What is this wire coming from the T-case shift motor harness?

[KaHOnas]

Look at the below photo. Coming out of the back of the shift motor harness plug, there is a single brown wire that runs just in front of the fill plug and terminates in the rear of the t-case rear driveshaft output. I've looked at both the shift motor rebuild writeups in the tech section but haven't seen any reference to this wire. I believe it to be part of the clutch sensing circuitry but I can't be sure.

BW 1354-22 tcase attached to a manual transmission.

I'm trying to rebuild my motor since I'm getting the 6-flash error. 4WD was working two weeks ago without issue. I suspect it may be that little plastic bushing inside the ring gear which serves as a limit stop. I want to remove the motor and give it a good service but I don't want to yank out this brown wire until I know what it is.

Thanks!

 

[RonD]

The brown wire is for the "shift on the fly" electric clutch inside transfer case

On 2000 and older Ranger 4x4s the front axles were not locked full time, so when you shifted from 2high to 4 high there needed to be a clutch that got the front drive shaft turning to smoothly engage with rear drive shaft that was already turning

In 2001 Ranger 4x4s got Live Axles, front hubs were always locked so no clutch was needed on 2001 and up transfer case as both drive shafts were always spinning at the same speed, so no RPM matching(clutch) needed for "shift on the fly"

You can just cut the brown wire and then splice it back together, or even better, unpin it from the 8 wire connector and repin it on new connector if you ever need to change the shift motor
Need a small/tiny screwdriver to release the pin

 

[rumblecloud]

Why is it so clean under there?

 

[RonD]

Yes, it is suspiciously clean under there.........................lol

Found this thread/article for removing brown wire from connector, with pictures : https://www.explorerforum.com/forums/threads/shift-motor-replacement-removing-replacing-the-brown-wire.344577/

No, it doesn't unplug from transfer case, you must disassemble transfer case to get access to electric clutch with brown wire attached, its a one-piece unit, like O2 sensor with leads attached

 

[KaHOnas]

Why is it so clean under there?

Hah! Thanks. It was my father's truck and he took great care of it. It's nice not having to dig through half an inch of sludge getting to stuff!

Next up, figure out where this oil leak is coming from...

 

[rumblecloud]

Well, it does look really clean. From the front tow hitch I assume it has tagged along on a lot of trips.
Good luck with it.

 

[KaHOnas]

From the front tow hitch I assume it has tagged along on a lot of trips.

Actually, he used it to park his boat in what was a very tight driveway.

 

[rumblecloud]

Well that is pretty damn smart Woulda never thought of doing that. Plus 1 for pops.

 

[adsm08]

For de-pinning that style connector a small screwdriver removes the red retainer easily. I have found one of the most effective tools for releasing the retaining clip for the pin itself is the filed down end of a paper clip.

I actually have a selection of custom filed paper clips at work for de-pinning connectors.

 

[KaHOnas]

For de-pinning that style connector a small screwdriver removes the red retainer easily. I have found one of the most effective tools for releasing the retaining clip for the pin itself is the filed down end of a paper clip.

I actually have a selection of custom filed paper clips at work for de-pinning connectors.

I'm a former helicopter mechanic and I have a large selection of lockwire at my disposal. A short piece of .042 stainless worked very well for this purpose.

You guys have been incredible for this. Thank you so much for your help!