4x4 SWITCH Question

[YourNameHere]

OK, so I notice that neither my 4 High or 4 Low lights come on when i push the buttons.
My 4x4 doesn't work, and i was assuming it was the motor on the transfer case. Now that I notice the lights don't come on, I'm wondering if it's a different problem.
Is it normal for the lights on the switch not to work if the Tranfer case motor is bad?

I checked the fuse under the hood and it's fine.

 

[MrShorty]

The lights are tied to detectors in/near the shift motor and merely indicate the position. If the shift motor never moves, the lights won't come on.

 

[YourNameHere]

Excellent.
Thanks for the info.

 

[DeRocha]

As always MrShorty is correct
A quick test to see if the shift motor is attempting to work is to press the 4x4 High button and listen carefully for the sound of relays clicking in the rear hatch area. If you hear relays the 4x4 computer received input voltage from you pushing the 4x4 button. This indicates the dash button is working and that you will most likely need to rebuild the shift motor.

I am assuming you have already taken a peek at the shift motor rebuild thread. It has lots of info and pics on getting the shift motor working.

 

[YourNameHere]

Yes, I looked.
I'm just going to grab 2 shift motors at the boneyard.
The thread says to be careful the shift motor is "clocked" correct.


How long does it take to swap out the shift motor for someone who has never done it before?

 

[DeRocha]

Yes, I looked.
I'm just going to grab 2 shift motors at the boneyard.
The thread says to be careful the shift motor is "clocked" correct.


How long does it take to swap out the shift motor for someone who has never done it before?

You indicated you saw the shift motor thread, but you didn't indicate if you hear the relays clicking.. IMO it would be easy easy easy to just leave the shift motor on the T-Case and check for a broken stop bumper (no need to remove the shift motor or fuss with the electric motor). You'd just need to mark the sensor cover with a marker so it can be installed in the same position. Use security torx bits to remove the geared sensor cover, pull off the geared selector shaft and check for a broken stop bumper..

Many of the shift motors in the boneyard will have the same problem you're having.. As such it would be better to just fix yours..

 

[Purcell]

I am new here, but had the same problem on my 91. The ford service rep said that non use in the summer caused the grease in the drive to get hard, should activate hi and low at least once a month year around. I removed the motor and drive unit from the transfer case, took about 15 minutes, but one wire would not come off so I cleaned the gear head and repacked with grease and reinstalled, been working for the past year perfectly. Dealer said the motor is rarely a problem.

 

[DeRocha]

I am new here, but had the same problem on my 91. The ford service rep said that non use in the summer caused the grease in the drive to get hard, should activate hi and low at least once a month year around. I removed the motor and drive unit from the transfer case, took about 15 minutes, but one wire would not come off so I cleaned the gear head and repacked with grease and reinstalled, been working for the past year perfectly. Dealer said the motor is rarely a problem.

Correct.. the electric motor is rarely the problem, rather its not being lubed enough as in your case, or the all to common disintegration of the geared selector stop bumper.

BTW the wire you couldn't remove can be removed by releasing it from the harness connector.. see Shift motor post #24 for details..

 

[YourNameHere]

Ok I removed the outer piece on the shift motor.
Where is the spacer supposed to be?
Also, what was I supposed to mark? LOL

 

[Marv]

Take a good look the sensor circuit attached to the shift motor. The crushed bumper stop is not the problem. The sensor wheel acts as a limit switch, if it is loose or not making proper contact the shift motor will continue to run untill it crushes the rubber stop. And there is two or three different models of sensor wheels, some are a sealed unit and some are open and can get dirt inside which will affect the operation of both shift travel and 4x4 lights on the dash. Mine was a sealed unit, had to cut it open, and found the sensor wheel had came loose from the shaft.

 

[DeRocha]

Ok I removed the outer piece on the shift motor.
Where is the spacer supposed to be?
Also, what was I supposed to mark? LOL

All this information is contained in the shift motor thread.. did you not read it? :scratch:

Here is a picture of the broken stop bumper.. It is located on the underside of the geared selector..

 

[YourNameHere]

Yes, I read it.
But I still had a couple questions.

How can you tell the stop bumper is broken? The one in the pic above looks ok to me.
I removed the cover with the 3 safety screws, but I didn't notice any stop bumper. All I saw was a cicuit board.
I'll have to take another look tomorrow.
I didn't mark the damn thing though.

