move the T/C to the HI position..

there is a sticky somewhere , that will walk you through the dismantling and cleaning of the contact plate in the shift motor, many others have done it, common problem, Good luck

 

My Sport Trac is not stuck in 4WD LOW. I'm having problems going from 2WD to 4WD HIGH.

When I'm stopped in 2WD and I move the selector from 2WD to 4WD HIGH, I hear the relay click in and the 4WD HIGH light comes on. When I start moving, the 4WD HIGH light goes out. Certainly most, but I don't think all, of the time the truck is in 4WD HIGH even though the light is out. I say this because on wet, sandy pavement I can feel the truck handle 'heavily'. As soon as I stop the truck, the light comes back on. When I start moving again, the light goes back on.......

When I'm moving in 2WD and I move the selector from 2WD to 4WD HIGH, the relay does not click in nor does the light come on. I'm certain that the truck doesn't go into 4WD since it doesn't handle heavily. When I stop, I hear the relay click and the light comes on.

When I'm moving in 2WD and I move the selector from 2WD to 4WD HIGH, the relay does not click in nor does the light come on. If I turn the slector back to 2WD before stopping, when I actually stop, the relay clicks and the light comes on for a second and then the relay click again and the light goes out.

Hope I've explained this better.