AWD to BW4406 Electric Shift: Yes, its another BW4406 E.S. thread

[Mutineer]

OK Ive been reading posts for three days on this. MOUNTAINEERGREEN has put some good stuff on here, as well as several others.

I have a 98 Mountaineer AWD, and I am installing the BW4406 E.S. Tcase. I have done the SAS and have Manual locking hubs.

I have the selector switch from a 1996 4X4, and shift motor from the same.

OK I could care less about automatic 4wd.

I want to rig this up so that I have 2WD, 4 High, and 4 Low.

Seems to me I can bypass the GEM and wire power to the switch, and from there wire it to the motor. My understanding is that it will be resistor controlled from the switch...

The GEM controls engine RPM, Automatic shifting of the 4WD, stuff like that right? Well if I dont want Automatic 4WD, can it not be wired directly to the Motor and have it lock to 4WD all the time when the switch is in Auto? Of course Ill have to stop and be in neutral when I shift it, since the controls and safety features wont be there due to the lack of a GEM, but Im TOTALLY OK with that, especially since I have an SAS with manual hubs.

I will do a full writeup on this when I do it too, as the only way right now to get any good info is going through all the threads that have anything to do with a BW4406 so you can get links to the 50 diferent threads that have a piece of information in them and then move on to other options.

Any help here would be appreciated, if there are opinions and such, but I will be using the BW4406e I have, and not swapping to something else, so lets find a viable solution for this issue that we can pass on.

Thanks Yall

*EDIT* If I missed a thread that does actually address this issue rather than moving to other options, please clue me in. I figured 3 days of reading and not finding anything that really helped was enough.

 

[shadowless127]

ur so much better off with manual shift. Shift on the fly is so overrated. I wish my 93 had the old school shifter instead of Electronic.

 

[Mutineer]

ur so much better off with manual shift. Shift on the fly is so overrated. I wish my 93 had the old school shifter instead of Electronic.

Agreed, I regret ever buying this E.S. case...but I got what I got, and unfortunately, I cant afford to change it.

 

[410Fortune]

the 1988 Ranger / BII touch drive 4x4 system is a stand alone unit (no gem) and should control your shift motor.......the OBD-II stuff would be a PITA if you ask me

Or you could make a manual shifter for your e shift t case?? its been done many times many diff ways!!

 

[Mutineer]

What the heck is this?

(the numbers dont bring anything up and my POS Haynes manual was written for 94 down and has caveats for 97 up...GRRRR)

 

[410Fortune]

WAS ANYTHING PLUGGED INTO IT? part of the old air ride? all I can think of? I dunno?

 

[Mutineer]

Yeah it had a 4 wire plug with 3 wires in it, that runs through the floor with the fuel pump wires right under the drivers seat...

orange/black
orange/white
solid yellow

It has an arrow in the housing that points to the front of the truck...right next to the plug... ???

Didnt have air ride... this is on the inside of the frame on the drivers side under the drivers seat, just behind the Tcase and in fornt of the Gas tank...

 

[Mutineer]

Or you could make a manual shifter for your e shift t case?? its been done many times many diff ways!!

I thought of this too, and will look into it harder... I dont like the grease hose one, it workks and its ingenius, but I want something more practical...

 

[Mutineer]

OK the symbol on it is ATE: ATEs webpage

It is something to do with the brakes I think... but could raise no results on their site, either...

Its aggrevating.

 

[Mutineer]

Övrigt Eldetaljer - Ford Explorer -98
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Skriv ut (PDF)

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Kundtjänst:

Sävelundsgatan 7
44138 Alingsås (Karta) (Hemsida)
Detaljerad information om delen och fordonet

Del - Övrigt Eldetaljer

...

Anybody read Swedish?!?!?!

 

[coonerboy]

Moreover, Eldetaljer-Ford Explorer-98
Direct link» http://www.bildelsbasen.se/35-w30653.html
Print (PDF)

Price:-
Store number: W30653 (enter in contact)
Do förfrågan freight from: KR
Delivery time: 1-3 days
Interested in more than one part?
Add item to basket» Alingsås carparts AB-commodity basket parts ordering tilaustieto Förfrågan Ring dismantling to order these parts
Company information
Alingsås carparts AB

Phone:-10527, fax: 0322-10577
Customer service:

Sävelundsgatan 7
44138 Alingsås (map) (homepage)
Detailed information about the part and the vehicle

Part-other Eldetaljer

Not much info. If you highlight the info, right click on it and you should get a link to translate. I have often wondered what this part was too.

 

[Mutineer]

Not much info. If you highlight the info, right click on it and you should get a link to translate. I have often wondered what this part was too.

Yeah I was so frustrated when the only page I could find was swedish... I translated it and the only thing that DIDNT translate was Eldetaljer...the stinking name of the part... lol

I will try this weekend to run the truck without it and see what doesnt work....

 

[gijoecam]

To run that case electronically, you'll need to have SOME sort of intermediate box between the motor and the switch. The switch is nothing more than a three-position variable resistor, and the motor is nothing more than a motor with a series of contactors on it to feed the position signal back to the controller.

The afore-mentioned touch-drive system from an earlier-generation BII, Explorer or Ranger might work. The system is about as close to a stand-alone controller as you can get for that setup. In its original incarnation, that t-case uses the GEM and a couple relays as the middle-man between the switch and the motor. Trying to integrate that into an Explorer would be a monumental pain in the ass. It *may* be possible, but would take a TON of electronic wizardry to get it to work.

