Hi all,

I just bought my first X on Friday and am extremely excited to have finally gotten my hands on one. Picked up a 2000 Limited with the 7.3 and only 109,000 miles on it.

I am having a couple of problems and am hoping someone could help me out. The hubs were extremely difficult to turn, and it was tough to figure out if they were in auto or manual mode because the words/arrows have worn off. I came across the instructions on Guzzle's site for lubricating them, and will give this a shot, but will ultimately replace them with the milemarker hubs.

Here's where I'm having trouble though. When I engage 4x4, the 4x4 light does not light up. It is supposed to light up for a moment when the X starts, but does not do that either. The low range light comes on when I put in in 4 Lo, but the light does not illuminate at startup either. I have not yet been able to confirm if 4x4 is engaging, partly due to the fact that I don't think that the hubs are working. I hear the 'clunk' in the transfer case when I engage 4 Lo, but am not experiencing any binding when I turn which make me think that I am still in 2wd. Any thoughts?

Thanks.

 

Welcome to the forum and congrats on your Ex purchase! I think you are making a great decision on the milemarkers. I put them on a year ago and have not regretted it.

As far as 4 high not engaging, i think it would be fairly easy to determine. I would disconnect and plug the vacuum lines to the hubs,(if you have Electronic Shift on the Fly, if not, just leave your hubs unlocked) and switch it to 4x4 high. Then see if you can rotate your front drive shaft. If you can not the front axle is engaged, if you can you will need to dig deeper.

Have you checked to see if the bulb is burned out for the 4x4 indicator?

 

Clockwise is locked. I like the stock hubs and you can fix them for more conveniency than manual ones.

 

Thanks for the advice. I engaged the hubs by turning them to the manual setting. Passenger side turned easily, drivers side, not so much, as evidenced by the fact that someone else had grabbed it with a pair of pliers before and cracked the portion you grab to turn it. Did manage to get it into manual, and 4x4 and 4x4 low both engaged. Still no light on the dash though. I noticed that the low range light does illuminate after startup, not when the key is simply turned to on. Not sure if I want to hassle with tearing the dash apart to check the bulb on the 4x4 light.

When I turned the hubs back to auto I noticed that one of the o-rings was being forced out of the housing, not a good sign, and definitely an indicator that a rebuild is needed. Still undecided about the milemarker, but I am driving the Alcan in about a month and don't want any surprises.

 

You can leave the front wheels locked on the Alcan. You can drill a hole in the dial and spray some silicone penetrant in there. It's not hard to take them apart and clean/grease. Someone might chime in about the dash light. In the meantime use the search in here on it.