Please help front wheels don't turn in 4x4 mode
 

Hey everyone i just found this site while i was looking for some information and i hope you all can help me, just so you know i had posted this in another section and i was directed to the expedition section so here goes...I have a 98 expedition 5.4L V8 and with the snow we had i parked on a bunch of snow one night and the next morning my truck couldn't get out apparently even though i had been switching to 4x4 and you hear it engage my front wheels were not turning. i just wanted to know what you think something like this could be caused by and how much that would cost to fix. any help you could give me would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Usually when this happens the shift motor is bad. It costs anywhere from $70 to $100 depending on where you buy it. It takes about 1/2 hour to change.

thanks alot

This is what it looks like, it's located on the transfer case.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/user_gal...id=205494&.jpg

thanks alot i will look up the repair guide and see if it is something i could do myself.

You should really check things out carefully too just in case. I thought my shift motor was bad, but thought I would check all the systems out first. I actually found my vacuum lines running the front axle were destroyed by the battery acid since they were run up the fender well just under the battery tray. Rerouted the lines and replaced the bad section and have not had any problems since. The axle control is a vacuum to pull it on, and a vacuum to pull it off so you need both lines to operate correctly.

One reason I thought my motor was fine was because I could get the 4X low to engage the transfer case just fine, so I assumed the 4X high was fine. (granted it still could've been the motor though.)

thank you for all the helpful responses. as soon as it gets warm i guess I'll check it out and now i have some idea of what I'm looking for

had the same issue. It was the vacuum lines next to the battery. Plastic vacuum lines running next to a corroded battery wasnt a good idea on Fords part.

I know this is an older thread. But, I'm having the same trouble. I cut firewood in a hilly timber. I also chain logs and drag them to a clearing to cut up. I got stuck 2 times and had to call my dad and brother to pull me out.
So, I'll be checking these plastic vacuum lines, and then if they are fine. I could expect it to be shift motor.
It seems to work fine once I make it to the road, but in the timber not working. I can feel it shift, but no front axle action.
Thanks all for the info, I actually found this thread doing a search.
Has anyone changed a shift motor? How hard is it? My truck is 2003 f150 Lariat.

Swapping the shift motor is pretty easy, the only thing is that you have to swap some wires from the old harness to the new one.

delete. wrong thread.