1998 Ford Explorer 4x4 auto AWD issues.

[camtrans]

Hello To All: I have here at my shop 1998 ford explorer A4WD with a 4.0 motor and auto trans and BW4405 transfer.The customer has been experiencing a 6 blink symptom from the 4x4 H & L lights on the dash and @ 50 mph a engagement bang (clunk) while going down the road.This symptom has occured since transmission replacement from a tranny shop. I have replaced the 4x4 shift motor due to WNY Salt and Rust. I do know this transfer case has Hall Effect Sensors for the fr / rr shafts and know the wires are hard wired into the Connector and am hoping somebody out there has a schematic for the wiring at the plug - hoping the tranny shop has the sensor wires in wrong.I have checked the 20 amp fuse in the engine compartment and is good.I have checked the plug coming through the underside and no corrosion along with no corrosion at the connector for the motor. I have checked the gem with my computer and no codes but have not road tested yet with computer to check hall effect sensors to be within range yet. It definatly sounds like the TOD Clutch is engaging at the above speed at random and am trying to get some additional assitance in solving this problem.If anybody has the wiring shematic for the transfer case shift motor and sensors it would be a great help.Is there anybody else out there for the sensors because Ford is outragous even at my wholesale pricing.
Thanks to all for your help in advance.
Chuck

 

[BrooklynBay]

Welcome to this forum! I've moved your thread into the transmissions & transfer cases section. Check the sticky threads on the top of this section for more information. The vendors on this site probably have what you're looking for at a much lower price than the dealership. Check the bottom of the main forum page for a list of vendors.

 

[Turdle]

I just want to commend you on going to the extra effort to fix your customer's issue.

Welcome to the forum.

There is a thread on "brown wire mod" for 2wd lo operation, I was just thinking it would add some insight to the issue.The way I uderstand it, this mod is a switch to cut drive to the front drive clutch??

I wish I had more to add.

 

[gijoecam]

Even IF the system is engaging at speed, there is no reason it should be making a bang. With the live front axle, all the components are turning all the time, so nothing is going to bang when it engages.

The six blinks means that the system has detected a fault, stored a trouble code, and disabled the system. If the bang occurs when the lights are blinking, it's further evidence that the problem is probably unrelated to the transfer case engagement as it's not trying to engage while the lights are blinking.

To retreive the codes, you'll need an NGS or WDS (or equivalent aftermarket scanner) to read those codes. A standard PCM scanner won't see them as they're not stored in the PCM, but rather in the GEM.

As for the schematics, they're on here somewhere. (We really need to get them stickied at the top of the forums!!)

Now, all that being said, a common cause of the blinking lights is the rear axle speed sensor going bad. It's a $15 guess, but it seems to fix the 4x4 problem better than half the time... But again, if all this started with the trans replacement, that's where I'd start. I wouldn't even be looking at the t-case just yet. What did they replace the transmission with? i.e. did they rebuild the one that was in it or swap it for a junkyard/replacement trans? Was it from the same year and model?

 

[camtrans]

Even IF the system is engaging at speed, there is no reason it should be making a bang. With the live front axle, all the components are turning all the time, so nothing is going to bang when it engages.

The six blinks means that the system has detected a fault, stored a trouble code, and disabled the system. If the bang occurs when the lights are blinking, it's further evidence that the problem is probably unrelated to the transfer case engagement as it's not trying to engage while the lights are blinking.

To retreive the codes, you'll need an NGS or WDS (or equivalent aftermarket scanner) to read those codes. A standard PCM scanner won't see them as they're not stored in the PCM, but rather in the GEM.

As for the schematics, they're on here somewhere. (We really need to get them stickied at the top of the forums!!)

Now, all that being said, a common cause of the blinking lights is the rear axle speed sensor going bad. It's a $15 guess, but it seems to fix the 4x4 problem better than half the time... But again, if all this started with the trans replacement, that's where I'd start. I wouldn't even be looking at the t-case just yet. What did they replace the transmission with? i.e. did they rebuild the one that was in it or swap it for a junkyard/replacement trans? Was it from the same year and model?

 

[camtrans]

Hello to all: I appreciate your help with helping solve the customers woes. we did find the schematic ( rockland gear ) for the wiring and it seems to be when the tranny shop replaced the trans they removed the hall effect sensors from the plug and installed them back in the plug the wrong way. the pids where installed opposite to the factory specs causing a misreference in voltage for the BCM thus activating the clutch duty cycle for wheel slip through the TOD Relay.Thank you to all that helped with this electrical problem compliments of the tranny shop.
camtrans

 

[gijoecam]

So if I'm understanding correctly, the trans shop mis-wiring the connector made the GEM think the vehicle was traveling at a different speed from what the sensors in the transfer case were showing it, correct? That would certainly explain the light show.

 

[camtrans]

Correct . with the two hall effect sensors on the rear section of the case , they are hard wired into the connector for the encoder motor. When the repair shop removed the tranny and transfer case as a unit they must have rearanged the hall effect sensor wires for what reason I dont know but the sensors were in the wrong PID location when reinstalled thus causing the light show on the dash board. My computer shows no codes now and we have driven the vehicle for about 75 miles and no lights no clunking and no codes along with normal values from each hall effect sensor , so all systems go here at the shop and the customer gets their vehicle back for the lake effect snow. Now everybody is happy and the truck is working fine. The other thing is MTE electronics manufactures these sensors for Ford but havent found a supplier yet the part #'s from MTE are SW-5644 (Front Axle) SW-5645 (Rear Axle).I'll post as soon as I find a supplier.
camtrans

 

[Tapergore]

98 AWD Explorer sport

I have a 98 Awd 4.0 SOHC 5 speed and I'm having some really bad problem with the front end. Every once in a while it locks into 4lo, cant get it out by moving the dial on the dash, only way to get it off is by unconnecting the battery, the front end is really shaky at about 60+ mph, and yea I know its awd its gonna shake, but its undrivable shaking. Feels like there's a lot of slipping in the tranny, idk were from thinking front and it shakes in the front and pulls really bad on the steering wheel. I put a newer set of big wide tires on the truck and it seemed to make things worse. Put a more narrow tire on the front for the time being and it acted a little better, then just last night it acted up again, felt like the front was locked again so i creeped it home, parked it and its leaked a lot of gear lube out of the drivers side axle shaft were the CV boot is. Really need some help, getting recommendation on dropping a new front axle in it and doing away with the BS awd transfer case and getting a 4x4 transfer case and redo the whole thing in 2wd and 4x4 . Let me know what you think! Thanks, Gage