Brown wire mod?

[bigred4x4]

Hello ok so not to long ago my 4wd lights were flashing all the time and I completely lost 4wd I replaced the gem and cleaned the hall sensor and it worked again until I went wheeling made it all the way no problems camped out for a few hours and on the way back about half way the lights started flashing and I lost 4wd again I reset the computer and restarted the truck and it went away I believe the hall sensors need replaced but who knows so my question is .....

If I do the Brown wire mod will it kinda of bypass the hall sensors for the 4auto setting and stay locked in 4hi as long as I have the mod engaged? (I have 2wd,4auto,4low on my switch) I can see the lights flashing but would I at least still be in 4wd?

Also does the mod screw with the gem making it flash the lights (because it thinks something is wrong) when Brown wire switch is engaged for added 4hi function?

The last thing I want to worry about when going wheeling is whether or not my 4wd will just take a nap at some point. If doing the Brown wire mod can fix this issue I'm going to do it ASAP! Plus fix the issue causing it of course but it would be nice peace of mind to have a sort of "back up plan" should one of those stupid sensors start going wonky on the trail.

 

[J_C]

No, the brown wire mod prevents power from getting to the electronic clutch (when wire is disconnected via the switch-off you wire it to) so it can't engage 4WD at all.

It does not lock it into whatever mode you were in. It does not make the light flash, the system does not know whether it's connected or disconnected as there is no feedback from it, just the one wire.

If I were to guess then I'd guess you have a transfer case sensor signal failure, which could be the sensor, connector, wire, maybe a fuse.

 

[bigred4x4]

So putting it on a switch with a 12v source wouldn't keep it locked (4hi) in the 4 auto setting? I'm pretty sure it's the rear sensor I already removed the front one behind the motor and cleaned it as it did have gunk on it but the bracket broke on the other one and I can't get it out without completely destroying it so it'll have to stay like that until I get to the junk yard (I'm not paying $65 new for that stupid thing when it most likely just needs a cleaning)

I wanted to do the mod to gain 2 lo for tight turns in low range and mainly hoping for gaining 4 hi (don't have it on my 96) so I can ditch the auto crap Iv done a lot of searching on here but haven't quite found the answers I'm looking for yet.

 

[J_C]

I would replace the sensors whether it be new or junk yard and go from there. In theory if you have a multimeter capable of frequency measurement then you might be able to tap into the sensor feed and determine if the frequency looks right for what the shaft RPM should be at a particular speed, or just whether the two match.

12V direct run to the clutch, I don't know. It "seems" to make sense to do that, but I don't know if the clutch coil can handle that continuously and I wouldn't want to lose the 4WD blinking indicator as a sign of a fault, would prefer to get it back to a stock state.

Yes the brown wire mod would give you 2 low, but I don't understand the scenario where you might need 2 low for tight turns. I'd think it would be the opposite that for low/tight turns you would want as much going to the front wheels as possible. I've been in far more loose traction situations where a RWD vehicle plows straight while a FWD would have made a tough turn.

 

[bigred4x4]

Well some people on here stated that it would work they've done it but no details in some threads but most of this topic is for 97+ and doesn't the clutch get continuous power in 4 low? Don't see much of a difference for getting 4 hi the 97+ models have the same transfer case and they have a 4 hi option and by tight turns I mean when your on a mountain trail full of rocks and your coming up on a switch back in 4 low it would be nice to disengage the front to lessen the stress of the turn on your drive train without shifting out of low range then having to again shift right back for the climb around the corner

 

[bigred4x4]

And the sensors are stupid they get clutch material stuck to them since there magnets and the gem can't get a clear signal to run the 4auto bull so it decides it's just best to deny you 4wd all together and I can't have that so if I could override it in a sense I'd be much happier

 

[J_C]

If you have that much clutch material floating around then shouldn't you change the fluid? I wonder if there is some way to mount a strong magnet on the case that pulls out the metal, though I would think that if yours is falling apart that much, it may be time to rebuild it.

 

[bigred4x4]

It was just a little bit on The one sensor Iv had it leaned on its side for awhile when doing my transmission I also did some grinding on it around a plug hole (small crack from over tightening drain plug) and patched it with some jb weld which is still holding up great I think that is where most of that metal sludge came from but I won't disagree that could still probably use a rebuild since it's so old I'm probably just going to run it till it's useless and then replace it but it still works fine right now I'm pretty sure all the issues Iv ever had with it has been sensor/gem related because it goes away after restarting the truck that's why I was hoping to get some sort of override function via Brown wire mod those lights can blink all they want but at least I'd still be in 4wd when I need to be.

I'm going to just do the mod and I'll report back or start a new thread because these questions haven't been really answered online for 95/96 explorers as far as I can tell

 

[bigred4x4]

Ok so I did the mod last night and did a quick test it seems to have given me everything that I wanted 4hi,2lo plus my stock configuration 2hi,4auto,4lo.I also did the cad switched mod to manually control the axle while reading through the write up for directions I noticed in the post that he claimed nobody has truly been able to achieve 4hi in 95/96 by applying 12vs to the Brown wire in 4auto via spdt switch.that was posted in 2004 then in 2005 the comprehensive Brown wire mod thread was created and it states the opposite.since I only did a quick test I don't really know for sure that I got 4hi although I swear It seems I did when I switched over to 12v power it was engaged for sure then in 4auto the rear wheels spun a little before 4wd engaged.


Any body Care to clarify? Does 4hi really take a modulated signal?

 

[bigred4x4]

So I gave it the real test on the beach this weekend and everything seemed to work out perfectly I used the new 4hi setting, just want to make sure I'm not going to end up screwing any thing up.