Let me apologize in advance for the length of this post. Today was my big day, the reason I bought the truck! My daughter was in a horse show, and I had to tow the trailer (2,200 lbs) and Shelly (900-lb Arabian), plus all her gear. I hooked up the trailer, got Shelly, and all was great! I was loving it! Towing with the F150 was so much better than towing with the SportTrac I previously owned.

I parked at the barn, and the grass was a bit muddy from the rain/snow we've just had. When the show was over, I went to take Shelly back and my read wheels started spinning. "No problem," I thought, "I'll just put this bad boy into 4WD and we'll be out of here lickety split! I didn't see any "4WD" lights go on the dash, but that wasn't a big deal. Then my rear wheels started spinning again. I lowered my window and looked at the front tires - nothing! I put the truck in Park, tried switching back to 2Hi, then to 4Hi, still nothing. I put it in 4Lo. Nothing. By this time, I was pissed. I had to be pulled out (luckily, it was another F150!).

It's a CPO 2005 FX4 Screw with 20k miles on it. I'm going to check the fuses, and if I have to, take out the radio console to see if there's anything wrong with the wiring at the switch. Otherwise, back to the dealership. Man, am I ticked off.

On the plus side, my daughter got three first-place ribbons and a second, plus she was Grand Champion in her division.

 

An update for anyone interested. I went out this morning and pulled the fuse. It was fine. Then I popped off the console to check the switch wiring. It seemed fine, too. Then I started up the truck and switched it into 4HI, and it worked! I switched it into 4LO and the same thing! Success! I don't know why, but I'm still going to have the dealer check into it.

 

good luck with that. congrats on your daughter too

 

I dont know if thats good news or bad. Most the time if it works sometimes, itll always work for the dealer lol

 

I was always told with my previous 4x4s to always enguage the 4x4 once every month just so the 4x4 doesnt get jammed.

I am glad everything is working now.

 

Had the exact same problem with my '06 as your experiencing. They had to replace my Transfer case shift motor. PN - 5L3Z*7G360*A

 

good luck with the truck and congrats to your daughter too

 

The shift motors going out on these are quite common and was more than likely the culprit. It should have set a code as well. Also the vacuum solenoids are prone to water intrusion on the earlier models but is usually a diffrent symptom( intermittent grinding noise) If it is under warranty by chance I would take it in.

 

It's going back to the dealership this week. He's got some new tires for me too (they were supposed to be on the truck when I picked it up).