Put the truck in 4 Lo yesterday just to see if it actually worked. Well, it worked fine, but now it will not come out of 4 Lo; won't even go into 4 Hi. It is an FX4 with the dash switch. Any ideas as to how to get it back to 2wd or even 4 Hi?

 

Try reverse for 25+ feet

 

Brake.

Neutral.

Turn switch.

Adrianspeeder

 

My truck has done this to me many times before. Sometimes it will not want to go into 4Lo and others it will not want to come out of 4Lo. I have been meaning to take it to the dealer for this reoccuring problem for the last three months, but have not had the time.

It will go in and out of 4Hi just fine every time, but 4Lo is a different matter all togeather. I have actually become gun shy about even using 4Lo, it can be embarissing having to go foward-reverse-foward-reverse to get the damn thing to unlock. Its not user error unfortunately, there seems to be something wrong in the system. If you ever figure it out please let me know.

 

I have had the same problem. Luckily its not all the time but good luck getting your dealer to do something about it. Every dealer I had check it out said they couldn't get it to duplicate. Regardless, good luck and keep us updated.

 

After brake, neutral, turn switch, back-up, restart, brake, neutral, turn switch it finally went CLUNK out of LO. Thanks to all who responded.

It is a real catch 22. Nice to know I am not alone with this, but discouraging that it is another "known" problem.

 

I thing the Ford TSB 98-URSCRD said you are supposed to do it like this, Forward, reverse,
brake, neutral, forward, reverse, hit the horn, say the “F” word 6 times, punch the airbag then
forward 29.2 feet, reverse 6.9 feet, brake, gas, neutral, forward, reverse, punch the door glass and swear to never by a Ford again. It’s sad that you can never rely on that system (one of the simplest things in the world) to work right. :santa:

 

That's one of the reasons I ordered my truck with the good old lever coming out of the floor....

 

Hmmm, I was told when I bought mine that the "lever coming out of the floor" was not an option.

 

Me too, but maybe he does not have the crew cab or super cab?

 

The manual transfer lever is not available on the Lariat or FX4...which is why I got the XLT. Can't get it on a XLT if you get captain chairs. I've got a scab.

 

yeah, the last few times I've tried mine, it will not go into 4 lo. I'll have to try the forward/reverse/swearing method.

 

I wish the crew cabs had the good old-fashioned transfer case floor shifter. I HATE the dash switch for 4wd.

Grim

 

This is why you need to use all of the 4-wheel drive features every now and then. The switching is done by a little power window motor or a wiper motor mounted on the transfer case that will freeze up if not used periodically. So make it a habbit to put it in 4 low too. It is easy to shift on the fly to 4 high while you are driving, but make sure you stop and do the same for the low position. It is advised that you do it on wet pavement or off road grassy/dirt/stone area so it won't bind up.

 

The old xfer case shifter and some manual lock-out hubs would be great on these wouldn't it.
4-wheel drive is like anything mechanical. It needs to be exercised every now and then to keep it working smooth.