4wd low stuck issue

[wangmauler]

Hello all - I reciently have been reading through dozens of these threads, one of them being the 4wd low issues - btw my truck is a '98 explorer sport (2door, 4wd).

I had this issue where my 4wd low wouldnt engauge, but I took the advice of tossing the engine into neutral, and it went into 4wd low! love these forums.

Now I have this new issue, where it will not get OUT of 4wd low.

Figures, eh?

I read a lot more, and found that disconnecting the battery for about 5 min does the trick and goes back into auto (my truck has a 4wd auto, 4wd high, 4wd low knob).

I tried engauging the 4wd low and disconnecting the battery 5 times, worked every time without a problem. there's no loud clanking when switching gears, in reverse, into 4wd high/low/auto (other than the normal sounds), or anything.

could this be an electricle problem with some sensor not detecting the right parameters for 4wdhigh/auto operation? I was thinking of doing the "4X4 Shift Motor Rebuild" project to check for anything off, but the fact that it resets after I disconnect the battery makes me change my mind and think its electrical...any thoughts?

 

[IZwack]

Sometimes the motor can't get out of 4LO because there's still too much pressure on the transfer case's gears. If you're on flat land and you're sure your vehicle wont roll out of control, try leaving it in Neutral and pushing the vehicle forwad or backwards two inches or so.

 

[wangmauler]

I just tried that, rolling it back and/or forth a few times, seems that it still doesnt want to do it unless i disconnect the battery...?

 

[gijoecam]

First, to complete the shift, you must be stopped, in neutral, with your foot on the brakes. From there, it's a relatively simple matter to troubleshoot the system and pin the problem down to a couple of possibilities.

 

[wangmauler]

I'm fairly new to repairing and maintenance on vehicles, but i'm very technically inclined..I know i have to be in neutral, stoped, and have the brakes applied, but it still does not switch back unless i disconect the battery.

what are those possibities you are talking about?

 

[gijoecam]

The first thing would be to check the inputs to the GEM for both the switch position and the brake inputs. If the GEM thinks the switch is still in the low range position, or isn't seeing the brake pedal input, it won't shift.

It's always possible the shift motor is bad, but the shift motor has to turn reposition the shift fork when you reset it by disconnecting the battery, so I doubt that's the issue...

-Joe

 

[wangmauler]

I apologize if I'm getting annoying, but what and where is the GEM? I'm new at this stuff, still learning...can't find much on google or these forums on what it is...?

 

[wangmauler]

bump? haha....

 

[wangmauler]

bump x3?

 

[IZwack]

I wuzzz going to hit the sack until I saw your bump soo..

If you really need the vehicle out of 4LO ASAP:
-- park the vehicle on a flat surface (garage), block off the tires and put the vehicle in Neutral.
-- unbolt the shift motor (three 10mm bolts) from the transfer case but leave it electrically connected, take a note of where the shift motor's position is.
-- start the vehicle and play with the knob on the dash (put it back to AUTO mode).
-- check to see if the shift motor has moved from the position you noted earlier.
-- turn the vehicle off (if its on)
-- with a pair of pliers, rotate the shift rail (which is the shape of a rough triangle) so that it points back to "4H" (I think thats what its called, might also be labeled as 2HI, I forget exactly but its whatever is on the opposite side of 4L). The transfer case should now be out of 4LO mode.

Now back to the shift motor --

If the shift motor has moved:
-- place the shift motor back and hopefully it wont return back to 4LO.

If the shift motor has not moved:
-- you're going to have to play with the shift motor's wires to see exactly which one rotates it back to its position. Read the shift motor rebuild diary, that might help you figure out which wire needs to be powered.

 

[wangmauler]

I've already taken the shift motor completly apart, and also had it connected and did what you sugested. The problem I'm having, is it will not shift out of 4LO, into anyhting else, apparently whatever I do. The only way It will work is if i disconnect the battery for a few minuets, (and put the switch to 4HI or AUTO of course).

Plus, it would be MUCH quicker to get it out of 4LO by just doing the battery disconnect, as opposed to completly removing the shift motor, especially on the trail. If that is what you meant...

 

[IZwack]

Yeah you're right, disconnecting the battery is the quickest fix.

But if this is for off-road use, you should look into the manual transfer case sometime.

 

[wangmauler]

so ahhh...comming back to this, what and where is the GEM moduel? and how can I check it to make sure its working correclty?

after all this time since I've had this problem, I've probably disconnected the battery to fix this issue about 22 times (on and off the trail, and over the winter).

I'm gonna do one of two things. I'm either gonna hookup a killswitch for the whole car(disconnect the battery with push of a button), or buy a new car. haha.

 

[wangmauler]

bump!

 

[wangmauler]

hmm.....bump again..lmao...?¿

 

[Rallytruck69]

on my 97 which i sold to a friend and still has the problem. still trying to fix the prob. i just pulled the fuse for the 4x4, check the manuel i think is #26 or #30, and restart the truck then reinstall the fuse.worked every time. i have been told the swith on the side of the transmission that the shifter cable goes to could be the problem but i havent checked it or found a way of checking it and now the truck wont go into 4lo. so i will be contuning my search for the elusive 4x4 fix.