4 wheel drive question (manually turning hubs)
 

Hi there, I was wondering if anyone on here has a 2000 Ford Excursion Limited v10 4x4, and has ever had trouble with switching on the 4 wheel drive?

Currently we are in the middle of a blizzard here in Maryland (20 plus inches of snow!) and my 4 wheel drive won't engage. The dash light won't turn on. I took it into a shop before the snow, but they couldn't fix it, the mechanic couldn't even figure out how to manually turn the hubs!

Does anyone know if you can manually turn the hubs into 4 wheel drive?

Thanks!

Turning to the right will lock the hubs, but your transfer case still needs to engauge to have 4WD.

I agree with Chris. You may have an issue with the electric servo on the transfer case. Do a search on this forum. Plenty of write ups.

You might want to post this in the Super Duty section. There is a lot more traffic over there. HTH

Fred

Thanks so much for the quick responses! I figured it was the transfer case since the switch light wasn't coming on. This is definitley the worst time for this to happen. I was just hoping I could switch them manually but without the transfer case engaging it wouldn't do any good from what you all said.

I will search the forum and reposting this in the other forum, thanks again.

Problems with 2003 ford excursion hubs
 

I also have an excurison and live in Maryland and was having problems getting my excurison to move in the snow today. I got my F350 4x4, and suburban moving out of the snow just fine and made trails down my drive. I had problems with my truck before when in 4x4 and chalked it up to the tires not having much tread. I put brand new all terrains on yesterday morning as I got stuck in my backyard last weekend in 8" of snow and expected better but have gotten stuck in mild mud while hunting as well. Well today the excurison was the last vehicle to get all of the snow off, the drive was primarily packed snow and low and behold I couldn't get any traction and wondered if I had good traction in the front wheels. I finally got the Ford manual out and started reading about the locking hubs and decided to turn the hubs all the way to the right/clockwise to manual lock the hubs. My lettering/stickers on the hubs are worn so I can't see anything but turned the hubs clockwise as far as they could go. On the driver hub i had to get a pair of pliers to turn it clockwise. Got back in the excurison and put the 4x4 switch in 4h and it was like night and day. I was moving like I expected and moved in the snow like I would expect out of this beast. The issue I have now is knowing where the hub should be turned to be in auto, free and manual locked since the indicator lettering is completely worn. The Ford manual is not much help as it states that the arrow should be pointed to the hole on the hub which I can see but if I turn the hub counter clockwise as the manual instructs to the hole visible on hub the hub can still turn the hub past the hole. Secondly there is no visible arrow on the hub assembly. The ford manual just says go counter clockwise to set to auto and align the arrow at the little hole on the hub assembly. I am used to using manual locking hubs on the 88 f350 4x4 and on those you either turn completely clockwise to engage and completely counter clockwise to disengage. Does anyone know if I should be turning the manual hubs completely to the right or left to manual engage or set to auto? Is there a middle ground on the hub for engaging or disengaging without turning the hub all the way to the left or right? Does anyone have any pictures of the lettering on the hub assembly for a 2003 ford excursion they can post? I have searched the internet for an hour straight and can't find a decent picture of the lettered indicator for a Ford excurison as the picture in the manual for my excursion doesn't show much.

[quote=2003xcrsn4x4;8477428]I also have an excurison and live in Maryland and was having problems getting my excurison to move in the snow today.


Welcome to FTE!, as well to all the other first or second time posters.


Like all the other manual hubs, all the way clockwise to lock, and all the way counter to unlock. Many on here also use this site for maint on the hubs and other things. You can usually get the hubs working properly again.
link: Welcome to guzzle's 4x4 Autolock Hub Lubrication Maintenance Web Page

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Thanks for the reply. If I turn the hubs all the way to the left counter clockwise, can I assume that if the auto hub process is working the hub should work via vacum or should I be turning my hubs only partially to the left. Again all the lettering on my hubs are gone so I see no lettering for auto or manual and no arrows to align up at the small hole on the hub.

Out of curiosity, does your 4x4 switch light up in the gauge cluster? We were having the same problem last week with the wheels spinning. The 4x4 was "engaged" (and the light was working) but only our rear wheels were the only thing moving.

We also have no lettering or arrows on our hubs and we have a 2000 Ford Excursion.

yes, my 4x4 lights up on the instramention panel when I turn the 4x4 selector to 4h. I bought the excursion used in 2006 and have only used 4x4 a couple of times and always thought it had no traction. Now that I finally turned the hubs all the way clockwise today after spinning for minutes and getting frustrated, I finally put a smile on my face when I was able to get some solid traction and performed like I expected. I have hit several forum threads tonight related to hubs on here and see where most people have either replaced their hubs with factory hubs at a high cost, or when to aftermarket hubs. There is a link on a site called guzzlers with instructions on servicing/greasing the hub assembly. Ford states that the factory hubs are not servicable so they will only sell you new ones. I have a friend who is a mechanic at Ford and plan to ask him what he would cost to service the hubs versus replacing them. I was bummed to find out that there are no after market hubs that will work with the auto lock feature came with. My wife rarely drives my excursion but I don't think she would remember to get out and lock and unlock the hubs manually. She would just turn the selector knob and scream when the beast got stuck and call me and complain.

You know what is funny, I registered here and replied under my husbands name, since I figured that would make more sense, but I'm actually a wife and the Excursion is my car during the week and I'm sitting here thinking, "if I could get the pliers around the hub could I manually turn it myself?! or would I call my husband up screaming that it wouldn't work?" LOL! I think I could do it. The last time I got stuck was in the school parking lot, it is a field covered in mud, lucky the 4 wheel drive was working and it pulled me out.

Anyway, we got it dug out, it was literally buried in the snow (which is hard to do with an Excursion) and it made a few good passes up and down the street with no 4 wheel drive, and hopefully we can get it to another mechanic after the snow melts to get the 4 wheel drive fixed.

thanks again for your replies! this place is the most helpfully i have seen on the internet!

So everyone is clear on how the Ford OE ESOF system work. The switch on the dash does two things. First it will move the electronic solenoid on the t-case into 4x4 hi, of 4x4 low depending on the dial position. The light in the dash will illuminate once the t-case is properly engaged. The second thing that happens is that a vacuum pulse is sent to the hubs to lock them in (when the hubs are in auto). This is where 95% of the issues occur. The vacuum system is prone to problems with leaking seals and failing hubs. This is why allot of us have installed aftermarket Warn or Mile Marker hubs. This will elliminate the need for the vacuum system. You can leave the hubs locked in and drive around in 2wd w/o issue. When you need 4x4 you just turn the dial in the dash as usual to engage the t-case. There are lots of posts, some with pics, that describe how the change out the hubs and disable the vacuum system. Once done you will never have to wonder if the hubs are locked in and if you have 4x4.

Is there anyone on here who has swapped their Ford original equipment hubs that would want to sell their hub dials that still have the lettering on them? From what I understand from others on here these are not sold from Ford unless you buy a new hub assembly. My lettering is completly worn off. All I have is a small hole on the hub that is visible. I got both hub dials turned all the way to the right/clock wise which I assume is manually locked. I am not sure if my hubs were in the middle or on auto to the left when it was not turning the wheels. I am happy that I have traction in the 2' of snow now and more expected later this week.

That would be no difference