Hello
I've been having a problem this winter with the auto 4wd of which my dealer cant find the problem??
I drive a 1996 Ford Explorer XLT 145000km bought new and still love it.

Im not too familiar with operations of the 4wd electrical switching from 2wd to 4wd but during sloppy slushy driving one evening in 4wd I heard a whining noise coming from the drivers side then the 4wd indicator lights started to flash on and off for several seconds when this happened I switched the truck back into 2wd and after consulting the owners manual I made an appointment with my Ford dealer.
Well,the truck was fine the next day as the temperature warmed and any running check tests performed by the dealer, switching from 2wd to 4wd worked fine.But the dealer did reset two codes, which ones I dont know.

But the next time the weather became sloppy and slushy again the problem reappeared , this time I noticed that when the truck was in 4wd as the indicator light was ON, everytime I would start from a stop light or a stop sign the rear wheels would spin and then the truck would clunk heavily into 4wd ( seems as though it was going in and out of 4wd ) eventually the 4wd indicator lights would flash and I would switch back into 2wd and the truck would be fine.
Also,I dont know if this is a related problem but my ABS will come on when I'm pulling into a parking spot , or simply slowly turning a corner while applying the brakes whether the roads are wet or dry.
These problems seem to be electrical to me, are there any sensors that may be exposed to the elements or misaligned to cause these problems or simply worn out.

Your help is greatly appreciated as I'd like to keep this ride another 10 years.

Thanks in advance

Brydgy

 

Sounds like the shift motor contacts could be getting wet and making it dis-engage from 4x4. It seems to be a common problem with the ford eletric shift motors on the t-case. Do you know if the dealer checked that out? If not they are not too hard to pull apart and check. If you do a search on here I belive you will find a tech write up on it.

 

Thanks Woody

I'll check that out, I'm sure the dealer didnt as all they told me was that they did a diagnostic and a running test.
Thanks again

Brydgy