stuck in 4wd

[f150fan]

Hi hello,



I have a 99 explorer that is locked in 4wd



im a decent mechanic and have never needed to take a vehicle to a shop, but this has me baffled



it has a borg warner 44-05 xfer case, auto, 4 hi , 4 lo selector switch in cab NO LOCKING HUBS.



its not the elec motor on back of case, I replaced that and manually shifted to all 3 positions, for some reason the "auto" function keeps me in 4wd, so many sensors, lack of info, i cant figure it out...hope its just a bad xfer case, but cant be sure



any ideas on whats going on, or help to diagnose the problem?

need to narrow it to electrical auto function or mechanical xfer case prob


stuck on what to do, dont want to spend hundreds on troubleshooting for a vehicle not really worth much, but if its just a speed sensor or something and not xfer case



anyways please reply when you can,



any help is much appreciated



thanks

john

 

[blacksnapon]

Its WAAAAAAAY too hard to explain the actual operation of those transfer cases, so, I'm not going to. In short, it's always in 4x4. Any deviation of equal rotation from any of the wheels will put it into 4x4.

 

[lenny1carl]

Just a winging it...have you tried backing it up 100' after putting it back into Hi?
My nephew had an Exploder locked in 4..went to reverse for about 100' and it kicked out.
Just a thought.

 

[blacksnapon]

Inside the case, theres dozens of paper thin "clutches" that are packed in very tight. Any "slippage" creates heat that cause the clutches to warp, effectively eliminating any clearance, locking the case into 4x4. Neat in theory, but they wont take any, or very little rough road operation.

 

[polarbear]

Its WAAAAAAAY too hard to explain the actual operation of those transfer cases, so, I'm not going to. In short, it's always in 4x4. Any deviation of equal rotation from any of the wheels will put it into 4x4.

I'm amazed at how few peoople know that.

 

[offroadkarter]

What year explorer is this anyways?

 

[f150fan]

thanks for the ideas, im going to try disconnecting the connector on the case today...brown wire....from what i gather if I am still locked the its the xfer case and not an elec problem

this sound correct to you guys?

thanks

john

 

[dragogt]

What year explorer is this anyways?

'99 from the OP..

 

[f150fan]

still a 99

 

[offroadkarter]

thanks for the ideas, im going to try disconnecting the connector on the case today...brown wire....from what i gather if I am still locked the its the xfer case and not an elec problem

this sound correct to you guys?

thanks

john

The brown wire mod is for temporary 2wd, if you keep it unplugged you can burn out the transfer case

'99 from the OP..

So this should be a full time 4wd system then.

 

[f150fan]

ok, so i tried the brown wire trick.....disconnected, and still locked in 4wd, so can i safety assume thats its FOR SURE my xfer case thats bad?

I also checked for power at the brown wire, and had no power to it while the case is in 4wd

am i right on this?

let me know thanks

john

 

[polarbear]

ok, so i tried the brown wire trick.....disconnected, and still locked in 4wd, so can i safety assume thats its FOR SURE my xfer case thats bad?

I also checked for power at the brown wire, and had no power to it while the case is in 4wd

am i right on this?

let me know thanks

john

Not necessarily. I don't think we're tracking here- that Explorer is an ALL-WHEEL-DRIVE, not a 4X4. There is no 2WD setting, just over-rides for the Automatic 4X4 (equal power to both axles) and a 4Lo setting.

 

[blacksnapon]

Told you it was complicated

 

[f150fan]

so how would I definitively check to know if I have a bad xfer case or something else going wrong, im really close to taking it to the tranny shop and throwing lots of money at them even though it goes against everything i believe in. seems like there has to be a way to jump a wire, disconnect a wire, something to tell the xfer case to go to 2wd....am i wrong in that, I figured disconnecting the brown wire would do it...apprently not.

any other ideas, at my wits end, thought I had it licked today when I tried the brown wire

thanks for all the help

 

[73F100Shortbed]

Just from reading the posts here it seems like you don't have a 2wd option, so maybe nothing is actually wrong. Vince's diagram confuses me this late at night so I can't help try to explain it. Since you only have auto, 4 hi, and 4 lo then it pretty much sounds like it is all wheel drive.

 

[blacksnapon]

Yep, there is no 2 wheel drive option on that transfer case.

 

[offroadkarter]

so how would I definitively check to know if I have a bad xfer case or something else going wrong, im really close to taking it to the tranny shop and throwing lots of money at them even though it goes against everything i believe in. seems like there has to be a way to jump a wire, disconnect a wire, something to tell the xfer case to go to 2wd....am i wrong in that, I figured disconnecting the brown wire would do it...apprently not.

any other ideas, at my wits end, thought I had it licked today when I tried the brown wire

thanks for all the help

Does your 4x4 shift knob look like THIS?

Auto - 4Hi - 4Lo

If so, you can't have true 2WD

Does your 4x4 shift knob look like THIS?

2WD - 4Hi - 4Lo

If so, then you could have a faulty shift motor if you are stuck in 4x4.


Or does your radio bezel look like this, with no knob

If so, then your truck is AWD (or 2wd ) and can't be shifted into 2wd mode....

 

[f150fan]

i have the selector with auto, 4hi, and 4lo, like the top picture, i just cant believe that It is normally locked in 4wd in normal driving conditions, it makes no sense to me, but maybe.

I get a horrible vibration at 35-40 mph which led me to check things out and i found the front drive spinning.

so this is normal for these types of vehicles?

what the hell does the auto function do then?

even more confused now then I was last week

thanks for all the help
John

 

[polarbear]

Does your 4x4 shift knob look like THIS?

Auto - 4Hi - 4Lo

If so, you can't have true 2WD

Does your 4x4 shift knob look like THIS?

2WD - 4Hi - 4Lo

If so, then you could have a faulty shift motor if you are stuck in 4x4.


Or does your radio bezel look like this, with no knob

If so, then your truck is AWD (or 2wd ) and can't be shifted into 2wd mode....

You sure the third pic isn't of a 2WD? Pretty sure it is.

The way it was explained to us salesguys, the 4X4 position only exists to lock the system into equal power to both axles, for deep snow or glare-ice conditions. The rest of the time, the system decides how much power to divvy up between the front and the back. 4Lo same story, except for the 2:1 reduction ration. Affectionately known as the "boat ramp position."

 

[blacksnapon]

i have the selector with auto, 4hi, and 4lo, like the top picture, i just cant believe that It is normally locked in 4wd in normal driving conditions, it makes no sense to me, but maybe.

I get a horrible vibration at 35-40 mph which led me to check things out and i found the front drive spinning.

so this is normal for these types of vehicles?

what the hell does the auto function do then?

even more confused now then I was last week

thanks for all the help
John

The vibration is not normal by any means. You might have a bent shaft, bad u-joint, among others. You might try 4 high and remove the front driveshaft, then see if the vibration is gone.