Help! will not come out of 4wd

[Sinjin]

Went wheeling yesterday, and went to take it out of 4wd low, turned the switch but nothing, light stays on.
It feels like it's in 4wd high not low though. The overdrive light is blinking constantly now also. Any ideas?
Also, if it is in 4wd high, how bad is it to drive it like that?
Thanks,

 

[jimbo74]

dont drive on pavement in 4x4...... also were you in N or P & stopped when you tried to disengage 4x4 lo?

 

[TPLYNCH]

Could be as simple as banging on the transfer case with a rubber mallet. The computer can also forget where it is, so disconnecting the battery may work too. Check this site for more info Dead Link Removed

 

[BUCHVILLEMAN]

something very similar happenned to me recently. i got out of 4low and the light was still on but i was in 4auto. and jsu tliek you said the o/d light was blinking. when i got home ( a mile or less away) i switched the switch to 4 low put it in neutral and then drive and it engaged to 4 low so then i put it back in neutral and switched it off and then the light was blinking but it switched out, i then got my ode reader out and had like 12 codes in it. nothing pertaining to 4wd thought so i cleared the codes and let the truck sit a minute and then tried my 4wd shifting and everythign was fine. sometimes if im hitting the mud hard and im going at a high rpm for a decent distance the o/d and check engine light starts blincking but then it coold odwn and everything is fine. so in short i dont know. maybe its a tranfer case issue. 4 wheel drive magazine had a list of things that they hated and they said "any borg warner transfer case" and that is what my ex has, so that made me a little leary even though i know i should keep the faith.
i know that it is not goo dto ride on the pavement in 4wd, at least eh owners manual said not to do it that it could damage things.
gabe

 

[Sinjin]

Thanks for the responses guys. I have tried pulling the battery cable, but still on. I tried disengaging the 4wd while in neutral. I will try banging on the transfer case next, any particular place I should hit it?

 

[BUCHVILLEMAN]

i was just talking to my paw in law and i was telling him about the transfer case not shifting out of four wheel drive. this was his response ?does it have one of those little knobbs or one of them buttons?? ?yes? ?thats your problem its a piece of sh*t. if it doesnt have a lever shifter then its not worth having?
so my normal "go to" man for mechanic questions didnt come through this time. im sure youll get it. maybe the fluid needs to be checked or changed. i think that the haynes manual shows how to check transfer case oil. i have never done it but i think you stick your finger in the plug and see if there is any oil. good luck.

 

[Sinjin]

In theory would taking out the fuse for the 4x4 system take it out of 4x4 just so I can get it to the shop?
Thanks,

 

[Robert]

Probably not if it is already locked in 4x4. If you remove the fuse when you are in Auto, it will prevent you from going into high. Alternateively you could try disconnecting the electrical connector on the transfercase shift motor. It is the little electric motor on the front of your transfercase that looks like a small starter. That is how Ford disables the auto-4x4 when running the Explorer on a 2WD dyno. The advantage to it is you won't loose several other features like interior lights and power windows. It probably won't work any better than removing the fuse though, unless by disconnecting power from the shift motor causes it to return to its home position. Worth a shot. Your High and Low lights will flash when the motor is disconnected although from what I gather it sounds like they are anyway. Which brings up another point. Whenever the High and Low lights are flashing, the GEM is supposed to disable the 4x4, putting it in a 2WD mode. I would try jacking up all four wheels and letting it idle in gear. If the front wheels are not turning, you are fine to drive it up to the dealer.

If you find that it is locked in High, you are probably still OK to drive it to the repair shop. I wouldn't go out and run a bunch of errands in it, but one trip to the shop will probably be OK. Take your turns wider and don't be agressive with the trottle. Try to avoid sharp turns at all costs. If it is locked in Low, it would probably be safer to have it towed on a flat-bed.

 

[BUCHVILLEMAN]

Try it. It seems like it will keep the Tcase locked though. If it doesnt shift then, i would put the fuse back. It is in 4auto right? If it is a control track 4wd like my 95 xlt it seems that the damage from driving on the road may be minimal as the front wheels dont activate unless there is rear slippage. I might be wrong but you shold be okay to get the shop.

 

[oso_polar]

Not even disconnecting the transfercase shift motor it will come out... The NHTSA has a recall on 95+ explorer, to change a resistance of the GEM, if this resistance burn up, it says that you will experiment a situation they refer as a "LOCK UP" this could affect the 4wd system, interior lights, or wipers, avoiding you to turn it on or off, engaging or disengaging the 4wd system, either one or other will affect your driving on or off road... Anyway... I took my truck to the dealer in 4whigh, they check my GEM thru the computer, and it was ok... They reset the computer of my X, but nothing, so we get under the truck, unplugged the transfercase shift motor, try it... nothing again... they said "it is the transfercase but we have no vacancy at this moment"... so we take off the cardan, so I could drive my truck like a 2wd, the transfer case will work but you will not notice it... 4 weeks later, in january this year, they work on my truck for about a week, then I call Ford, and the dealer charged them about +2000$ for all the components... I didn't pay anithing, even tough my warranty expired a year before that date...

Hope this help, sorry about my english, I'm working on it...

 

[mikeh]

I had the same thing happen to my truck. I was on a trip to Florida and I was pulling my boat out of the sand in 4WD Low. After pulling the boat out of the sand I switched back to Auto. The truck didn't switch out of low for me. I ran it a couple of miles and stopped put it in park then I put it in reverse for about 50 feet and put it back in drive. The light went out and it started working in 2WD again. I might have switched the switch a few times as I was trying this.

I haven't put it in 4WD low since. I was really scared because I was about 1000K miles from home and had to leave that day.

I hope this works for you.