How to: Rebuild 4X4 Shift Motor

[The_Commodore]

I have been trying to do thos repair today. How the hell do you unscrew the Torx screws? That little pin wont let me get the bit into the screw. Is there supposed to be a little hole in my Torx bit to get around this?

 

[DeRocha]

I have been trying to do thos repair today. How the hell do you unscrew the Torx screws? That little pin wont let me get the bit into the screw. Is there supposed to be a little hole in my Torx bit to get around this?

You need a torx #20 security bit (has a hole in the middle for the pin to fit ) This info is found at the end of the 1st post in this thread..You can pick them up a sears for $5-$20 depending on the # of bits in the kit..

 

[BrooklynBay]

That T-20 security bit is pretty common on this vehicle. It is also used on the MAF.

 

[shadetree24]

4x4 wont disengage

Hi all
New to the board Found it while trying to find info about my ranger problem.
My 1993 ford ranger is stuck in 4 wheel low. It has been acting up for a while, but now its stuck in 4 wheel low and wont come out.
4 wheel high has always worked fine, but for some time, the truck has be hard to get to switch into 4 wheel low now it wont come out of 4 wheel drive.
The lights are lighted up on the dash, so I guess theres is power to everything.
So if you could give me some direction on what I should check first, I would greatly appreicate it.
Thanks in advance and this is a great thread, I already have learned alot.
Thanks again Shadetree

 

[pharmer1]

Thanks for the tip.

I was looking at replacing the transfer case shift motor and decided to do a bit of research here.

This tip did the trick: "It has been said that tapping or hitting the shift motor will sometimes get it to engage if it is stuck in a position. This may work (it's probably worth a try), but don't hit it too hard or you might be looking at $300 to get a replacement."

Started the car and had my kid push the 4x4 botton while I gently tapped with a hammer and "click" it engaged. A 5 minute fix including research.

Thanks a bunch!

 

[canadaxlt]

4x4 problem

i got a 95 xlt control trac, when i switch from auto to 4x4 high all it does is makes a click noise in the front right fender, but when i put in 4x4 low it makes a sound like it went into 4x4 low, but ut aint turning the front wheels, and the dash lights for both do come on when i engage it

 

[canadaxlt]

and i tryed tapping the shift motor

 

[nototim]

My '97 XLT Sport is in the shop right now becuase the 4WD and 4WD Low indicator lights flash 6 times every couple of minutes. I always run in 4WD Auto. I was informed that the transfer case shift motor needs to be replaced. They will need to order the part at $418

Basically they are doing one of the Ford Service Bulletins which says to replace the speed sensors (front/rear) and shift motor. I came across this site doing a search for a better price on the motor. So now I'm pretty sure that I'm going to hold off on any repair by them (an additional trans pan leak brings total to ~$1000). I asssume there's no harm if I have them leave as is and attempt to repair it this weekend. I'm not sure if the vehicle is running in 4x2 or 4x4.

I just want to make sure that the 4WD lights flashing 6 times every few minutes is indicative of similar problem. I read through all 6 pages of this thread and didn't notice anything described the same way.

 

[Stone-ok]

Will the instructions for the shift motor rebuild be fairly similar when rebuilding one on a 2001 Sport Trac? Nothing happens when I switch to anything other than 2wd (no light change, no clicking, nothing). Before the 4wd went completely out, there was a 'pinging' sound coming from engine/drive shaft area - which quit when I switched to 4x4 H. I now hear the same sound (worse now though) since the motor will not switch. Could this be related to the motor going out, or is it possibly just coincidental? I not really sure that the motor has gone out, could also be switch - but seeing that it is this common of a problem, I'm thinking that i may be the case.

This is a great thread, and I really appreciate the time taken to research it and post it. Thanks again.

Stone-ok

 

[EMG7895]

I was looking at replacing the transfer case shift motor and decided to do a bit of research here.

