stuck in low range?

[hi-speed]

I have a 96 sport that acts like its stuck in low range 4wd I don't know what led to this problum I was not the driver at the time the problum started. the transmission will shift through all gears (auto/w overdrive) but @ 40mph engine is turning 3500 rpm the 4wd switch has no effect it is in 2wd position and does nothing when moved into 4auto or 4low the 4wd was not in use when the problum started this is our family car that is also used to get to work but can not be driven because of this problum leaving me with out a way to get to work i am riding with co worker but this can only be temp.due to job requires car .thank you for any help on this.

 

[rookieshooter]

Try this, get under and look at auto tranny. You will see a little motor connected to the tranny I believe its on driver side. There is a bunch of wires going to it. This motor engages 4 auto and low. Disconnect the wiring harness near the motor. It might be a PITA, it has one or two little legs that have to be pushed in or out. But any way diconnect and I think it will come out of low. Then if it does research the brown wire mod there is a ton of infor on it

 

[410Fortune]

hahahahha

The electric shift motor is on the back of the transfer case, to the left of the rear driveshaft.

Remove it, you will have to remove the T case damper (donut thing) and then the motor.
You can then shift the T case into 4h or back into N (2wd) with pliers.
This will get you home.
Truck must be in N to shift T case.

Sounds like your shift motor needs a cleaning/rebuild. Search this forum for that.

Sometimes you can get lucky and the truck will shift out of L if yuo tap the shift motor actuator ()end of case) with a hammer.


Also make sure you are in N or pushing in the clutch and at a full stop, otherwise the truck will not allow you to go from 4L to 4H

 

[rookieshooter]

OOPs your right transfer case. But I have disco. the connection, it did not fix the problem but it did get out of gear.

 

[410Fortune]

interesting
I would think disconnecting it would just unplug the motor, without power I have no idea how it would shift from L to H or to N(2wd)
Have you ever shifted that sucker by hand? Its not easy!

 

[rookieshooter]

interesting
I would think disconnecting it would just unplug the motor, without power I have no idea how it would shift from L to H or to N(2wd)
Have you ever shifted that sucker by hand? Its not easy!

We are talking Auto tranny right? When I dico. it I would have all gears except 4w dr. and low.

 

[410Fortune]

then you disconnected it with the case in N or 2wd.

The T case is shifted from N to 4H then to 4L b=y the motor turning the shift shaft. The motor cannot turn the shift shaft if there is no power to it and the T case wont skip out of 4L into 4H and then into N if you unplug the motor.

If you ever go 4 wheeling and the shift motor fails, you can remove the motor from the case and shift the T case as you need to for the rest of the run and drive home, it will stay in its gear with no motor mounted. You can ask me how I know if you would like To date I trhink I have refurbished 9 ea shift motors for all types of Fords, all 9 still work, although I think rangerx had to adjust his a bit one time


the same T case comes behind the 5 speed or auto trans.
Difference auto trans uses the N sensor to say okay you can shift into 4 low and the 5 speed uses the clutch pos switch.

 

[IZwack]

We are talking Auto tranny right? When I dico. it I would have all gears except 4w dr. and low.

the transfer case is independant of the transmission.. if u disconnect ur transfer case, the transmission will still work.

...acts like its stuck in low range 4wd I don't know what led to this problum...the transmission will shift through all gears (auto/w overdrive) but @ 40mph engine is turning 3500 rpm the 4wd switch has no effect it is in 2wd position and does nothing when moved into 4auto or 4low

the first two things that come to mind when the transfer case is stuck in 4-LO is either the shift motor is not shifting, or the shift rod is broken/stuck. so first check to see if the shift motor is turning to the proper positions and if so.. if it is, then check if the shift rod is moving this one particular gear out of the planetary set.

here are some stuff ive copied over from 2 threads ive replied to about transfer cases:

SHIFT MOTOR CHECK: one dirty but sure way to check is to leave the dash switch to Auto .. then remove the shift motor and check where the shift rod's arrow is pointing (it should be pointing at 4-HI, if its not, then the mootor isnt shifting due to either no electrical power is being sent to it from the switch or the motor itself is just dead).. if it is in 4-HI, put the motor back temporarilly and rotate the switch to 4-LO, and then remove the motor again and see if the shift rod is now on the 4-Lo position.

SHIFT FORK CHECK: to check whether or not ur shift fork is working/broken, park ur vehicle on a level surface (so that it doesnt roll if u put it in Neutral). Put ur vehicle in Park and ur transfer case in Auto. Remove the shift motor and you'll see the shift rod. this end of the shift rod that ur looking at looks like an arrow and should be pointing towards the 4Hi position (marked on the transfer case's face after removal of the shift motor). Rotate this shift rod so that it points to the "N" position - which is neutral. You might need a pair of pliers to rotate it but try it with your hands first. Now get out from under ur vehicle and, with the vehicle still in Park, try to push ur vehicle about 1 ft or 2 ft. If the vehicle moves that 1ft (or 2ft), then ur shift fork is working fine. If not, then its stuck/broken in the 4Hi position.

