01 Ranger Sprt: Pwr Steering, 4x4 dead

[chinny4290]

Hey guys. my friend and I were doing some light-medium off roading (snow, bumpy trail, no rocks) and we were coming up on a familiar body of water. We gunned it through and it so happened that it was covered in at least 2 inches of ice (woops...)

It was deep enough for the truck's fogs to become dislodged from the front lower valence.


But right after that, both the power steering and the 4wd called quits. It has a 2 inch lift on it, and good off-road tires, but other than that it's primarily stock (we don't off road enough to demand any hardcore mods)

4x4 llights turn on and everything. But there's no longer the "click" that we heard inside the cabin whenever 4x4 was engaged. neither high or low works. 4x4 lights dont flash when the truck is started, though this will be confirmed in the day.

We got stuck because the ice stopped us. And he put it in 4x4 low by accident really quickly (with rolling gear changes). When we got out, a visual inspection under the truck revealed no leaks, dents, nada. No hissing, no leaking fluids. After we pulled out and before we stopped for the inspection, there was a big clunk, especially after he put it back into 4high. I think thats when it called quits.

I've been reading about known failuress...hubs were fine prior to this because 4x4 was confirmed working in some deep snow in a parking lot. But I've read they're problematic because they're vacuum actuated.

I also read about the tcase motor failiing which is a common issue.

So I'm thinking that we either killed the vacuum with the hubs, or we killed the tcase motor.

And I have no idea where to start with the power steering. Visual inspection under the hood saw no leaks, but it was too dark to check the reservoir and no flashlight was readily available.

Belt is as tight as it should be by feel.

So your help = greatly appreciated.

Not my truck by the way, I have two MBzes. I'm here because I'm looking at 99-02 Explorer sports for a DD.

Thanks guys.

 

[dynamite196]

If you managed to dislodge the fog lamps you could have torn who knows what from under your truck. I'd start with a thorough visual inspection (in good light) and go from there. I'm willing to suspect you damaged one of the PS hoses, it's pretty rare for PS to just disappear unless it's caused by sudden part failure. The tcase is a different ball game, it's hard to say based on the amount of info you have but it could very well be the shift motor is damaged. Of course, shifting into low without stopping could blow up the transfer case as well but, since you were able to drive the truck home without any issues I doubt this is the case.