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Shift motor woes. Shiftster still a thing?


ericbphoto

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Glad it's working for you. Did you rig anything to hold it in whatever position you place it in?

BTW, I like the handle.

This message composed solely of recycled electrons. Go green!
 


6.2

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I was planning on doing something to hold it in position. But honestly it doesn't seem to need it. If you've ever switched it manually with a pair of pliers you'll know how stiff it is to switch, and the wrench doesn't have enough weight to it to make it switch on its own so I think it's good as is.
 

swynx

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fwiw ive come across a few threads where people have used an old chunk of hydraulic hose and attached it to something like you have built, put a handle on the end, and ran it to the driver seat, and that way they can put it into 4x4 without crawling under.

i am looking at doing something similiar as im tired of crawling underneath and getting dirty, 5 years of that shit is enough.
 

6.2

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yeah, see the nice thing about the wrench is I dont have to actually get on the ground or crawl under. Just have to squat, and reach with my arm and I can reach it lol

I was worried about having to still crawl under but luckily I dont
 

Ernie1945

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Anyone make/have the shifty’s? A little more electrical trouble-shooting and the motor is coming off and my mig welder to do something like above. I live in Fl don’t need shift -on fly.
 

Denisefwd93

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Have you actually taken apart a shift motor? yet I haven't done it to repair mine, but I have one we took apart, the bump stop on the bottom side of the big gear disintegrates on every one of them apparently, and that is usually the cause of it not going all the way into the shift position,. I was thinking of welding something to the big gear and connecting a longer flexible shaft something like you use the ratchet wrench what's some type of indicator and click stop on the floor of the truck but like everything "will I ever get around to it?"
 

Ernie1945

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I made my own solution today, Front vacuum switch off, lines plugged, motor apart and parts used to make manual shifter. Cost zero$. Someday I’ll mod it to shift from inside. I was excited to see front wheels turn on jack stands w/one rear on jack?
DCA08F2D-D21F-4EFC-B7FF-5F1CD1425B04.jpeg
 

Ernie1945

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See my homemade in tech library.
6FCE5D96-6B73-42DA-81DE-EEED818963DE.jpeg
 

franklin2

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I made my own manual shifter, but it's still electric. I cut the wires at the motor, and made sure it worked by hooking it to a battery charger. Swap the polarity of the wires, the motor goes one way, and then the other when the wires are swapped. Bolted it back onto the transfer case.

Then I took the two transfer case motor wires and extended them up to the driver' side inner fender under the hood. I took another cable with 4 wires in it, and ran that from the same area into the cabin to a switch under the dash. I used this switch which is already setup to polarity swap a dc motor.


Two power wires go to the two outside terminals, two motor wires go to the middle terminals.

Out under the hood I tied the power and ground directly to battery power with a fuse. Connected the motor wires from the switch to the motor wires coming from the transfer case.

The hook-up is done. Now all you need to do is figure out which direction the motor is going with the switch. With this setup you are sending 12v directly to the motor, so it moves fairly fast. So all you need to do is just bump the switch when moving it. Find a slippery hill, put it in reverse, if you are still in 2wd it should spin. Then bump the switch one direction. Make sure there is no pressure on the driveline. If you need to inch forward slightly do so, this is no different from getting a manual shift transfer case to shift. If nothing happens bump the switch the other way. You should be able to feel it engaging the transfer case.

Once I figured out which way the switch was working, I wanted 2wd to be up, 4x4 to be down. So I swapped the motor wires under the hood at my connection to make that happen. I then put a large "2" on the top and the large "4" on the bottom of the switch.

To help me later, I went to the shift computer, mine was under the dash panel on the pass side beside the speaker. I had the factory manual, and I had left all those other wires still hooked to the motor. There are wires from the computer to the console lights for 4 hi and low range, and there are switches inside the motor that tell the computer what position the motor is in. I found the 12v feed for the computer and cut it. I then found the common to the switches in the motor and cut it and tied it to the 12v. I then found the wires for 4 hi and 4 low from the motor and cut them, and found the wires to the console lights and cut them, and connected the switch wires directly to the proper lights.

Then when I moved my switch, the lights in the console would light up and tell me what mode I was in. I used this for years, it was still working when I took it off the road about 6 months ago. I converted a co-workers Bronco II the same way, and he loved it and I assume it is still working also.
 

ecgreen

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I made my own manual shifter, but it's still electric. I cut the wires at the motor, and made sure it worked by hooking it to a battery charger. Swap the polarity of the wires, the motor goes one way, and then the other when the wires are swapped. Bolted it back onto the transfer case.

Then I took the two transfer case motor wires and extended them up to the driver' side inner fender under the hood. I took another cable with 4 wires in it, and ran that from the same area into the cabin to a switch under the dash. I used this switch which is already setup to polarity swap a dc motor.


