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4X4 button keeps clicking


Shaker75

Active Member
Joined
Mar 5, 2008
Messages
35
Vehicle Year
1994
Transmission
Manual
I have a 94' ranger 4.0L. When I press the 4X4 button on the dash, it just keeps clicking but the light will not go off. Also, I drove it today and it seems to be stuck in 4 wheel low. The light for 4 wheel low is not on though on the dash and when I press that button, it just keeps clicking as well. Does anyone have any idea as to what might be causing this? I checked the connections to the shift motor and they seem to be fine. I am still wondering what this extra connector goes to that comes off the main engine harness and is right next to the large connector that connects to the harness on the trans and transfer case. Please let me know what you guys think.
 
More than likely it's the transfer case shift motor.

There is a disc inside of it that has these contacts. As the motor shifts the transfer case, brushes slide around the disc. This allows the 4x4 system to know where it's at.

Usually over time the dielectric grease from the factory gets hard, either from age and/or non-use. The brushes don't contact the contacts on the disc and the shift motor gets "lost". It goes into a fail safe mode and will not shift.

My suggestion is to use the search function to look up how to clean the disc and contacts, or just replace the shift motor with a used "known" good, or new replacement shift motor.

There are some other possiblities as a cause for your problem, and there is a procedure somewhere on here to test the 4x4 control module, but with the shift motor being the usual perp, i'd say go with it.

Here we go:

http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=97
 
Last edited:
Thanx for the reply, I have been thinking that the shift motor is the issue. I am going to pull it out tomorrow and see what is going on. It has been sitting for about 6 months without being engaged which tells me that the grease or fluid inside is definitely stiffened up. I will get back to tell you guys what I find.
 
It is all better now. I didnt have the right torx key to take the shift motor apart and clean it, so I swapped the one from the explorer that I used as a donor car and it works great. If I had my dremel available I would have cut some slots in the tops of the screws so I could take the original shift motor apart. I am going to rebuild it for future use. Thanks for all the help. Oh and I got my check engine light to turn off. I think it was due to a bad engine ground. I cleaned up the ground cable and all is well now.
 
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