Just inherited a pristine ‘92 Explorer

[JohnAsaPrice]

4WD - beautiful and runs great. About 150K miles.
Put on new brakes and shocks.
Getting ready to install new stereo, the old one seems to sporadically pick up stations.

Apparently it has never been run in 4WD mode. I’m afraid to engage 4WD mode. Any suggestions?

 

[Rick]

It's always good to at least check the level of all your fluids before putting miles on a used vehicle.

The transfercase has to be lubricated as it passes power through to the rear axle regardless of whether it's in four wheel drive or not. The 4x4 system in the first gen Explorer is never to be used on dry pavement.

Is it an electric shift with buttons on the dash, or manual shift with levers on the floor? The electric shift transfercase system can throw errors and there is a very slight possibility that if you put it in 4-low or 4-high it won't want to shift back to 2wd. This page explains how to fix the system if that happens: Transfer Case BW 1354 Ford Explorer Ranger Maintenance

If you can work on your own stuff, in case of emergency you can take the shift motor off the back of the transfercase and move the rod with a pair of vice grips, I've seen people do it on the trail.

 

[JohnAsaPrice]

Rick,

That’s great info! This is the Electric shift (buttons on the dash). I’ve seen no errors, but am taking it by the shop tomorrow to check on the brakes.

We had new brake pads and disks put on, but the brakes seem to be soft, then grab hard. I suspect it needs some adjustment, or that they just haven’t yet been seasoned... but we have a few hundred miles on it since then, so I would expect them to be working okay by now.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Welcome to this forum! Old brake fluid absorbs moisture & rust. You should replace it.

 

[JohnAsaPrice]

So, just heard back from my mechanic. This guy is very reliable, I trust him:
He bled the brakes (several times) and tried several things and can’t seem to resolve the braking issue.
He thinks that it may be the ABS Proportioning Valve or the ABS Control Module. He doesn’t have the equipment to test these, and indicates that the cost of replacing could take me well into the $800 range.
He suggest taking it to the local Ford dealer to see if they can test it/evaluate.