i have a 2001 f150 with 4 wheel drive. the **** to engage the 4 wheel drive is just to the left of my fan control for the heat and a/c. twice now i have accidentally engaged the 4 wheel drive while going down the road at about 70 mph while meaning to adjust the fan control for the a/c. i disengaged the 4wd as soon as i realized my mistake. what kind of damage could have been done? how can i tell if i did do any damage? i don't offroad, i just wanted to 4wd for trips to colorado so i don't actually use the 4wd very often, so if the differential is damaged now, i can't tell it. would appreciate any input or suggestions. chuck caton, wichita falls tx.

 

Howdy and welcome!

You are fine Chuck. If you would have a manual xfer case, it wouldn't be even able to wrestle the shifter into 4x4 if you tried at highway speed. The Electonic Shift On the Fly is no more able to do that either.

Happy wheelin!

Adrianspeeder

 

No big deal. If it did engage you're fine as long as you don't make any tight turns.
I used to have a Bronco II with the electronic transfer case and auto hubs. At least once a week I'd drop it into 4 wheel high while driving straight just keep everything lubricated. Actually, once the automatic hubs were locked I'd disengage 4 wheel drive and continue driving. As long as I didn't back up the hubs would remain locked and keep everything spinning.
BTW I drove that truck for 155,000 miles with no front end or transfer case troubles.

 

I doubt the computer would even send the signal to go to 4WD at that speed anyway.

 

I run my truck in 4wd at highway speed often on the way up north snowmobiling. Never had a problem with the TC.

 

thanks guys for the replies to my questions and concerns. i am relieved. i sure love my truck and would hate it if i were to hurt it by some stupid mistake. this is a most cool website. i'm very glad i found it. fords rule, all the rest drool. chuck

 

I've come close several times reaching for the 4x4 control instead of the fan switch. I wish it was in a different location.

 

Yeah...you'd know if you damaged anything when it engauged, if it ever did. There would have been a lot of nasty noises and perhaps a loss of forward momentum. If I remember right per the owners manual, you can select 4x4 HI at speeds up to 50mph. I would however never do it at that speed on dry roads. I do switch to 4x4 HI at speed of up to 30 (to lube front diff) from time to time on dry pavement (make sure to turn it back to 4x2 before turning a corner though). It's always engaged as smooth as silk, better than any other 4x4 I've owned in fact.

 

ya, thats the beauty of the PCM- if it doesnt want to do something, for the most part it won't. the shift-on-the-fly will only work at slower speeds. no big.

 

Yep that is the beauty! It probably didn't even engage at 70 MPH.

I don't use my Low-Range very often, but I did some moderate off-roading in late september and low range in these F-150s is awesome. Pair that up with the right rubber underneath you and you can go anywhere.

My 01 Screw is by far the best truck I've ever had, and I've had it since late 2002. It'll be like a family member dying when I have to finally trade it in.

 

Yeah, the other "beauty" of a PCM is if you want it to do something, it sometimes wont...

Adrianspeeder

 

yeah. it probably didnt even shift. Heat is your biggest fear. and you said you changed it back quickly and as long as you didnt turn hard your pretty safe. the t case is probably fine too.

 

since we're talking about 4 wheel drive here....listen to this...my brother the idiot he is and i dont even know why he did this....but we all went to pennsylvania to visit my parents for thanksgiving and there was probably a couple inches of snow on the ground and roads...all being dirt roads. so he put it into 4 wheel drive low!!!!!! and probably drove a good 5 miles going atleast 25-30 mph....and when i found out that he got stuck in 4 wheel drive low because of that i was like shocked that he would do this to his ford explorer sport....i mean how stupid can you be ....so he ended up burning all of his fluid in the transfercase.......this scared me because we used to share my f-150 until he got his own thing....

so just wondering besides the embarrasment and the burning of the fluid what else could he have possibly done to the truck....if he was smart he would have read the manual and found out what exactly your allowed to do in 4 wheel drive...anyways just telling the story