I have a '01 F350, and live in Denver. In the last snow storm (I'm sure you heard of it) the four wheel drive kept kicking out when I would make some tight maneuvering. I do have the shift on the fly, and "auto" or "lock" hubs. I did not lock the hubs, just left it in "Auto". My question is this; does this truck have a sensor in it to kick it out when it binds up? Should I just be using the "Lock" option of the hubs? It does eventually lock back up, but it usually kicks out in the most needed times. Also another time I used Low to bust through a 5' drift, and then left it in low overnight. When I got in it the next morning I had to drive it into town on the back roads at 35 mph to warm up the trans case until it would let it go. Now I cannot get it back into 4 low. Please help!?! We have another 16-20 inches coming in tonight!<O</O

Thanks<O</O

 

The ESOF uses vacumn pressure to lock and unlock the hubs.

Put your AC on MAX and put it in 4X4 low if the air stops comming out of the dash vents and blows through the defrost vents there is a leak in the vacumn sysytem. A common location for the leak is where the lines go into the hub.

 

Is the dash light turning off and on when it shifts out? It sounds like a vacuum problem which you can correct by manually locking the hubs, but if the transfer case is actually shifting you may have bigger problems. At the very least you may need to pull the connector at the shift motor on the t-case and clean the crud out of it.

 

Cookie,

The 4x4 light stays on, but you can tell that the front wheels are not spinning. I do not think it is from the transfer case, but cannot completly rule it out.

Amiller,

Thanks for your recommendation. I will give it a try, maybe after this snow storm.

 

it sounds like a hub problem. if you lock them manually they should stay in 4wd. i have the same problem with mine. they dont engage with the switch but if i get out and turn them 4wd works every time

 

That's a good thing. Just lock the hubs manually until you can repair the vacuum leak.

 

Hey guys,

Thanks for your help. I got the 4 Low to work last night. I don't know if it just had to unthaw, but it worked. I also locked the hubs in and had not issue.

Thanks again.