jknapp648
New Member
- Joined
- October 14, 2014
- Messages
- 1
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- Brownstown, MI
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 2001 Ford Explorer
Hey everyone, new member here, although I've been on this site much in the past looking for information. This time however my searching has come up short. I can't find anyone who's had the same problem as me, so here's a little background info to help...
A few months ago (2001 Explorer 4.0 SOHC, had about 180,000 miles on it at the time), the shift module on my transfer case went out and I lost four wheel drive completely. Now, just under 10,000 miles later after I got that replaced, I'm once again getting no four wheel drive. I found out the hard way, as a friend of mine called me saying he was stuck in some mud and needed a pull (yeah yeah, us stupid teenagers...). I've been to this trailing spot near home many times before so I didn't think there'd be any issue. I popped my explorer into 4 low, made it over to him, and we got the strap hooked up. I started to pull him, and I just sank into the grass and mud. Everyone around starting shouting asking if I was in four wheel drive because just my rear spun. So we unhooked the strap, and then I was stuck. So after several hours I finally got dragged out to dry land by an F-250 and lost a fog light in the process (slammed into some huge ruts).
Today I jacked up the front end, and did some tests to see what was wrong. I spun the front left tire and the front right spun the opposite direction, as it should. No axle issues atleast (was maybe thinking I'd have to do an SAS swap sooner than I wanted to). Next I found my issue. The front driveshaft would not spin. I tried it by hand, but wouldn't spin. Then, still in park, I started it up and turned the dial to 4 high. Still couldn't spin the shaft. Did something break inside my transfer case? At 190,000 miles, I wouldn't be surprised. It hasn't had the easiest past two years since I've had it (again, stupid teenager stuff
). It feels as if the transfer case is locked, but I still don't get four wheel drive in any of the settings (auto, high, or low), even though I can hear it locking when I select 4 low. I've done a lot of searching on this but in all the threads I've found, their front driveshaft would atleast spin by hand unlike mine.
A little extra info, last week I replaced the front right hub assembly as the bearing was bad. And for the past few days, I've gotten a dragging and whirring from the front left wheel as if it was locked in 4x4 even though the switch was set to auto (dirty or failed hub?) The weirdest part is even now, as my four wheel drive doesn't work, I still get the dragging and whirring from the front left as if it's still locked in four wheel.
I'm really stumped, and before I go dropping more cash into this (trans rebuild, lift and tires has killed me so far), I wanted to get some more experienced opinions. A local junkyard only charges around $120 for a used t-case (or so I've heard...) so maybe I won't break the bank with this one. Looks like my stock 44-05 couldn't hold up to my beating :shifty_ey
A few months ago (2001 Explorer 4.0 SOHC, had about 180,000 miles on it at the time), the shift module on my transfer case went out and I lost four wheel drive completely. Now, just under 10,000 miles later after I got that replaced, I'm once again getting no four wheel drive. I found out the hard way, as a friend of mine called me saying he was stuck in some mud and needed a pull (yeah yeah, us stupid teenagers...). I've been to this trailing spot near home many times before so I didn't think there'd be any issue. I popped my explorer into 4 low, made it over to him, and we got the strap hooked up. I started to pull him, and I just sank into the grass and mud. Everyone around starting shouting asking if I was in four wheel drive because just my rear spun. So we unhooked the strap, and then I was stuck. So after several hours I finally got dragged out to dry land by an F-250 and lost a fog light in the process (slammed into some huge ruts).
Today I jacked up the front end, and did some tests to see what was wrong. I spun the front left tire and the front right spun the opposite direction, as it should. No axle issues atleast (was maybe thinking I'd have to do an SAS swap sooner than I wanted to). Next I found my issue. The front driveshaft would not spin. I tried it by hand, but wouldn't spin. Then, still in park, I started it up and turned the dial to 4 high. Still couldn't spin the shaft. Did something break inside my transfer case? At 190,000 miles, I wouldn't be surprised. It hasn't had the easiest past two years since I've had it (again, stupid teenager stuff
). It feels as if the transfer case is locked, but I still don't get four wheel drive in any of the settings (auto, high, or low), even though I can hear it locking when I select 4 low. I've done a lot of searching on this but in all the threads I've found, their front driveshaft would atleast spin by hand unlike mine. A little extra info, last week I replaced the front right hub assembly as the bearing was bad. And for the past few days, I've gotten a dragging and whirring from the front left wheel as if it was locked in 4x4 even though the switch was set to auto (dirty or failed hub?) The weirdest part is even now, as my four wheel drive doesn't work, I still get the dragging and whirring from the front left as if it's still locked in four wheel.
I'm really stumped, and before I go dropping more cash into this (trans rebuild, lift and tires has killed me so far), I wanted to get some more experienced opinions. A local junkyard only charges around $120 for a used t-case (or so I've heard...) so maybe I won't break the bank with this one. Looks like my stock 44-05 couldn't hold up to my beating :shifty_ey
