Execut1ve

moving this over from drivetrain subforum to get some response

1994 5.0L 4R70W trans electronic shift 4wd w/ auto hubs

Lately my 4wd has not been working. Historically, it would shift into 4hi all right, but now when I press the 4lo button nothing happens at all.

this past winter I noticed the same thing happening with 4hi: press the button, nothing happens.

I have verified that the truck is not currently stuck in 4wd. I have also checked fuse 18. I suspect the problem is electrical, either a bad connection or shift motor, but I don't know how to troubleshoot those things.

any advice or suggestions appreciated!

infantry351

The other day I was having problems getting out of fwd. Push the button and nothing. So I tapped the shift motor with a wrench like u would do to a crappy starter and presto it worked. Try this and if it works yull know your culprit

Execut1ve

I'll give that a try. is the shift motor something that can be removed and bench tested? or I guess I could at least verify that it's getting power while still in the vehicle using a multimeter

Forge-World-FORD

The shift motor comes off, 4 or five bolts. I don't know of any real bench tests for it. You could remove it but leave it plugged in and have someone push the buttons I suppose.

Execut1ve

I got the chance to pull the shift motor this afternoon. I noticed a small amount of fluid came out when it came off the transfer case. is that normal?

anyway, I had an unwilling assistant (wife) sit in the truck and press the button while I observed beneath. the motor jerked a couple times but the shaft did not actually turn. same thing 4hi & 4lo.

To me that looks like an electrical connection that has gotten a little loose, and when any significant voltage is put across it, the connection fails. Any thoughts or suggestions from anyone?

my plan going forward is to try to find a known good shift motor to connect and repeat this test. Hopefully that will narrow down to either a failing motor or a connectivity issue