Disable 4x4 on 2008 V6 4.0

[buumaster]

Hi guys.
Does gen3 BWM work on gen4 V6 4.0 08 ?

 

[J_C]

Heh, it took me a minute to figure out what the heck a BWM is. That isn't quite a universal automotive abbreviation.

What is the transfer case, a BW 4411? I don't think the brown wire mod works on your gen explorer, unless by coincidence it still uses a brown wire for the FWD clutch.

If you can find a wiring diagram for your generation, that might help, but it's possible that anything you do, some sensor will generate a warning light if not more, which is possibly similar to just pulling the fuse for the transfer case power and/or putting a switch on the power to it so you can have use of 4WD as needed... or of course, find and fix the real fault.

I looked around for a moment and didn't find anything for 4WD circuit for 4th gen but I did find the following page, am only guessing that the picture that reads "4WD Control Module C281a" (or the 2nd pic for C350) might be useful.

The Fine Points of the BorgWarner 4411 Transfer Case - Transmission Digest

Learn about the Ford Explorer/Mercury Mountaineer SUV's transfer cases, including electronic controls, tire size importance, and common issues.

www.transmissiondigest.com

On the other hand I also saw a post that vaguely stated that disabling 4WD via wire could damage the transfer case, but there was no further info posted about how/why it would cause damage:

"Brown Wire Mod" for an '07 ??

Has anyone done the brown wire mod on an '07? I'm looking to do mine. Tired of the 4WD kicking in on every curve in the road... Just had a new transfer case out in under warranty at 32K miles. It seems like it's in 4WD too much and as it aged the 4WD engagement was more obvious and...

www.explorerforum.com

Here is a post stating that instead of brown, it's a gray wire with orange stripe to control it... though I don't buy the claim that it would get 0.5-1MPG fuel economy increase because of how it's designed... unless I don't know how it's designed b/c something changed a lot :

Brown Wire Mod

So I feel like I have read there is all to read about the BWM for the 3rd gens. Only thing I have read is about a grey w/ orange stripe wire but nothing further. I understand the risks involved just curious how to pull this off.

www.explorerforum.com

 

[SirPuggers]

Heh, it took me a minute to figure out what the heck a BWM is. That isn't quite a universal automotive abbreviation.

What is the transfer case, a BW 4411? I don't think the brown wire mod works on your gen explorer, unless by coincidence it still uses a brown wire for the FWD clutch.

If you can find a wiring diagram for your generation, that might help, but it's possible that anything you do, some sensor will generate a warning light if not more, which is possibly similar to just pulling the fuse for the transfer case power and/or putting a switch on the power to it so you can have use of 4WD as needed... or of course, find and fix the real fault.

I looked around for a moment and didn't find anything for 4WD circuit for 4th gen but I did find the following page, am only guessing that the picture that reads "4WD Control Module C281a" (or the 2nd pic for C350) might be useful.

The Fine Points of the BorgWarner 4411 Transfer Case - Transmission Digest

Learn about the Ford Explorer/Mercury Mountaineer SUV's transfer cases, including electronic controls, tire size importance, and common issues.

www.transmissiondigest.com

On the other hand I also saw a post that vaguely stated that disabling 4WD via wire could damage the transfer case, but there was no further info posted about how/why it would cause damage:

"Brown Wire Mod" for an '07 ??

Has anyone done the brown wire mod on an '07? I'm looking to do mine. Tired of the 4WD kicking in on every curve in the road... Just had a new transfer case out in under warranty at 32K miles. It seems like it's in 4WD too much and as it aged the 4WD engagement was more obvious and...

www.explorerforum.com

Here is a post stating that instead of brown, it's a gray wire with orange stripe to control it... though I don't buy the claim that it would get 0.5-1MPG fuel economy increase because of how it's designed... unless I don't know how it's designed b/c something changed a lot :

Brown Wire Mod

So I feel like I have read there is all to read about the BWM for the 3rd gens. Only thing I have read is about a grey w/ orange stripe wire but nothing further. I understand the risks involved just curious how to pull this off.

www.explorerforum.com

You surprisingly will notice a mileage gain, after doing mine I got between 2-3mpg better routinely. If you don't feel confident in doing any of this wiring, you can first just unplug the fuse. If for whatever reason that's not possible, on your passenger side under your glove box is the 4x4 computer system, towards you will be two wiring harnesses, the furthest one from you will be able to be unplugged. Doing this also disables auto 4x4 and both methods will force the car into 4x2.

