4WD & 4WD Low Dash Light Issue

[jcronce]

Hello all,

I have a 1996 Ford Ranger STX with a manual transmission, manual locking hubs, 4.0 liter, 6 cylinder. When engaging 4WD high, both the 4WD and 4WD Low lights on the dash illuminate. I don't see any loose or broken wires on the transfer case. Any suggestions where I should look to resolve this issue. Thanks in advance.

Jeff

 

[ericbphoto]

Those lights are grounded by the control 4x4 module. There is some info in our tech articles for troubleshooting that. But before going too wild with that, I would shift it back a ND forth a bunch if times and see if it starts working. Make sure you are in neutral and vehicle not moving. Often, these don't get shifted as often as they should. So the motor gets to where it doesn't want to work properly or the switch contacts in the motor assembly get dirty or corroded so they can't tell the control module what position everything is in. Do you notice the 4x4 lights flashing at all? Sometimes they flash to tell you of a problem. The motor is fairly easy to open up to clean its switch contacts and lubricate the worm gear.

Troubleshooting Procedure - 1995-2000 4WD Module - The Ranger Station

Problem: 2000 Ranger 4×4. 4×4 will not engage. Green indicator light on switch will not illuminate. 4×4 high and low lights in dash will flash 4 or 5 times when key is first turned on but they do go off. … Continued

www.therangerstation.com

And;

Servicing A Transfer Case Shift Motor - The Ranger Station

Another of Ford’s “better ideas” is the electric shift motor on the transfer case. Evidently someone thought that two shift levers sticking out of the floor was one too many, and that it would be so much more convenient to … Continued

www.therangerstation.com

 

[jcronce]

Thanks for the reply. Your comment on shifting the manual lever back and forth was the key. I've noticed that the lever has been stiff recently. Therefore, I used WD40 on the linkage next to the transfer case and all is back to normal. It was odd that the indicator lights were not flashing. They both illuminated upon engaging 4 high with no malfunctions with 4 wheel drive engaging.

Thanks again,

 

[RonD]

You have a manual transfer case?
So a "twin stick", manual trans/manual transfer case

There is a 2 wire switch on the transfer case that Grounds each 4x4 light, as said above both 4WD lights get 12v with key on, then each light is grounded to turn it on

Image here of shifter and front 1/2 of transfer case: https://www.ranger-forums.com/attachments/drivetrain-tech-37/91888d1501275241-what-all-do-i-need-change-over-manual-transfer-case-my-4wd-p10100042.jpg

You can see the vent hose nipple then above that the plug in for the light switch, its a plunger type switch that sits on a cam inside transfer case, plunger is pushed up and down as you change selection
This would be the issue, spraying the linkage with lube probably didn't fix it, but may be a wire is bare and no longer grounding when shifting????

 

[ericbphoto]

Glad you got it.



(I assumed you were talking about an electric shift transfer case)

 

[jcronce]

Thanks again, Sorry I wasn't clear on initial description regarding the transfer case.