I have a '94 ranger with 4.0 liter engine, M5OD trans and borg warner transfer case. it has the push button switch case and the transfer case is locked in 4X4hi and i cant move it from there! I want to use lit last night and i backed out of my shop and wanted to put it into 4X4lo to pull a disabled car across the yard. I started out in 2WD. I pressed the button and heard a click (I had the window open) and it went into 4X4 high and then the 4x4 light went out and it would not do anything. When i pressed the Button again, it seemed to put the truck under stress (like electrical stress, lights went a little dimmer) but did not blow any fuses! I shut it down and came back to it today and started it up and the light works now but it is still locked up! any clues? I tapped the shift motor and tried it again but it did nothing, and both axles are engaged (I lifted the rear wheels off the ground and disengaged the manual hubs and started the truck and put it into 1st to see if i would shift it out while it was driving. still nothing. and now the truck wants to stall out when i first start it up. it does it two times then runs normally without problem.

 

Most of the time it's the shift motor. Remove the shift motor from the t-case leaving the wires hooked up. Once it's removed, have someone lay under there and watch and listen as you move the switch to see if it's engaging. If it's not, then check for power to it. If it has power then it's bad. If it does engage after removing it from the t-case, reinstall and try again, if it still doesn't work, the motor maybe to weak and still be bad. The shift motor is the most common problem when they get a little age especially if there not used.

 

You can manually shift the transfer case with the motor removed too.

 

Thanks Guys I actually found out that the motor rotated itself and missed the sensor so it still read that it was in 4hi but it was at 4lo. i took apart the motor and rotated it back to where it was supposed to be for the position that the sensor showed in the truck and shifted the transfer case manually to where it was supposed to be. Then everything worked fine!
thanks for your help anyway guys! Much appreciated! the services you guys provide has proven invaluable to the many folks around with our Fords!