I have a 93 F 150 4x4 that I'm trying to get back into good running condition. I posted to this forum earlier about an idle problem I am having, and in the process of driving the truck until I could fix that problem. (I'm working on it!) I decided to replace my front wheel bearings and switch out my automatic locking hubs for manual locking hubs. (I popped one of the automatic hubs a while back.) First let me say that if anyone is attempting to replace their wheel bearings on this type of truck and they think they won't need the special spanner socket the repair books tell you that you need, you're wrong. You need it! And have fun getting the C shaped washer out. It's an aggravating little bugger.

Now to the problem I'm having. When I pushed my button to engage the 4 wheel drive nothing happened. So I pushed it and held it in for a few seconds and I heard a clicking sound. It still didn't light the light on the dash so I pushed it in and held for a few seconds more and it lit the dash light and engaged the transfer case. Good deal! My problem is that I had to do the same thing every time I want to turn on the 4 wheel drive. All I used to have to do was push the button once and I didn't have to hold it in. Anybody know what the deal is? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Just reporting back in on the problem I mentioned earlier. Suddenly it's working properly again? I don't know what the deal is, because I didn't do anything to try and fix it. It had been a while (about 5 months) since I had engaged the transfer case because of the one broken automatic hub. Maybe (but I think I know better) it took the computer a while to relearn all the checks it does before actually engaging the transfer case? Anyway.... it seems to be working fine now, but if anyone has had a similar problem that didn't go away, I'd sure like to hear what they did to fix it. I'm thinking maybe bad contacts or a relay in the process of going bad somewhere in the electronic actuating system? Any info anyone can provide will be greatly appreciated. (There's nothing in my Haynes manual that mentions anything about the electronic engaging system, other than a brief description of the system it's self.)

Either way..... it's nice having my 4 wheel drive working again. I work construction, and I sure wasn't looking forward to the prospects of getting stuck in a muddy mess at one of the local dumps. Not to mention a fishing season of burning my tires off trying to get my bass boat out of the water. Steep wet ramps = slippery ramps.

 

Could be a faulty relay or the shift motor on the x-fer case itself. Mine did the same, turned out to be the shift motor. There is an upgraded motor. you may have the old one. It's ID'd by the motor cover color. Can't remember what the upgraded color is. Maybe someone will come along with the info.