Two power wires go to the two outside terminals, two motor wires go to the middle terminals.

Out under the hood I tied the power and ground directly to battery power with a fuse. Connected the motor wires from the switch to the motor wires coming from the transfer case.

The hook-up is done. Now all you need to do is figure out which direction the motor is going with the switch. With this setup you are sending 12v directly to the motor, so it moves fairly fast. So all you need to do is just bump the switch when moving it. Find a slippery hill, put it in reverse, if you are still in 2wd it should spin. Then bump the switch one direction. Make sure there is no pressure on the driveline. If you need to inch forward slightly do so, this is no different from getting a manual shift transfer case to shift. If nothing happens bump the switch the other way. You should be able to feel it engaging the transfer case.

Once I figured out which way the switch was working, I wanted 2wd to be up, 4x4 to be down. So I swapped the motor wires under the hood at my connection to make that happen. I then put a large "2" on the top and the large "4" on the bottom of the switch.

To help me later, I went to the shift computer, mine was under the dash panel on the pass side beside the speaker. I had the factory manual, and I had left all those other wires still hooked to the motor. There are wires from the computer to the console lights for 4 hi and low range, and there are switches inside the motor that tell the computer what position the motor is in. I found the 12v feed for the computer and cut it. I then found the common to the switches in the motor and cut it and tied it to the 12v. I then found the wires for 4 hi and 4 low from the motor and cut them, and found the wires to the console lights and cut them, and connected the switch wires directly to the proper lights.

Then when I moved my switch, the lights in the console would light up and tell me what mode I was in. I used this for years, it was still working when I took it off the road about 6 months ago. I converted a co-workers Bronco II the same way, and he loved it and I assume it is still working also.
Questions:

1. so you bump it up for 2wd and down for 4wd. Do you bump down twice for 4lo?
2. What happens if you bump in the same direction twice or three times?
3. What happens if you don't just "bump" the switch and leave it switched on?
4. What amp fuse did you use to the battery?
 

bobbywalter

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Questions:

1. so you bump it up for 2wd and down for 4wd. Do you bump down twice for 4lo?
2. What happens if you bump in the same direction twice or three times?
3. What happens if you don't just "bump" the switch and leave it switched on?
4. What amp fuse did you use to the battery?

It's a momentary.....

hold till it turns on the light indicating range you want...

in neutral. I would suggest
 

franklin2

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Questions:

1. so you bump it up for 2wd and down for 4wd. Do you bump down twice for 4lo?
2. What happens if you bump in the same direction twice or three times?
3. What happens if you don't just "bump" the switch and leave it switched on?
4. What amp fuse did you use to the battery?
I don't know what voltage the computer used for the motor, but putting 12v on it makes it move very fast. This can be a good thing I think, giving it a good jolt after it sits all summer long. As long as you don't hold the switch up or down forever, I don't think you will burn the motor up. That is why I was always careful and just bumped the switch momentarily. I would bump it two or 3 times for low range. You could sometimes hear the gears engaging and the truck would jerk, just like a manual lever sometimes things don't want to line up inside the transfer case. Just inching forward just a bit will sometimes help it engage.

When I was going back to 2wd, I would always hit it 2 or 3 times to make sure I was all the way out of 4x4. All I then had to do was back up 8-10ft to unlock the hubs, and I was on my way.

I used a 30 amp circuit breaker to the battery because I had it laying around. You could use a smaller one if you wanted. Just something to cut power in case something happens to the wires.

You have to keep your head on straight using this. No shift on the fly anymore, unless you have converted to manual hubs and have them locked in. And you always have to be stopped to shift into 4x4 low. I never had any little kids in my truck, but if you do, I would suggest doing something so they can't play with the switch.

Being able to rely on the 4x4 system is a major relief when having one of these trucks.
 

ericbphoto

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The shift motor should be getting 12 volts. Reverse polarity to reverse motor direction.
 

franklin2

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The shift motor should be getting 12 volts. Reverse polarity to reverse motor direction.
Then the computer must have used a pulse width modulation signal like they use for the fuel injectors. To chop the 12v up. It's very easy to completely go by 4 Hi. Of course 4 lo and 2wd are easier, they are at the end of the motor travel.

And sometimes when going for 4 HI, you will miss sometimes and when you go to take off you may hear a little grinding noise because you went too far. Just a little bump in the right direction and it will fix it. It's one of those things you have to get the hang of. I think it's better than crawling under the truck.
 

franklin2

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P.S. I spent a lot of time fabbing up a shifter using the hose from a grease gun. Didn't work. The hose is just too flexible to work.
 

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