 

[Mutineer]

To run that case electronically, you'll need to have SOME sort of intermediate box between the motor and the switch. The switch is nothing more than a three-position variable resistor, and the motor is nothing more than a motor with a series of contactors on it to feed the position signal back to the controller.

The afore-mentioned touch-drive system from an earlier-generation BII, Explorer or Ranger might work. The system is about as close to a stand-alone controller as you can get for that setup. In its original incarnation, that t-case uses the GEM and a couple relays as the middle-man between the switch and the motor. Trying to integrate that into an Explorer would be a monumental pain in the ass. It *may* be possible, but would take a TON of electronic wizardry to get it to work.

But if I can get a GEM with an "A" designator and replace the one I have with that one I think It will work... but I would have to wire it up...

GEM "A" was a 5.0 EXPY with 4WD... my GEM I have now is a "B".

So if I replace the GEM and wire it up it should work...but youre right it's going to be a pian in the ass.

Im willing to be the first to try the pain in the ass, and I might find a way to do it that isnt as much of a pain...

I will need help here though... I work on military electronics and have an Army certification in electronics and radar systems (P.A.T.R.I.O.T. MOS 27X)

This BY NO MEANS says Im an expert, Ive just seen more complicated things done, so I kow I can do it. I am hoping I didnt do all that for nothing and I can at least remember enough to do this...

If I get the right GEM, and wire it correctly, it should work...

 

[Turdle]

I noticed that black box on the frame in my 93 also. Wonder what it is?

 

[410Fortune]

In its original incarnation, that t-case uses the GEM and a couple relays as the middle-man between the switch and the motor. Trying to integrate that into an Explorer would be a monumental pain in the ass. It *may* be possible, but would take a TON of electronic wizardry to get it to work

in 1988 the electric shift controller IS THE GEM module.......my touch drive system from 1988 is working perfectly with my 1998 OBD-ii computer... it just gets a single wire input from the 4x4 shift wire (NSS) at the PCM, other then that its a stand alone harness/switches/control box and motor (I could make the 1354 shift on a bench test if I had too)

 

[gijoecam]

But if I can get a GEM with an "A" designator and replace the one I have with that one I think It will work... but I would have to wire it up...

GEM "A" was a 5.0 EXPY with 4WD... my GEM I have now is a "B".

So if I replace the GEM and wire it up it should work...but youre right it's going to be a pian in the ass.

Im willing to be the first to try the pain in the ass, and I might find a way to do it that isnt as much of a pain...

I will need help here though... I work on military electronics and have an Army certification in electronics and radar systems (P.A.T.R.I.O.T. MOS 27X)

This BY NO MEANS says Im an expert, Ive just seen more complicated things done, so I kow I can do it. I am hoping I didnt do all that for nothing and I can at least remember enough to do this...

If I get the right GEM, and wire it correctly, it should work...

The problem is that there was never a GEM in a second-gen Explorer designed to control a transfer case of that design (i.e. a locking collar that moves). So if you're looking to swap your GEM for another one out of another Explorer, it's not going to happen. A GEM out of an Expedition *might* work, but again, it would be a royal pain.

in 1988 the electric shift controller IS THE GEM module.......my touch drive system from 1988 is working perfectly with my 1998 OBD-ii computer... it just gets a single wire input from the 4x4 shift wire (NSS) at the PCM, other then that its a stand alone harness/switches/control box and motor (I could make the 1354 shift on a bench test if I had too)

Correct me if I'm mis-understanding you, but are you saying you've got a touch-drive control working in conjunction with a GEM from a 98, or a PCM from a 98? The PCM isn't the issue... But the PCM doesn't control the door locks, power windows, windshield wipers, et. al. The GEM controls all that on a 98, not the PCM, and trying to make the GEM control an electric-shift transfer case? I've not seen it done (I'm not saying it's not possible, I just don't know how it could be done. Since it was never done like that from the factory, I don't know how it could be reconfigured to make it work...)

 

[Mutineer]

I am fully excepting the fact that this is going to be a royal pain. I dont care. I have what I have and I will make it work...

How is the issue...

If I was to get a GEM from an expedition, I would need to know the following:

What is controlled by the GEM in an Explorer?
what is controlled by the GEM in an Expedition?

As far as door locks... who cares I dont have doors.
As far as wipers... who cares I can wire a simple circuit for the wipers, they just wont have delay.. big deal
As far as the rear wiper, liftgate crap... not an issue
As far as the speed sensors for cruise dont care no cruise

The things I would worry about is the voltage supplied at run and accessory and main stuff, but all that can be bypassed by simple wiring, so Im not worried about any of that, I got that covered.

This is an off road only, no frills vehicle... but even on a daily driver, there is a way to make it work and I intend to find it.


I found this pic on the site, but not sure what year it is for...

 

[gijoecam]

This is an off road only, no frills vehicle... but even on a daily driver, there is a way to make it work and I intend to find it.

See, that's good info to know up front...

I still think that the touch-drive would be the easiest way to make that happen.... But now there may be a wrinkle... Do you have the t-case from an Expedition or from an F-150? It makes a big difference in terms of t-case function...

 

[Mutineer]

The Tcase is a 4406-02 from a 99 Expedition and the motor's part number matches for the application in a 99 expedition.

These are from another thread I had:

I know its blurry, Ill get better ones tonight when I get home