4WD is not working.

[shawnbeyer]

i have a ford explorer xlt 4wd v6 4.0l auto trans and when i turn the 4wd switch to 4hi it doesnt even engage at all it shows that its on but there isnt any sign of the 4wd being engaged. does any one have tips or ideas of what could be wrong or how to fix it. thank you verry much for your expertise. oh and the owner before me said there might be something wrong with the electrical part of the 4wd or something.

 

[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.

 

[corkey]

abs light on ?

 

[shawnbeyer]

yes i belive so i mean all the lights are on like abs and the 4wd but its not changing into 4wd even though it says its in it.

 

[corkey]

it won't do 4wd if the abs light is on, have to figure that out first,
check the front abs sensors , than the back in the top of the rear diff, make sure all of them are hooked up, ,

 

[shawnbeyer]

i just checked the abs lights wernt on when i switched it to 4wd

 

[corkey]

okay , if the abs light went on with the 4wd switch than you have a bad sensor or sensors, so it cannot get input from them to let the 4wd work properly,,

 

[shawnbeyer]

ooops i meant it wasnt on abs was only on when i started the truck and didnt come on after.

 

[corkey]

k, if the abs light is out, switch the 4wd with the door open and listen for the shift motor, motor doesn't have to be running,,

 

[shawnbeyer]

ok i did it with door open and car not started i hear a single click sound each time i turned it from 2wd to 4wd

 

[corkey]

k, the shift motor seems to be working,,
under the passengers side , look where the cv goes in, is there a vacuum control piece there ?

 

[shawnbeyer]

like in the car or under the car?

 

[corkey]

under in the front follow the cv axle in to where it meets the diff on the passenger side

 

[shawnbeyer]

ok ummm what would be the cv axle sorry for all the questions im new to this

 

[corkey]

look under the front find the fron differential tell me if the end on the passenger side looks like this,

 

[shawnbeyer]

from what i can see it looks the same

 

[corkey]

okay , on that passenger side there are 2 vacuum lines, make sure they are connected, than go to the front by the rad under the hood, there is a round ball thing , make sure the end of the vacuum lines are connected at both ends,

 

[shawnbeyer]

ok then what?

 

[corkey]

if they are connected it may be a transfer case problem,

 

[shawnbeyer]

the owner before me said something about there was something electrical wrong with it? with the 4wd any way