BWM Brown Wire Mod 3rd Gen

[awdrocks]

Or you could take out fuse #17 and #18 from under the hood. That stop the transfer case as well. That's what I did when I made the above video.

So instead of doing the BWM you just remove those fuses?

 

[awdrocks]

Hey guys sorry if this question has been answered but I have not gone over every page on this thread. But from what I last picked up is that we still don't know if the clutches in the transfer case are slightly touching even in 2wd mode, that's why the test will be good when all fouth wheels on the grownd while giving it some throttle. Right?

I should have time to do this test tomorrow and video it. Sooo if the front wheels don't spin at all than we are good? I'm pretty concerned because im about to dyno on a 2wd dyno, and if rear wheel spin "is" a potential problem, crap, a couple hours on the dyno and some pulls, which I will most likly require a lot of them, might cause me some serious issues.

Its one think to do a burn out for a few feet, but its another ball game to doing dyno pulls.

Maybe I should not even risk it and just take off my front driveshaft.

 

[awdrocks]

Hey guys sorry if this question has been answered but I have not gone over every page on this thread. But from what I last picked up is that we still don't know if the clutches in the transfer case are slightly touching even in 2wd mode, that's why the test will be good when all fourth wheels on the ground while giving it some throttle. Right?

I should have time to do this test tomorrow and video it. Sooo if the front wheels don't spin at all than we are good? I'm pretty concerned because im about to dyno on a 2wd dyno, and if rear wheel spin "is" a potential problem, crap, a couple hours on the dyno and some pulls, which I will most likely require a lot of them, might cause me some serious issues.

Its one thing to do a burn out for a few feet, but its another ball game to doing dyno pulls.

Maybe I should not even risk it and just take off my front driveshaft.

 

[Limited02]

^Double post owns you

Yes you can take out the #17 and #18 fuse from under the hood and do a nice burnout. I have the above vid with the ex off the ground and when I put it into drive, the front wheels didn't even hint to move. I also have another vid I made doing a quick burnout after I took the fuses out.

Here is the vid. It was VERY windy and I don't have editing software to make my retarded self dissappear

 

[awdrocks]

HAHA... Sounds like a storm chaser!!! Great vid.

 

[Cozmik]

I've gone through the thread and I just wanted to confirm 1 thing. It seems that the brown wire is NOT available in the dash of the 3rd gen. Is that correct? When I did my 2nd gen, the wire was right behind the stereo, very easy access and I was hoping for the same with my 05. Thanks guys.

 

[bigvee28c]

if u do it will i still have 4wheel drive when off

 

[Rofocowboy84]

So, long time lurker, first time poster (I think...). I've been planning on doing this mod for a bit on my '04, but want to make sure i have everything right before I start cutting random brown wires.

I was looking at the pushbutton switches HERE, the IR series, mainly because the round black one would IMHO look perfect in the empty switch panel and blend in nicely. However, reading the description, it says they're available with a "high power option" that can handle 5 amps. Is that enough? I know JCUZ said the charge never really gets above 3-4 amps, but if 5 amps is their absolute limit, I'd question running them at 2-4 amps constantly. Opinions?

Also, I think you can only buy these in bulk, at least from the manufacturer, so I'll have to find someone that sells them individually....

EDIT: Hmm....apparently I've posted 5 times before this...neat....

 

[n2epv]

On my 04 XLT, I cut the brown wire from the bundle that runs somewhat near the power brake booster under the hood. To handle the current, someone suggested an aftermarket foglight relay and switch. Locate the relay where the brown wire is snipped.

I have a rather ugly 10 amp switch with no relay. Just matched the size of the wire that I added on to what was there. There's a nice large rubber grommet in the firewall behind the left valve cover for the run to the dash. I found it by looking from the passenger compartment side. It's in the area of the gas petal arm and has what appears to be the (black) shift cable going through it.

 

[Cozmik]

On my 04 XLT, I cut the brown wire from the bundle that runs somewhat near the power brake booster under the hood. To handle the current, someone suggested an aftermarket foglight relay and switch. Locate the relay where the brown wire is snipped.

I have a rather ugly 10 amp switch with no relay. Just matched the size of the wire that I added on to what was there. There's a nice large rubber grommet in the firewall behind the left valve cover for the run to the dash. I found it by looking from the passenger compartment side. It's in the area of the gas petal arm and has what appears to be the (black) shift cable going through it.

Thanks. I'll check that out. I'd like to get this done soon.