 

[DeRocha]

Yes, I read it.
But I still had a couple questions.

How can you tell the stop bumper is broken? The one in the pic above looks ok to me.
I removed the cover with the 3 safety screws, but I didn't notice any stop bumper. All I saw was a cicuit board.
I'll have to take another look tomorrow.
I didn't mark the damn thing though.

From the shift motor thread:

The back of the large gear has a stud with a plastic bushing (cushion) over it that hits the stop.

As such you will need to pull off the geared sensor (pictured below) to see the back.. Although the stop bumper in the above picture hasn't completely failed yet you can easily see it is crushed/deformed on the right side. This plastic bushing becomes very brittle and will eventually just break apart into little pieces.

 

[JDMTEG]

I have the same problem too. None of my lights come on and when I do press the the switch I don't hear anything. What should I check first befor I think about buying a 4x4 switch. And also if you can tell me how to check it out too. Also what fuse under the hood should I check for? Any diagnostic or troubleshooting procedures and steps would help out a lot, thanks in advance...

 

[SevyDuce]

What is driving me crazy is that I am reading 30 threads about the broken stop bumper but not a single recommendation on where to get a replacement! I'd hate to get the wrong thing and have to do it all over again. Was this thing glued on, or was it tapered so the screw would hold it in place? Would rubber work, like an O-ring?

Sorry for ranting, but I've got the thing off now, and like i said I don't want to have to do this again. Other than that missing bit of info, the shift motor guide was awesome...thanks for pointing that out to begin with.

 

[SevyDuce]

Ok, got this thing going! I replaced the bushings with some washer thing I got from OSH - I had to drill it out because the only one they had did not fit. Pretty close call since they only had one that would even work. Cost me 49 cents for the bushing, and $25 for the drill set to drill out. Not a bad fix, I think it's even stronger piece of plastic than the original.

Just wanted to say thanks to DeRocha again for the advice - the problem was exactly what he said it would be, even despite my skepticism.

 

[DeRocha]

Ok, got this thing going! I replaced the bushings with some washer thing I got from OSH - I had to drill it out because the only one they had did not fit. Pretty close call since they only had one that would even work. Cost me 49 cents for the bushing, and $25 for the drill set to drill out. Not a bad fix, I think it's even stronger piece of plastic than the original.

Just wanted to say thanks to DeRocha again for the advice - the problem was exactly what he said it would be, even despite my skepticism.

Glad to hear you have gotten it working and Saved $$$ in the process.. Your questions concerning the stop bumper have pointed out a weakness in the shift motor repair thread that I will address (basically the thread is so LONG it can be painstaking trying to find the specific info you are looking for).

 

[bigred2106]

4x4H but no 4L

I did the shift motor thing and replaced the smashed stop with a piece of gas line hose, now I would like to check the 4L switch, but how do you get it out of the dash in the 1st gen Explorer, have a 94 Limited. For all I know it has a wire off or the switch is bad but can't figure out how to get it out, HELP!! Read other threads on here with people asking the same thing, but nobody answers that and just sends them to the shift motor thread. Don't have a manual yet, it's on it's way but sure would like to at least check the switch.
Thanks, Al

 

[bigred2106]

I did the shift motor thing and replaced the smashed stop with a piece of gas line hose, now I would like to check the 4L switch, but how do you get it out of the dash in the 1st gen Explorer, have a 94 Limited. For all I know it has a wire off or the switch is bad but can't figure out how to get it out, HELP!! Read other threads on here with people asking the same thing, but nobody answers that and just sends them to the shift motor thread. Don't have a manual yet, it's on it's way but sure would like to at least check the switch.
Thanks, Al

I now have 4L, all it took was reseting the module!!

 

[Tony H]

You indicated you saw the shift motor thread, but you didn't indicate if you hear the relays clicking.. IMO it would be easy easy easy to just leave the shift motor on the T-Case and check for a broken stop bumper (no need to remove the shift motor or fuss with the electric motor). You'd just need to mark the sensor cover with a marker so it can be installed in the same position. Use security torx bits to remove the geared sensor cover, pull off the geared selector shaft and check for a broken stop bumper..

Many of the shift motors in the boneyard will have the same problem you're having.. As such it would be better to just fix yours..

Never had to venture into this. You are saying that you can just remove the three Torx screws to see this Bumper? The Order of things in the writeup are a bit confusing. There's no real Exploded view of parts to see what is where and which faces which direction.