I said the light was coming on,,and the front drive shaft was turning but not engaging the front. in fact the light won't go off,,it still says that its in 4xH,,but its not. so i don't know.

 

I have tried going back and forth to 4 low in neutral to 4 high and I hear all the engage sounds as though everything is working yet no power to the front wheels? I hear the sounds every time I try the @#!**@!! switch and never get power to the front wheels

I had this happen a couple of years ago ... then one day it worked go figure??

To me I think it's an electrical problem some where in the system.

My multi-function switch doesn't work properly either!

My 2 cents .... and yes we just got hit hard by the Blizzard and no 4x4

 

pretty much the exact same thing is going on with my truck right now. I had a lift put on in december and when i went to pick it up they handed me corroded vacumn lines. I went to my dealership and got new ones put on. problem solved right? apparently not. I've been offroading twice since I got it fixed, the first time my 4wd just didnt feel right, no power, in the front. Theyd click and the light would come on and i had to put a lot more pressure on the brake to stop in 4lo. The second time was at a rock quarry and they had a sand pit. My friends dad owns it and he said itd be fine if we went in the sand. well my tires are 35 in. and the sand ended up about 3 in. over that with my axle in the sand as well. We got it out but it still felt like no power in the front. we did some muddin and it felt a little better i thought but still not the same as it was.


My ABS light is on to and it shouldnt be so another trip to the dealership is on its way soon. for both issues

 

If the light comes on, it means that the transfer case shift motor has shifted the lockup collar inside the t-case and the driveshafts should be locked together at that point.

Your problem lies with the front axle. The short version is that the center axle disconnect can bind-up due to lack of use, the vacuum lines that control it can break or get eaten by battery acid, the solenoids that actuate the system can stick, or the wiring or power to the solenoids can fail. Just because the 4wd doesn't work doesn't make it a transfer case problem.

-Joe

 

I also have no 4wdrive. The light comes on but no 4wdrive. I just checked my fuses Fuse 13,fuse17,fuse 23. What does fuse 17 control beacause mine is missing. I had a remote starter put in two months ago. I wonder if the installer took the fuse for his install. I'll try searching for fuse 17 info.

 

i don't have a #17 myself-the owners guide says there is no fuse there.

 

well,if its not the shift motor,that fu*&% going to pay for the part,,hey yano who has a good price on parts is "auto parts warehouse"they will match or beat any price !

 

What year?

For a 98, fuse #17 should be in the power distribution box under the hood. It powers the shift on the fly relay, transfer case shift module relay, and the transfer case electric clutch relay.

Slot 17 inside the central junction box should be empty. Sorry for the confusion... I forgot to specify which box they were in.

-Joe

 

i didn't know that,,and i never checked that box for fuse problems,,are the fuses the same kind as in the truck ?

 

We just got a big snow here in north penn and near the begining of the storm my 4x4 seemed to be working fine. When i hit the switch the dash light comes on like normal. When i shift into 4wl i even here that clunk. The problem is the front tires dont seem to spin or pull at all.I stud on my running borad and watched the front tires stand still while i was spinning the back tires.I have like 5 days left on my 30 day warrenty from ford dealership so i made an appt for it to be looked at on monday.The guy at the desk tried to tell me it is probably some snow built up somewhere underneath and its preventing it from engaging. I actually hope he is wrong because if thats the case will i loose my 4 wheel drive every time we have a heavy snow?IM not very happy at this point with this F-150. I bought it jan 22nd with 74k on it,it was fully maintained through teh ford dealership from day one locally owned but in one month i have went through 2 starters, one cv boot, and now a 4x4 issue.Thank god the engine seems in perfect running shape and kicks butt with all the new mods i added to it.Any answers to what the possible issue could be chime in please.

 

Umm wow, stealerships say anything I guess. I'd bet a bad Center Axle Disconnect, vacuum line/controller for the CAD, or an electrical problem.

Some are, but there are also mega fuses.

Adrianspeeder

 

I got my truck fixed today,,it was the shift motor.









thanks to all that helped !

 

If it had been the shift motor, the front driveshaft would not have been turning. The only possibility is that the GEM wasn't getting the feedback from the shift motor, but if that was the case, the light wouldn't have been coming on.

I'm not buying it.... the symptoms don't fit the diagnosis, unless I'm missing something. (Which is very possible... I'd love to learn more about what the exact problem was...)

E-mail me... I've got some more questions about it....

-Joe

 

I am experiencing a similar condition as the original poster to this thread.

I have a 2003 FX-4 (5.4L V8) with the electronic shift-on-the-fly switch on the dash. When I attempt to change into 4H or 4L, I get nothing--no dash indicators and no change in handling no sounds out of the ordinary that would lend me to believe that the system is engaging or not.

I checked fuse #23 in the cab (4x4 relays, 4x4 solenoids) and fuse #104 (4x4 shift motor and clutch) in the power distribution box under the hood and they seem to be OK.

What I have not checked is the actual relays and solenoids themselves nor do I know really how to check them. From the manual, it doesn't seem like these are located in the power distribution box and being the amateur mechanic I am, I dunno where they are exactly.

Does anyone have any further troubleshooting suggestions? Most of my driving is admittedly NOT off road and is interstate in nature, so I use my 4WD very rarely. I usually try and test it once every 3-6 months and this last time it failed.

Any suggestions would be most appreciated.

Thanks,
-Bryan

 

Did Ford ever come up with a better design on the shift motors? I had a 91 Expoler and in the shift motor there was a plastic bushing that busted allowing it to travel to far oneway and then would not move the oppisite way. It was in the cover of the motor where there was a track of 3 or 4 contacts that told the comp what position it was in.........One more thing when it done this the lights on the controler would come on but 4wd would not engage...