Explorer Sport 4x4 Won't Disengage Unless Backed up

[stryker]

Hi guys, trying to figure out what's up with my 2001 Explorer Sport 4x4 system, and would greatly appreciate any tips.

My dash has 2wd, 4hi, and 4low. All positions work and engage as they should, but the problem is getting the truck to kick out of 4x4 and back into 2wd. When I'm in 4hi, and turn it to 2wd, the light in the dash goes out and the kick panel clicks immediately, but I can still hear the slight hum of the transfer case and the steering is still heavy if turned. I bought a remanufactured shift motor for the transfer case and no change. If the truck is backed up, it usually comes right out of 4wd.

I jacked the truck up to check the driveshafts by hand as suggested in the troubleshooting post below.

Turns by hand - Verify that the front driveshaft turns by hand. When turning the front driveshaft by hand, the front wheels should turn. (If only one turns, don't be alarmed. One wheel sometimes has more resistance in the brakes, bearings, or CV joints. This is normal)

Driveshaft can't be turned when in 4wd - Start the vehicle and let it idle in PARK. Engage 4high. DO NOT PUT THE VEHICLE IN GEAR!!! Crawl underneath and see if you can turn the front driveshaft.
**If the front driveshaft does not turn, the transfer case is locking properly and we need to continue searching.

I also kicked out 4wd with the front wheels in the air, and the drive shaft surprisingly turned by hand. So it comes out with no load, but hangs onto 4wd with load.

Wheels spin opposite ways as they should - With the front wheels in the air, engine idling in PARK, spin one front wheel. The other wheel should spin the opposite direction. If it does, the system should be properly engaged.

When under the truck, the tag on the transfer case says Borg Warner 13-54, but another thread I found said... --The '01-'04 Sport and '01-'04(maybe '05?) Sport Trac uses a 44-05, but it functions much like the 1st-gen's 13-54 (i.e. it uses a lockup collar actuated by the shift motor). Is that weird?

I bought the truck used about a year ago, but I know it came out of 4wd at one point on its own. However, I wonder if the previous owner put a different transfer case on at some point? The one on it uses the standard 8 wire plug for the transfer case motor.

Does the reverse thing point towards the transfer case being the issue?

Thanks,
Steve

 

[PopRichie77]

What you describe is the way a 1st gen explorer worked with Auto Locking Hubs, you had to back up to unlock the hubs, if 4X4 was selected going forward. I am pretty sure you have the wrong transfer case for an 01, hard to say what the previous owner may have done.

 

[stryker]

After using 4 wheel drive a bunch in the past couple days, 4wd now kicks out as it should while making a decently sharp turn (before it would only come out from reverse). I'm hoping from using it more and more that it may begin to kick out as it should on the fly while going in a straight line. I didn't know if there's anything else I could do to help get it back into proper working order. I changed xfer case fluid and no change from the old fluid.

 

[PopRichie77]

A 13-54 T Case is not a shift on the fly TC.