 

[ph]

brown wire mod

hi im interested in getting better mpgs only with the brown wire mod is it a big enough improvment to make it worth trying also will this void any warranties any other tips on better mpgs would be appreciated i have a 2005ford ekplorer xlt 4door 4wd 4.0 6cylinder thankyou ph

 

[Rofocowboy84]

Personally, I don't see how it would improve MPG. As far as I know, the way the "Auto 4WD" system works is to keep it in 2WD until it notices loss of traction, at which time it switches to 4WD. Most normal everyday driving doesn't result in wheel slippage, which means the system never kicks in. That won't be any different than doing this mod, which merely "prevents" it from working when it wants. So if increasing MPG is your only goal, doing this mod would be a waste of time for you, IMHO of course. If anyone wants to correct me, go right ahead, but this is my understanding of it.

 

[Curtis]

Personally, I don't see how it would improve MPG. As far as I know, the way the "Auto 4WD" system works is to keep it in 2WD until it notices loss of traction, at which time it switches to 4WD. Most normal everyday driving doesn't result in wheel slippage, which means the system never kicks in. That won't be any different than doing this mod, which merely "prevents" it from working when it wants. So if increasing MPG is your only goal, doing this mod would be a waste of time for you, IMHO of course. If anyone wants to correct me, go right ahead, but this is my understanding of it.

I tend to agree. mpg benefit would be very small if any, and for a while you'd probably like the "spinning rear wheel effect" so much that you'd likely notice a drop in mpg.

If its 2WD and mpg increases you're after, removing the front drive shaft might have a bigger effect.

 

[Cozmik]

Frustration

I went to do the BWM on my 05 V8 today. Looked for the brown wire on the passenger side. No luck. Looked for it on the drivers side. No luck. Looked under the hood. Didn't see a wire bundle like the one in an earlier post. Crawled under the truck. Voila, theres the thick brown wire. Here's my concern. I live in Canada. I am VERY reluctant to start cutting wires outside of the vehicle. With the amount of snow we get and the disgusting amount of salt used on the roads I know that would be asking for corrosion issues.

So other than directly at the t-case, where else might I look for this elusive little wire? I realy want to get this done, My truck goes into 4wd way too easily and often.

This was so much easier in my '98.

 

[thepotroast]

Perhaps I missed this in all of the pages, but when I remove the #17 and #18 fuses under the hood on mine, I get flashing lights on the dash for the 4x4 High and Low, and also the light for the 4x4 Low stays solid on the button panel....however it is obvious when driving that it is not in 4x4 low...I can feel that it's 2wd since the front wheels no longer grab.

I may just go ahead and do the brown wire mod, because I would like to be able to select 2wd while on the streets....

 

[Cozmik]

Perhaps I missed this in all of the pages, but when I remove the #17 and #18 fuses under the hood on mine, I get flashing lights on the dash for the 4x4 High and Low, and also the light for the 4x4 Low stays solid on the button panel....however it is obvious when driving that it is not in 4x4 low...I can feel that it's 2wd since the front wheels no longer grab.

I may just go ahead and do the brown wire mod, because I would like to be able to select 2wd while on the streets....

Pulled the fuses on mine a few weeks ago. Same thing, lights going off like crazy. Its the system saying "WTF?" Going to eventually do the good old BWM cuz I loved how it worked on my 98.

 

[Cozmik]

???

I'm frustrated. As mentioned above I've checked all the in-truck locations posted for the brown wire. Today I looked for it the engine bay in the wiring looms there. No luck. Has anybody done this on a 2005 V8 (without cutting it at the t-case)? If you have, please tell me where you found that wire.

 

[Cozmik]

^^ Bump. Still hoping for some help finding that wire with out going under the truck.

 

[05kAwBoy700]

hi im interested in getting better mpgs only with the brown wire mod is it a big enough improvment to make it worth trying also will this void any warranties any other tips on better mpgs would be appreciated i have a 2005ford ekplorer xlt 4door 4wd 4.0 6cylinder thankyou ph

I'm amazed that you guys keep your cool when the same question is asked over and over again! Very cool guys!

I have read all 12 pages and the same question must have been asked at least 7 times lol. I look forward to getting this done on my ride, the Silver Lake Dunes will be much more fun in 2wd..

 

[Michigun]

Just finished my BWM on my 02… ended up going with just a standard rocker-type switch that I stole from an old desk calculator… thanks for all of the info guys!

NOTE: If you are going with just a standard switch there is no need to pull off (risking breaking/marring it) the center panel trim as you don’t have to tie into anything other then the BW… the “blank button insert” on the right pops out very easy with a flathead screwdriver. After that it’s easy to mod it for your switch & then feed your wires from your new “blank button insert”/switch assembly through the opening & into the space behind your glove-box. (The glove-box rotates down & out of the way by simply squeezing in each side.) Just remember to leave a little slack in your wires running from the switch to the BW… that way you can still service/get to stuff behind the center panel down the road!

After the initial time involved in mod’ing my “blank button insert”, to accept my switch, it took me approximately 10 minutes from start to finish to do the BWM.

Here’s how mine looks: (May “label” it… haven’t decided yet…)

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