Brown wire mod?

I just baught a 1997 ford explorer 2 door with the v6 SOHC. I was thinking about doing the brown wire mod. Would anyone be able to tell me how to do it? What are the advantages and disavantages in doing the mod.
Thanks

if u search for it i can assure you, you'll have all the info u need

Hey welcome to the forum. On the '97s is the switch labeled "2WD 4Auto 4Low"? I know on the '96s it was. If that's the case then you already have 2wd which is the purpose of the Brown wire mod. Although if you just have 4auto 4WD I think there is a mod you can do to make it full 4high 4wd. I don't know how to do that. gijoecam is the expert on that. He'll probably chime in in a little while. If yours is "Auto 4high 4low" then you are a prime canadite for it. The advantages are you can have 2wd which uses less fuel because it's not driving the front wheels in addition to the rear ones. It also lets you do donuts in the snow. There aren't really any disadvantages because you still have Auto in addition to 2wd. Try searching for "brown wire mod" there are oddles of threads about it.

Here's the main one. That last several pages of this thread are the pertinate ones. Anything talking about the yellow wire don't pay attention to.
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briwayjones said:

Hey welcome to the forum. On the '97s is the switch labeled "2WD 4Auto 4Low"? I know on the '96s it was. If that's the case then you already have 2wd which is the purpose of the Brown wire mod. Although if you just have 4auto 4WD I think there is a mod you can do to make it full 4high 4wd. I don't know how to do that. gijoecam is the expert on that. He'll probably chime in in a little while. If yours is "Auto 4high 4low" then you are a prime canadite for it. The advantages are you can have 2wd which uses less fuel because it's not driving the front wheels in addition to the rear ones. It also lets you do donuts in the snow. There aren't really any disadvantages because you still have Auto in addition to 2wd. Try searching for "brown wire mod" there are oddles of threads about it.

Here's the main one. That last several pages of this thread are the pertinate ones. Anything talking about the yellow wire don't pay attention to.
Dead Link Removed

Click to expand...

'97 and up had the 4AUTO/4HI/4LO options. So the brown wire mod would indeed work for him.

Thanks Todd!

briwayjones said:

Thanks Todd!

Click to expand...

Now, if only it worked on mine

thanks for all the replys.
where is the brown wire? I think it is under the carpet under the seat. But can someone be more specific?

There are several places you can get to it. One place is in the bundle of wires under the seat. Another place is in the dash behind the radio. I never could figure out exactly where it was behind there. Where I accessed it was in the bundle of wires that runs in the lower door jamb on the drivers side. It's the solid brown wire. It will be a thicker wire than many of the other wires.

OK... I'll chime in here. It started out by accessing the brown wire under the seat. Then many of us found the BW on the right side of the radio by the TOD relay. This however was later proven by GIjoecam to not be completely effective. Apparently both the TOD and the transfer case shift relay send a signal thru the BW which engages the front wheels via the transfer case. GIjoecam has posted pics of were to splice into the BW on the left side of the radio. His write-up is here:

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1189714#post1189714

IMHO this is the best place to get to the BW since it will be the closest to where you'll probably want to mount your switch.

So i can do it behind the radio or under the seat? when i find the brown wire how do i connect it to a switch? Do i cut the wire and extend it and put each end to a switch?

agarbs87 said:

So i can do it behind the radio or under the seat? when i find the brown wire how do i connect it to a switch? Do i cut the wire and extend it and put each end to a switch?

Click to expand...

Yup you've got it. The switch will have 3 prongs, one is a ground the other two are leads. Cut the wire and extend each side to one of the prongs that's not a ground. It'll work with either side of the brown wire hooked up to either one of the leads on the switch. If the switch has a LED with it hooked up one way it the LED will be lit up while the switch is on (in 4WD) and the other way it will only light up when the system actually sends power through the 4wd system.

Do i need a special type of switch or can it be a regular togle switch or something like that?

Just go to pep boys or autozone and get a switch there. Most of us get an illuminated switch.

What gauge is the brown wire? Does it matter what size i use to extend it?

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=143487&page=1&pp=20

The BW in the photo was under carpet near driver seat. Just get switch look at the existing wire size and mount the switch where is is ergonomaticaly correct JEEZZZ

Or you can get a chrome wire nut inlieu of switch

Do i need to put a ground connection on the switch?

To answer your question, if you do it 'wire nut style ala rookieshooter' you obviously don't need a ground lol.... actually you probably don't need a ground at all. But to wire in a switch correctly why not add a ground? It's not hard to do.

Anticipating your next question here's what you do:

I assume there are 3 connectors on the back of you switch. The brown wire lead going to the transfer case connects to the acc (accessory) pole on the switch. Connect the other brown wire lead to the 12v pole on the switch. Then run a wire from the ground pole on the switch to a suitable ground on the chassis. Like rookieshooter said, use the same guage wire as the BW that you cut to extend it to your switch.

Quote,"Anticipating your next question here's what you do;" Love it, LOL

Lee, even I understood your well written "how to" I think a good anaolgy would be
"making a mountain out of a mole hill" if he writes another question after that well I just don't know

I think that the brown wire is a 16 gauge wire with some extra insulation on it. I used 12 gauge running to the switch, but only because it was what I had laying around. The clutch draws less than 15A, so just about anything will work.

Oh, and I'm hardly the brown-wire expert.... I'm just like BASF: I just made a good thing better, that's all.

As for where to snag the brown wire, anyplace between the splice on the left side of the dash opening and the plug on the transfer case will work just fine. It's just a matter of where you want to mount the switch and how much wiring you want to fish around the interior. I wanted as little wire as necessary, so I spliced in behind the dash and put the switch right next to the steering column.

Oh, and as for switch choice, you only need a ground if you want to use an illuminated switch. You can also use an illuminated switch without a ground, it just won't light up. (like mine is)

-Joe

I just baught a switch, and wire. For a switch i got a pilot rocker switch with LED. It says 15a on the package but on the switch it says 30a. And i baught 12,14,16 gauge wire. I hope tomorow i will be able to put it together.