This tip did the trick: "It has been said that tapping or hitting the shift motor will sometimes get it to engage if it is stuck in a position. This may work (it's probably worth a try), but don't hit it too hard or you might be looking at $300 to get a replacement."

Started the car and had my kid push the 4x4 botton while I gently tapped with a hammer and "click" it engaged. A 5 minute fix including research.

Thanks a bunch!

For future reference, if this method works for you it would be a good idea to cycle the case through all of the modes a few times to free everything up.

 

[canadaxlt]

4x4 problems

i was wondering about my explorer, should the front drive shaft turn all the time? even in 2wd? but when i put the thruck up in the air and turn the front drive shaft with my hand the front wheels dont turn. it has auto hubs. what could the problem be? would the shift motor have anything to do with this? when i shift it to 4 high it dosnt do anything, but when i put it in 4 low the you can hear the shft motor turn............confused, any help would be really great!

 

[Mr. Rogers]

Thank You

I have never fixed anything on an automobile ever...that is until today. In a few short hours (well actually ~5 hrs.), using nothing more than the information contained in this website, I was able to diagnose the likely source of my inoperable 4x4 switch, test to confirm the source of the problem and then complete the repair. I feel compelled to thank you folks for my success today. I truly could not have done it without you.

Now that I am done blowing smoke up your ass I must ask a few questions.

1) Has anyone tested the comment I recall somewhere in the thread that the simple act of disconnecting the battery may have enabled the control module to correct itself? I did not do this and I am left to wonder if my repair may have been overkill. I mean, the bushing around the screw on the backside of the gear in the shift motor I had was compressed exactly how it was in the tutorial picture and yes, the commutators were a bit dirty, but I am just having a hard time believeing that such minor things could cause the unit to stop functioning. Especially when you consider that people using hose pieces as replacement bushings that differ in diameter by as much as 1/16 of an inch, which is about the same amount the original bushing was compressed anyway, can all achieve a sucessful repair.

2)I ran the test suggested by Richard F. which confirmed the shift motor assembly was the likely problem. Seems to me this valuable piece of potentially time saving information would be better off at the beginning of Brain's tutorial, don't you think?

 

[shrek2much]

where goes the mark ?

MAKE A MATCHMARK BETWEEN THE GEAR HOUSING AND THE HOUSING COVER SO YOU CAN GET IT REALIGNED PROPERLY!!

first sorry guys "newbie here" I am confused, where exactly does this mark on the housing and cover go?

second my 4x4h indicator light stays on, I push the botton like i'm suppose to and what it does is the light goes out 10 seconds or so then it comes on again even while driving over 35mph it does not apear to be locked in to gear however I believe it remains in 4x4wd, it does not engage into 4l or 4h any ideas ? feel free to chime in here

3rd I have read and understand basicly all about the infamous brown wire my question is will this bypass the 4x4 indicator switches or are they still functional and necessary after installing the switch control onto the dash b/w?

 

[shrek2much]

where goes the mark ?

common you little grease monkeys any help would be nice

 

[shrek2much]

I have since been underneath my car with some good "ol" gray tape and placed it on my drive shafts to see if they were both turning while the 4x4 indicator light was on and they both are spinning, will it hurt my truck to drive it this way going at high speeds beyond 35mph? have to drive it this way no choice for us, just hope I can get some help here from you nice people here before I am forced to take it to a "loco" shop

 

[shrek2much]

Those screws are called tamper proof torx, and you can get bits to fit them at most auto parts, Sears, Snap On, etc. They are standard torx bits that have a hole drilled in the center of the bit to make them supposedly tamper proof - except that anyone can buy the bits these days.


found mine at true value sold seperately for $2.00 so I did not have to buy the whole set

 

[DeRocha]

MAKE A MATCHMARK BETWEEN THE GEAR HOUSING AND THE HOUSING COVER SO YOU CAN GET IT REALIGNED PROPERLY!!

first sorry guys "newbie here" I am confused, where exactly does this mark on the housing and cover go?

second my 4x4h indicator light stays on, I push the botton like i'm suppose to and what it does is the light goes out 10 seconds or so then it comes on again even while driving over 35mph it does not apear to be locked in to gear however I believe it remains in 4x4wd, it does not engage into 4l or 4h any ideas ? feel free to chime in here

3rd I have read and understand basicly all about the infamous brown wire my question is will this bypass the 4x4 indicator switches or are they still functional and necessary after installing the switch control onto the dash b/w?

