2001 Sport, stuck in 4lo.

[coloradobound]

A friends 2001 Explorer sport, she tried to get out of a ditch, had it in 4lo, said she had to hit it pretty hard, wheels spinning, etc. to get out of the ditch. She now can't get it out of 4lo. And is currently limping home slowly. Tried the normal put trans in neutral and try and **** out of 4lo, but that didn't work. Any ideas on what would work? or what the problem could be? I'm probably going to look at some things when she gets it back here, etc.

 

[coloradobound]

I'm guessing the shift motor on the transfer case. Does this sound about right? Any info on testing it? How to get it out of 4wd so she can drive it? I have an idea on how, just wanting more info.

And the dealership said to hit on the black box under the truck with a blunt object to get it to work. I dont like the sounds of that. Hitting electronics with blunt objects seems to me like asking for more trouble.

 

[dman726749]

tap the shift motor while trying to shift out of 4low and see if that works, the shift motor may need cleaning, but that would be odd as its only an 01

 

[tonyd12345]

same thing happened to my 03 excursion. It was the shift motor. Don't know if the 01 electronic shift motor can be rebuilt/cleaned. Mine on the excursion was put together with rivets so I bought a new shift motor assembly.

 

[tonyd12345]

Before replacing the shift motor check all the fuses to it.

 

[Broccoli1]

Try backing up about 100 feet, then shift into N, then try the 4x switch

 

[coloradobound]

Well, it was something electronic. She said she turned off the ex when stopping for gas (guess running in 4lo uses alot of gas ) and when she turned it back on, she said everything was normal again, got it back into 4hi/auto, etc.

Weird. Wonder if the connections are lose, the shift motor needs cleaned, or what. :roll:

 

[TPLYNCH]

Sometimes the shift motor gets "lost" and the computer doesn't know what to do. Removing the battery cable to reset the computer is another quick fix if shutting down and restarting (which is what she did) doesn't work.

 

[Ranger Al]

The truck has to be completly stop (not even a slice movement) before you could shift it into 4low and going out of 4low is the same way. It helped to read the owner manual. I bought my truck the night before deer hunting open and couldn't figure out how to get it into 4low and once I am in I couldn't get it back to 2wd. Good thing I left the owner manual in the truck!