 

[J_C]

^ How do you account for the mileage gain when the front axles are always live? There's no less drag in RWD mode than normal auto-4WD without it engaged, so I'm figuring the mileage gain is just a placebo effect... unless you had mismatched wheel/tire diameter resulting in enough difference in wheel speed sensing so the 4WD was engaging much more often than it otherwise would have.

 

[SirPuggers]

^ How do you account for the mileage gain when the front axles are always live? There's no less drag in RWD mode than normal auto-4WD without it engaged, so I'm figuring the mileage gain is just a placebo effect.

Spinning 2 tires is a lot easier than spinning all 4, there's also additional engine load and a few other things. taking the same route as I did initially to work and back before I was averaging 7mpg, Taking the same route and the same general factors I'm getting anywhere from 9-10mpg. didn't make any other changes. Having done the mod myself, if I were to switch it on while driving (not recommended) my mileage will in fact decrease. Obviously, this isn't universal however if everything is healthy and you upkeep on maintenance you should see a difference in doing this. This is a modification more for daily driving, not necessarily the milage although with how low mine is it's certainly welcome.

 

[Bazz270]

It works the same as the gen3

Disconnect the 4x4 module brown wire and connect the 4hi switch via 4 pin relay.

Its do affect the gas consumption- approx 10 percent abd even more on highways (my own records)

Use caution on wet pavements turns,heavy throttle and highway driving.

Not recommended.

 

[SirPuggers]

It works the same as the gen3

Disconnect the 4x4 module brown wire and connect the 4hi switch via 4 pin relay.

Its do affect the gas consumption- approx 10 percent

Use caution on wet pavements turns,high throttle and highway driving.

Not recommended.

I think high throttle in wet pavements is recommended, yk?

 

[Bazz270]

I mean heavy throttle

If you need more friction ,the AWD RSC not work the same as the RWD one

 

[Bazz270]

But
If you are not interested on investing of the front axle and the transfer rebuild ,the bwm might be pretty cheap and easy solution lol

 

[J_C]

^ Yet there is a chance of reducing drag for higher MPG by taking out the front driveshaft and CV axles leaving only the ends to keep preload on the hub bearings, then you wouldn't need to do the brown wire mod unless the problem with the 4WD is the front output TC bearing. I still wouldn't expect more than 1MPG gain.

 

[J_C]

Spinning 2 tires is a lot easier than spinning all 4, there's also additional engine load and a few other things. taking the same route as I did initially to work and back before I was averaging 7mpg, Taking the same route and the same general factors I'm getting anywhere from 9-10mpg. didn't make any other changes. Having done the mod myself, if I were to switch it on while driving (not recommended) my mileage will in fact decrease. Obviously, this isn't universal however if everything is healthy and you upkeep on maintenance you should see a difference in doing this. This is a modification more for daily driving, not necessarily the milage although with how low mine is it's certainly welcome.

It should be a very small % of the time that you're spinning all 4 tires if this is a mostly on-road use vehicle, unless something is wrong like mismatched tire diameter or driving like a nut with old/slick tires that lack normal traction.

There is no additional engine load when the transfer case isn't engaging the front drive clutch, same as if you did the wire mod or pulled the fuse to disable it.

You were averaging 7MPG? That is so terribly low that unless you were only sitting in traffic most of the time, something else was wrong. These get terrible fuel economy but not that low. 9-10MPG is still pretty bad unless only short tripping it and the engine never got warm enough to run in open loop mode.

 

[Bazz270]

It should be a very small % of the time that you're spinning all 4 tires if this is a mostly on-road use vehicle, unless something is wrong like mismatched tire diameter or driving like a nut with old/slick tires that lack normal traction.

There is no additional engine load when the transfer case isn't engaging the front drive clutch, same as if you did the wire mod or pulled the fuse to disable it.

You were averaging 7MPG? That is so terribly low that unless you were only sitting in traffic most of the time, something else was wrong. These get terrible fuel economy but not that low. 9-10MPG is still pretty bad unless only short tripping it and the engine never got warm enough to run in open loop mode.

Acc. to Gen4 TC workshop manual, the clutch is always engaged approx 5 percent of torque by default.the only way to fully disengage em is to cut the 12v wire

Plus if you simply put the fuse out you will get RSC error and got the ABS disabled.

The front hubs dont need the CV Joint preload since the hubs are fully independent asy (see RWD Explorer -they dont have the cv joints at all).so you can take em out no problem

I am runnin on the brown wire mode approx for 5 years right now.not for the mpg but for the ruined transfer/axle system.

