last ditch attempt to avoid replacing transfer case

[yankeeman30187]

New member, first post here.. Have a 2001 explorer 4x4 , auto 4wd, which of course isn't working.. I have been trying to determine if my transfer case is cooked or there is a ray of hope (or ray of death) in the form of an electrical issue. Everything checks out fine as far as lights/fuses.. the shift motor on the transfer case rotates the selector (wrong word maybe?)... and I can manually turn the selector to the different positions, which should in theory lock the front driveshaft. However, it does not. Fluid is in okay condition, and when manually turning the rear driveshaft in 4high (with all 4 wheels off the ground of course), the front driveshaft sometimes turns a small amount, but immediately stops. I am wondering if it's possible that the infamous brown wire which I have read so much about could be the culprit? Or am I just avoiding the inevitable.. Thanks so much in advance for any help.

 

[yankeeman30187]

anybody? bueller? gijoecam? i know youre out there lurking in the shadows..

 

[my98nnj]

I believe the brown wire only disables the Auto 4x4.
Manually selecting 4H should give you power to the front drive line.

 

[2TimingTom]

Yeah, the Brown Wire Mod only bypasses the the electrical signal to engage the shift motor automatically.

 

[OneLever]

Welcome to the forum yankeeman30187,

I'm not familiar with your vehicle but I'll try to help you out. Can you find an identification tag on the transfer case (try the rear side) to tell what exact model you have? Here is a sub forum with information to help after you figure that out: Link