I baought my 98 F150 4.6 V8 last May. I have never used the 4x4 until today. I was simply trying to gain more traction in the ice and snow we had last night. The handle normally sits all the way forward, I pull it back for 2L, 4H, and 4L. I was trying to just keep it in 4H this morning but everytime I hit the gas, the dang thing slipped out and I ended up using using 4L until I hit the highway and it was clear. I pulled over, switched it out and all that, but why will it stay in 4L but I am not getting any signs that it is staying in 2L or 4H.

1) How do I know when I am in 2L?
2) When do I know when I don't need to be in any of these higher gears anymore?
3) Do I still need to back up the 40 or so feet when I take it out of the higher gears?
4) Why won't it stay in 4H, when I know that I set in there but then my dash light goes out and I am running in complete neutral when I take off? Am I doing something wrong?

Thanks.

 

there is no 2LO the 97-03 F150's have 2HI 4HI 4LO. That is it.

 

Okay.... first, to shift from 2hi to 4hi, you don't have to stop... you can be traveling at up to 45mph. Because in order to shift down to 4lo, you must move the shifter left and rear, all you need to do is give the shifter a firm pull to the rear, it will move into 4hi and stop... it won't continue back to 4lo. If it slips out from there, you have transfer/shifter problems and might want to have it checked out.

 

There are 4 Transfercase lever positions. 2Hi - All the way forward. 4Hi - Pulled straight back. Neutral - Pull to 4Hi position then move lever to the left and pull back ½ of the stroke. 4Lo - From the neutral position pull back all the way. When you shift into 4Hi is the lever loose after the shift?

Regards

Jean Marc Chartier

 

In response to JMC: No, the lever is tighter than when it sits in the completely forward position.

Ok, 2H. Sorry. I told you this was my first manual shift 4x4. So, how do I know for sure when I am in 2H, there are no indicator lights and when I pull back on the stick, I can feel it go into Neutral, I can see the 4x4 light on the dash comeone just before that. I can also see the indicator light when 4L is engaged. Do I still need to back-up when I disengage my 4WD?

Thanks.

 

hey man everyone learns at one way.

 

No, you don't have to backup to disengage 4x4. No idea why it's not staying in 4hi after you pull the shifter in that position.. I thought the manual shift T cases were supposed to have minimal issues that way?? (well, that's what I read anyway.. )

Never had that problem with my electric shift 4x4....

 

At least we can be towed with wheels on the ground for... oh well, pretty much however far we want... and whatever speed we want. All without dropping the drive-shaft.

Anyway, this is by no means a normal problem... unlike the solenoid problem with electric shift

 

Ha, ha.... Yep, that's the draw back to the electronic shift for sure... But, I wasn't going to NOT buy my truck because of it!

 

Thank you all for your responses.

 

believe it or not, you can still manually shift an ESOF transfer case into neutral. there's no switch for it, but the electric switch transfer case still has a neutral.

 

what's the proper way to tow an electric shift? flat bed only?

 

Yes, flatbed only. It will ruin parts of the drivetrain if you exceed X amount of miles. Also minimonster- how do you shift a ESOF case into Neutral? I've never heard of that. Owned two like this.