Just bought this vehichle last weekend and have not had much time to get to know it yet. Today we got our first real snowfall and that gave me a chance to test out the 4X4 in it. Everything did great. But then after getting it inspected so I could license it(the inspection mechanic said everything looked really good underneath for an SUV this age) I accidentally hit the 4X4L button but was not going over 10mph at the time. Well, ever since then, the 4X4 light that used to come on in my panel guages would not come on. But the orange light next to the 4X4H button would. And, while the vehichle was completley stopped this time, I tried the 4X4L button and the light on my guage panel for it worked and flashed like I think it's supposed to do. Also the light next to the 4X4H button does not go completley off, but emits a faint glow. Never noticed this before. Normal? The 4X4 seems to be working ok, at least I think, minus the light that used to come on in the dash. Do you think there is any problems? Anything else I should know about and look for with this Explorer? Thanks all.

 

Don't worry about hitting the 4x4 low switch. You have to be in neutral with your foot on the brake to engage 4x4 low. Remember to take it out of 4x4 low you also have to be in neutral with foot on the brake. Many forget that.

Not sure why the 4x4 low light would flash, that's not normal. There is a 4x4 control module in the rear cargo area. Remove the panel on the drivers side in the cargo area and look forward. You will see a black box with a white button. Pressing that will reset 4x4.

Could be the dash light is just burnt out, but I'm not so sure, you seem to have a couple possible problems.

Here's a site that you may find helpful.

http://www.explorerforum.com/Singleton/exp.html

 

Thank you very much Backin72. I will try the brake and the 4WD reset thing first. Also in case this makes a difference here, the guy I bought it from took the auto transmission out and put in a 4-speed with OD. It will start without pushing in the clutch. And no button on the column to get the key out like manuals have. Thanks for the link to the website too.

 

Ok I tried looking for the 4WD reset button and could not seem to locate it. I pulled the panel off the driver side in back, and saw a black box with a white(what looked like a button), and tried to press it, pull it, move from side to side, and it did not seem to want to move making me think it was the wrong thing I was looking at. There was a light next to it, a red one, although it was not illumuminated. The dim glow on the light next to the 4WDH seemed to be out now. Hard to tell in the daylight. Tried the neutral and brake thing too. Did not seem to make any difference. The 4WD seems to be working ok though minus the light that used to be on my dash panel under the tach. Just took it through what little snow there was left here on a road they forgot to plow to test it. I suppose the light on the dash could be burned out. Just seemed like a weird coincidence when it quit me after I accidentally hit the 4WDL button. Thanks again for your help Backin72. Any other suggestions are appreciated. That is, if there is still anything wrong. If it's just a burned out light and everything else is normal. I can live with that fine. The 4WDL still flashes too by the way. On the dash, and under the tach both.

 

I have a 93 explorer with the 4X4 button and the low button.
A number of years ago I went through a lot of gyrations getting the 4WD to work properly. The problem I had was similar to yours... 4x4 light flashing and then going out, and dim 4X4 light. I would hear the control module in the back cycling its relays again and again trying to execute the command. I agree with Backin72, flashing 4x4 lights are not normal, nor is dim lights. In my case, I had a sluggish transfer case shift motor. I pulled the motor and found that it was not going to position or not getting there fast enough; since it can read the position of the motor the module re-issued the command a few times before giving up. I don't recall having a reset button on the module and remember pulling the connectors on the shift control module to reset it. I have had no issues since replacing the transfer case shift motor.

 

Since the position sensor is on the servo motor that would make sense that the lights could be screwy. It's rather common for these motors to get stuck. One method to get it unstuck is to tap it gently with a small hammer while someone is pushing the button. The other is to take it apart and clean/lubricate it. I've taken two apart. The one I sprayed with WD-40 still works. The other one gets the hammer treatment occasionally. Someday I'm gonna have to put in a new motor.