4wd usually won't engage | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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4wd usually won't engage

flainn

Member
Joined
December 3, 2012
Messages
23
Reaction score
1
City, State
Los Lunas, NM
Year, Model & Trim Level
1991 Ford Explorer XLT
Hi guys, 91 Explorer...

My 4wd almost never engages when I push the button. When I do, I hear a click-click-click-click and the lights dim slightly, but that's all that happens.

About every 20th time I press the 4wd button, it will engage and stay in 4wd.

Same symptom when I press the low range button.

When I press low range after successfully engaging 4wd, low range will start blinking about once a second. Sometimes pressing low range will kick it back out of 4wd.

I've read some threads elsewhere about 4wd issues, but those had to do with the 4wd light blinking -- mine never does that, it either refuses to go into 4wd or it does and stays on solid, but low range doesn't seem to want to work.

Where do I start troubleshooting?
 






The electric motor on the transfer case is sticking. Mine did this when I first bought the truck. Have a buddy repeatedly push the button while you tap on the motor "lightly". May need to do this a few times. Its been 3 years and mine is still going.
 






It seems that most problems similar to this end up being the shift motor. Review the instructions for cleaning/rebuilding the shift motor.
 






I just did a motor rebuild on my Navajo, works like a charm now!
 






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