Turnin on the FWD only for offroad ,rainy days and highways.

Dont care about fuel mpg .right now its something about 16 mpg on AWD and 18 on the RWD approx.

Approx 70 percent highway

In any condition except of the offroad it is really something about 1 or 2 MPG of difference.dont really matters to me since in my budget i can only buy japanese or korean junk lol

 

[J_C]

Acc. to Gen4 TC workshop manual, the clutch is always engaged approx 5 percent of torque by default.the only way to fully disengage em is to cut the 12v wire

It's not really always engaged. It is a viscous coupling (wet plate) clutch and that 5% is the inherent drag/friction between the plates that is always present with no power applied to the clutch. It does not go away unless you physically remove the front shaft, or CV axles.

Unless a different wheel speed is sensed, there is not 5% power duty cycle applied, rather 0% in normal driving. This can be measured with a multimeter.

 

[Mbrooks420]

Different animal, same principle, on both 1998 V8s I had removing the front shaft had no noticeable effect. This would be a larger change since I’m dropping the 25 pounds of rotating mass.

 

[buumaster]

It works the same as the gen3

Disconnect the 4x4 module brown wire and connect the 4hi switch via 4 pin relay.

Its do affect the gas consumption- approx 10 percent abd even more on highways (my own records)

Use caution on wet pavements turns,heavy throttle and highway driving.

Not recommended.

Could you take a video of your BWM? I guess many Will really appreciate it.

In short, if I understood correctly, need to cut off the brown wire from the TC, connect it through a Switch. Start the vehicle, turn on 4High, and use the Switch to turn off the power. Right?

 

[Bazz270]

It's not really always engaged. It is a viscous coupling (wet plate) clutch and that 5% is the inherent drag/friction between the plates that is always present with no power applied to the clutch. It does not go away unless you physically remove the front shaft, or CV axles.

Unless a different wheel speed is sensed, there is not 5% power duty cycle applied, rather 0% in normal driving. This can be measured with a multimeter.

Maybe
But as a fact

My Fwd end stops whining and vibration goes away when i turn the switch off and that what is matter to me.

The mpg drops for 1 or 2 gallons
Also a fact lol

Whatever it works,it works

Dont really care why

 

[Bazz270]

Could you take a video of your BWM? I guess many Will really appreciate it.

In short, if I understood correctly, need to cut off the brown wire from the TC, connect it through a Switch. Start the vehicle, turn on 4High, and use the Switch to turn off the power. Right?

Exactly

Simple relay and switch between the clutch side and 4x4 module side (located just behind the glove box )
The 2h switch will turn off the whole offroad buttons.if you wish to use the auto/high/low turn the switch on.

Not relayed switch or fuse out will turn the RSC errors and ABS will be disabled

See Gen3 brown wire mode instructions vodeos as they are totally the same

 

[J_C]

Maybe
But as a fact

My Fwd end stops whining and vibration goes away when i turn the switch off and that what is matter to me.

The mpg drops for 1 or 2 gallons
Also a fact lol

Whatever it works,it works

Dont really care why

I would care and fix what is wrong... until the vehicle becomes lower in value than a well maintained '07 which would still have over $5K resale value depending on *xyz* factors. Just sayin', Explorers sold well (in the US), aren't hard to get common parts for even if it's a junkyard providing them, so they're cheap.

That's your call to make but you shouldn't see a 1MPG, let alone more, fuel economy increase by preventing auto-4WD in normal driving conditions. You had something else wrong if the MPG increase is accurate.

 

[Bazz270]

Iam dont really care of the value,not planning to sold this explorer ever.

After approx 70000 miles on the bwm installed (awd switched off mostly),seems to be everything ok .no DTCs ,no driveline effects,no leaks,no further TC damage or metal chips on the mercon TC liquid (all the liquids replaced periodically)

As far i knows..at least
Not interested on the front axle or a transfer rebuild.



Anyways,i will take the chance of the whatever will be going wrong..there is a lot of cheap oem ford parts here..no problem. even if the transmission will be ruined somehow.

 

[SirPuggers]

Exactly

Simple relay and switch between the clutch side and 4x4 module side (located just behind the glove box )
The 2h switch will turn off the whole offroad buttons.if you wish to use the auto/high/low turn the switch on.

Not relayed switch or fuse out will turn the RSC errors and ABS will be disabled

See Gen3 brown wire mode instructions vodeos as they are totally the same

Not true, no Advanced track issues, no ABS light, No CEL.