Well its kinda hard to help when my e-mail notification arrived several hours after your initial post... Anyway the marks are made on the cover (with the torx security screws) and the case its mounted too. Therefore when you remove the cover you can install it in its original postion.. Newer style shift motors don't have this problem as they have mounting tabs...

I have posted a reply to your similiar question in the thread 4x4 won't disengage

 

[Josiah]

I own a 2004 F150 on 37" Mud Grapplers. I googled and this thread came up after many false ones. Great writeup, I admire your enthusiasm to save money. I've done all the work on my truck myself to save cash and to learn a thing or two, wouldn't change it for the world. Anyways, I've snapped my steering rack and now my tcase is acting up. It disengages the front driveshaft when under load. It can be a slight incline and it will pop out of 4wd, it's terrible. I know it's the tcase, the switch or the shift motor, which does it sound like to you? Does it sound like the shift motor is not engaging all the way and therefore popping out when under load? I am planning on changing out my tcase motor or opening it up to work on it like you've demonstrated. I could remove it and manually shift it into 4wd low and see if it pops out, can you point out exactly where I mark with the sharpie for keypoints when reassembling. Thanks for your advice, great community. Nobody in the newer body style F150 world knows too much about the innerworkings of our trucks so I have to go elsewhere. We too have a borgwarner tcase and the shift motor is identical to the pictured one above. Once again thanks and here are some pics of my truck.

I am going to try the tapping the motor trick and see what happens. By the way, the 4wd hi or low indicator light stays lit even when it pops out under load so another question would be...does the shift motor control the indicator lights on the dash and how exact is it (as maybe it's not engaging all the way).

Here is a video of a trailride: http://media.putfile.com/frankraines

 

[Ostereo]

Count me in too!!

Here's another tip of the hat to this great site and thread!

I just did the rehab on my motor and sure enough the plastic ring was all crushed on mine too. A trip to the hardware store and $2.29 for some 1/4" ID 3/8" OD vinyl tubing and I'm finally able to use the 4WD in my 1993 XLT.

I'll join in the cursing too for those darn cover screws. All 3 of mine sheared off after deforming the T-20 bit. I wound up tapping new holes in the bosses. The broken screws were bad ebough, but when I broke off a drill in one on the redrill and then broke off the easy out in the second, that really blew. FWIW, if you break the heads off, just go straight to drilling out the old screws with a nice new cobalt tipped bit and tap out the holes for oversize screws, which I'd advise to be Allen heads with washers.

Also, NEVER use a small easy out. Like someone said earlier, if the small bolt or screw head breaks off, why would a bit half the size loosen it? And a broken piece of 10x harder tool steel in there just made the job 10x worse.
Drill the screw out and tap it before it gets really messy!

 

[Erik Larsen]

Shift motor

I last logged on in March when I noticed that the dash 4WD switch wasn't engaging the 4WD. I looked at your rebuild paper and then let it go.
Well, I'm heading to Arizona in a few weeks and broke down and took the truck in to service to have it fixed.
The mechanic bought a new shift motor from the dealer and installed it. It didn't work!
So, he bought a control module, installed it, and then it did work.
I got out of there with over a $600.00 bill and the old shift motor.
I took the switch cover off and everything looks new inside (including the plastic adaptor for the switch shaft). I put the cover back on and located it in the same rotational position as before.
Can I apply 12 VDC across the red and yellow wires to test the motor, or will that motion do something to the switch?
In any case, is anyone interested in buying the shift motor?
Erik.