4x4 High, 4x4 Low Lights Flashing

[seanosborne]

I just bought a 98 explorer and the oth day i noticed that the 4x4 high/low lights on the dash would flash periodicaly. A peek under the vehicle quickly revealed that the electonic transfer case motor is gone.

Now my question is why is it it gone? Is there a reason why the previous owner would want to disengage the transfer case?

 

[BrooklynBay]

Welcome to this forum! Maybe the motor was bad, and a mechanic ripped it out, then never replaced it?

 

[Dopler174]

Could have been stolen. It is a easy part to be removed and high dollar new.

 

[Glen4X4]

Welcome To The Forum! That's a heck of a thing to happen if its all a sudden gone, did you notice if it had one before you bought it?

 

[BrooklynBay]

I guess the tamper resistant screws aren't so "tamper resistant".

 

[seanosborne]

no, it must have already been missing when i bought it. And the owner either didnt know, or neglected to tell me. I must have missed the flashing lights during the test drive.

If it was broken, why not just leave the broken one on? I dont see the point in removing it without replacing it. So it was probably stolen, it seems like it would be easy enough to steal.

 

[Glen4X4]

If I were you I'd call the previous owner and find out even if you did buy it AS-IS just so you know if it happened in your hands or maybe like you said the other could have quit working and coulda taken it off and may still have it, there is a shift motor rebuild thread on here that could save ya money if the previous owner has it and its not working.