Auto locking hubs

[stone4x4]

My 93 4x4 Explorer Sport have the auto locking hubs and they do not operate when I press the button for 4x4. I have check the connections, the fuze links under the dash and the main fuze box under the hood. I do not see and blown fuzes. When I press the button, I can here a click in the left rear panel. I am not sure if the module is bad or not.
Can someone help me shine some light on this problem?

Thanks

Stonne4x4

 

[jimbo74]

welcome to the site, are you having a hub problem? or dont know?

does the light on the dash come on at all? if 4x4 still doesnt engage there is probably a shift motor failure and it needs to be cleaned

 

[stone4x4]

No, I press the button on the dash and nothing happens. I replaced the rotors a few months ago, I followed the repair manual step by step and look back at the manual to see if I missed something. Is it possible to use too much grease in the hubs? When I press the button on the dash, I here a click in the left rear panel.

Thanks

Stone4x4

 

[MrShorty]

Is it possible to get too much grease in the hubs? Yes, it is.

Are you certain the t-case is engaging? The fact that the dash light doesn't come on suggests that the t-case isn't engaging. Hubs won't engage until the t-case engages.

 

[jgilbs]

you ask is it possible to use TOO MUCH grease. you should not use ANY grease inside the hubs, as this gums them up and causes them to not work. Try cleaning them with paint thinner and then soaking them in ATF to get the grease out.

 

[MazdaGreg]

I had a similar issue on my 93, and found that most likely your T-Case motor is sticking. what you can do is go under the car, and find the motor on the Transfer Case. tap on it a few times with a hammer (not too hard. don't beat it up) but that sometimes will loosen up some garbage in there, and then when you hit the button, it will work. That's a fairly common issue on these.

 

[rust591]

When talking about no grease in the hubs which parts are you talking about
my transfer cas is engaging replaced the shift motor lights all work
took my wheels off and slid the hub off and everything stayed toger didn't find anything broken but quite alot of grease does anyone have pictures of what the hub all consits of cause i do have another explorer with hubs and that 4x4 works but don't want to take them off if I don't have to

 

[93junker]

I may be having the same problem. 4x4 lights come on and say its engaged (dash and panel lights) even tried jacking all 4 tires off the ground to see if 4x4 would engage but when i hit the button the light comes on transfer case begins turning but front wheels dont turn.??? what's going on??

 

[Critter92X]

When talking about no grease in the hubs which parts are you talking about
my transfer cas is engaging replaced the shift motor lights all work
took my wheels off and slid the hub off and everything stayed toger didn't find anything broken but quite alot of grease does anyone have pictures of what the hub all consits of cause i do have another explorer with hubs and that 4x4 works but don't want to take them off if I don't have to

Like jgilbs said there shouldn't be ANY grease in the hub. when you pull it off if there is try cleaning it out because that may be what's keeping it from locking in. I just use a light coat of gear oil on mine to keep it from rusting.

 

[Critter92X]

I may be having the same problem. 4x4 lights come on and say its engaged (dash and panel lights) even tried jacking all 4 tires off the ground to see if 4x4 would engage but when i hit the button the light comes on transfer case begins turning but front wheels dont turn.??? what's going on??

Did you try locking it in and pulling forward before you jacked it up? I think the front wheels have to turn before the hubs lock in.If it's jacked up and you engage the 4x4 you might be able to spin the front wheels forward to lock in the hubs, I don't know for sure I never tried it that way.

 

[Tony H]

If the light does not come on then it is not Hub related. It is Transfer Case Motor related.

If the light comes on and the front Driveshaft turns BUT you are not getting the front Tires to turn then it's Hub related. These hubs start to engage by the rotation of the front axles.

 

[DeRocha]

Welcome to the site.. HUB only come into play once the Transfer case has shifted into 4x4 and powered the front drive shaft and axles. It is very common for the electronic shift motor on the T-Case to fail resulting in a No shift condition.. In most cases the fix is easy and cheap, check out the
Shift Motor repair thread for lots of info and pics... In most cases the plastic stop bumper has deteriorated and allowed the T-Case geared positon sensor to travel outside it's operational range.. As such when you press the dash 4x4 button the shift computer in the rear cannot determine where the T-case selector shaft is and will default into doing nothing...