4WD engages, but no action.

[wolf1818]

Hello Folks,

96 Explorer XLT control trac 4WD

my 4WD LOW engages in neutral (I can hear the sound), but the front wheels do not respond, while one rear wheel is spinning in the snow.

What could be the trouble?

Thanks for your help.

Wolfgang

 

[turboranger91]

do the front wheels lock in in 4high?

 

[wolf1818]

The front wheels do not lock in 4 high. I did not know they had to lock in in 4 high.

 

[turboranger91]

what i meant, was does 4 wheel drive engage at all?

 

[wolf1818]

I do not know, I can only say I can hear the sound when it engages the front gear in 4WD LOW, but the front wheels do not pull when going uphill, just the rear wheels spin.
Thanks for responding.

 

[turboranger91]

does the truck still have the auto locking hubs or did someone switch to manual?

 

[ccbyrne]

could be the transfer case...im having the same problem

 

[Blee1099]

The 1995-1996 front axle was a vacuum disconnect type. it could be an issue with the vacuum.

 

[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.

 

[wolf1818]

hello everybody,
I will take my explorer to the ford garage in the next few days, I let you know the results then.
I thank everybody for the valuable input.

 

[Glen4X4]

You may want to see if you have power going to the transfer case clutch via the brown wire, one way to test this is to pull your center bezel out so you can access the GEM hook the 4X4 switch up and put it in 4low and use a test light where the brown wire comes out of the GEM. Another thing would be to look under the truck make sure your vacuum lines did not rip or disconnect from the axle.

 

[gmanpaint]

I am assuming the rig drives fine in both H & L range, just no front engagement.

For the front to become engaged, the axle needs to be connected via a vacuum like blee said. There is a round piece on the pass side of the axle that has vac lines attached to it, make sure those are connected.

Now for the other end of those same vac lines. Make sure they are connected up top.

They can be found connected to a part behind the pass side headlights under the hood. Next to them are 2 relay switches, make sure those are connected and in working order. The vac ball canister is located on the pass side wheel liner, make sure it has all the vac lines attached and no leaks.

Check your ABS to make sire it is working as well(no abs light) for it is connected to the 4x4 system as well. Check the ABS sensor plugs under the front end, they are next to the fog light pigtails on each side of rig next to frame rails (just above). Check all fuses as well.

After checking all this, let us know your findings.