No low range 4wd

[MARALYN]

Hi all, I have an 97 ltd explorer.
On the weekend whilst driving at the beach i had the explorer in low range and all was working well.
On a narrow piece of track i pulled to one side to let another 4wd past, then drove about 300ft further on and the transmission started to free wheel like it was in neutral.
I checked the dash lamps and all were as per normal.
I then disengaged low range with the transmission in neutral and the foot brake on, with the usual selector motor noise the low range light went out and the 4wd high range light went on but the car would not go when i put it in drive it just reved like it was in neutral.
When i tried to put it in park there was some resistance and a bit of a grinding noise but it went in with a bit of a effort.
I put it in drive again and it was ok.

I then selected 4wd low range again with the normal selector motor noise and the same thing happened, the transmission free wheeled like it was in neutral.
I checked the dash lamps and all were as per normal.
I then disengaged low range with the transmission in neutral and the foot brake on, with the usual selector motor noise the low range light went out and the 4wd high range light went on but the car would not go when i put it in drive it just reved like it was in neutral.
When i tried to put it in park there was some resistance and a bit of a grinding noise but it went in with a bit of a effort.
I put it in drive again and it was ok again.
Any ideas ?? or help please.

 

[thunderhorse]

I had basically the same thing, only mine was stuck in 4h. The pump in the transfer case had failed, and the fiber shift fork had melted form the heat. This caused the gear selection not to happen. Also all internals of the case were damaged from lack of lubrication. Fix was new/used transfer case.