Before you put back the shift motor, don't forget to put the shift rod back into the 4Hi position as the rod needs to properly align the shift motor position (because remember that you removed the shift motor when the shift rod was in 4Hi)... if ur having a difficult time getting the shift rod back into the 4-HI position, u may have to push the vehicle half an inch or an inch forward or back to align the gears.

check this image out, pay attention to the insert on the upper left. that triangular rod in the center is the shift rod that you'll see once you remove the shift motor.. it comes out out of the transfer case a little bit (maybe a centimeter or so).

note that a broken shift fork isnt anything out of the ordinary.. though it also doesnt and shouldnt happen like every year.

 

[410Fortune]

correct the T case in N or 2wd just lets the power go from input shaft to output shaft without engadging the chain to the fornt D shaft.

So disco the T case = T case is actually in N

The 2wd bronco II had a dummy T case, just a case with a shaft running though it.

 

[IZwack]

one thing that just came to mind: if ur transfer case is stuck in 4-LO and assuming the electromagnetic ring in the transfer case is being engaged properly and ur vacuum axle disconnects at the front are working (since u have a 96 2nd gen), then it should be very difficult for you to make slow tight turns on pavement... ull probably hear ur tires screeching/skidding.

 

[IZwack]

So disco the T case = T case is actually in N

r u talking about the electical connector? im lost please explain.. i thought that if u disconnect the transfer case electrical connector, the shift motor would sit at wherever it currently is at.. i mean i thought this is why, when u remove ur key from the ignition while in 4LO, then it will still be in 4LO the next time u start ur vehicle.

 

[410Fortune]

Right sorry I got confused.

Above you said if you disco your T case the transmission will still work. You were talking about the wiring, I thought you meant if you put the T case in N, so I was trying to clarify what you meant or show you that I got it.

Yeah I was confused. hahaha easy to do

the only communication the T case will have with a trans or with the trucks computer is for the NSS or neautral safety circuit so it can shift into low range safely. There is also a electric shift wire that tells the computer we are in 4wd. Other then that all the wiring to that shift motor is directly to the GEM module, or electric shift controller

At least on the early gen's like mine it is hahaha

 

[TPLYNCH]

You can also try disconnecting the battery for ~ 15 minutes and see if the computer/shift motor resets. That has worked for people in the past.

 

[IZwack]

Yeah I was confused. hahaha easy to do

gotcha m8!


.

 

[Buckshot]

For more - search on my issues.....ended up not the same problem as you, but I documented all the same troubleshooting as you will need to do to eliminate that as my issue.....

link here: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=133379&highlight=transfer+case

 

[hi-speed]

thanks for all the info i pulled the motor shifted it into hi range this worked great. now i will start trouble shooting to find cause of problum thanks to all who helped.

 

[gijoecam]

410, on the '96 sport, the transfer case shift motor does not engage 4 high, only 4 low. Engagement of 4 high is handled by the clutch inside the transfer case. The shift motor is completely independent of the shift motor.

I think we may have overlooked the basics: In order for the transfer case to make the high-low shift, the vehicle must be stopped, in neutral, with your foot on the brake. Shutting the truck off and turning it back on will not re-set the system.

Being that manually cranking the shift motor shaft disengaged 4 low, I think we can rule out the shift fork problem. Definately electrical, and probably the shift motor, but typically if it was a shift motor problem on the 2nd gens, (and assuming the vehicle is stopped, in neutral, foot on the brakes) the 4x4 lights should start blinking indicating a fault with the system. Being that this is not the case, it narrows it down to three possibilities: Operator error, bad shift motor, or bad transfer case shift relay.

-Joe

 

[410Fortune]

Aha! What a weird Transfer case, IMO they should kept it basic, N H L, makes it so much easier on me.

 

[gijoecam]

check this image out, pay attention to the insert on the upper left. that triangular rod in the center is the shift rod that you'll see once you remove the shift motor.. it comes out out of the transfer case a little bit (maybe a centimeter or so).

note that a broken shift fork isnt anything out of the ordinary.. though it also doesnt and shouldnt happen like every year.

IZ, do you, by any chance, have a pic of the 'shaft' that the shifter motor turns? I'm just curious if the shift motor goes from 4 high to neutral to 4 low, or if it goes from hi to low to neutral. I suspect neutral is in the middle.... just curious though.

-Joe

 

[IZwack]

i have a pic of the shift positions.. but i never did put the shaft back into the transfer case thats sitting in the shed cauz the "pin" end of the shaft was broken.. so the shaft is missing in the pic below.. but you can imagine that triangular rod sticking out from that black hole..