4x4 t case motor 7 or 10 wires?

[Swooten]

Yes, or it has turned too far and is wedged against the stop so can't reverse, you can try tapping on motor while powering it up
This happens with power windows as well, lol, hit the door a few times and Voila window moves

Ok thanks I will try that to

 

[Swooten]

Ok I have a 99 ford ranger XLT supercab 4x4 stepside and I thought my switch motor was bad since my 4x4 isnt working so I took the motor off and i turned the stud that turns the 4x4 and it engaged in 4HI and 4L so i know it isnt my transfer case so so I just replaced the switch motor it still doesn't engage so my next question is where do I go from there since I got it to engage by manually turning the stud on the back of the transfer case and it worked that way so that should by pass all my front end problems like broken airline etc... right so where do I look from there..oh and my 4x4 dashlights still flash on and off

 

[RonD]

If the 4x4 lights flash then motor isn't moving

Test motor by hooking it up to battery 12v and ground
Open the hood and take old motor to battery
There are two wires, usually yellow and orange, that run to the electric motor part of the shift motor housing

Hook those up to battery, one to positive and other to negative, motor should move, then reverse wires and motor should move the other way
If not motor is bad

If motor is OK then problem is either the fuse or the wires from cab to shift motor
Fuse 3 in engine fuse box powers the shift motor, test it, don't just look at it
It should have 12v all the time

 

[Curious Hound]

RonD beat me to it.

There are some good troubleshooting articles in our tech library that should be helpful.

Transmission, Transfer Case & Driveshaft - The Ranger Station

DISCLAIMER: Activities and vehicle modifications appearing or described at The Ranger Station and it’s pages may be potentially dangerous. We do not endorse any such activity for others or recommend it to any particular person – we simply describe … Continued

www.therangerstation.com

 

[Swooten]

Ok thanks guys I tried that with the motor it works as it should I can lock my transfers case in 4x4 by turning the stud that sticks out of my transfer case so next I guess I need to look at getting the module thats behind the radio?

 

[pjtoledo]

the motor also turns a plate with several contact strips that tell where the motor is. if the contacts are dirty the motor/controller are confused as to which mode its in.
cleaning contact strips is cheap.

 

[Curious Hound]

I agree with PJToledo. I would tun it back snd forth s few times disconnected from the t-case. Then mount it back up and see if it works.

 

[Swooten]

Ok thanks I will give that a try

 

[Swooten]

You are talking about testing the acurator motor several mores times with the battery (unhooked from the transfer case right)

 

[Curious Hound]

You are talking about testing the acurator motor several mores times with the battery (unhooked from the transfer case right)

Yes. I would try to operate it plugged into the harness, but not mounted to the transfer case if possible. But you may need to just cycle it with a battery a couple times first.

 

[RonD]

1995 to 2000 Ranger 4x4s used the GEM module as the controller but there was also a Dual Relay box behind the GEM module
The dual relay box is what sends 12volt from fuse 3 in the engine fuse box to the shift motor
The dual relay box was not a known failure point, but anything can fail

The flashing 4WD lights indicate the GEM is powered and 4x4 software is working

As said there are 5 POSITION wires on the shift motor, if any of these 5 wires were broken or not making contact the GEM would not know the current position of the shift motor, so would flash the 4WD lights, same as if the motor didn't move when GEM activates the dual relay box

So if the shift motor works by applying 12v/ground directly then there are still several things to check

 

[Swooten]

Ok I have another question I have replaced my actuator motor and my 4x4 module and my 4x4 still will not lock in with the switch I can remove my actuator motor and lock my 4x4 in manually and it works fine no noise or anything so my question is should I replace my actuator switch on my dash now ..and my 4x4 light on my dash flashes 4 times now kinda slow where before I replaced my monitor would flash once and then 5 times fast

 

[RonD]

No on the 4WD switch, never even read of one of those failing, and if 4WD light flash after moving the switch to a different position then the GEM module IS getting the change/voltage from the switch

Remove actuator motor and bring it to the engine bay
You will see the 2 wires that go to the electric motor on actuator, yellow and orange wires usually
(the other 5 wires are position sensors/contacts)

Hook up the motor to battery positive and the other wire to battery negative, motor should move
REVERSE the wires, positive to negative and negative to positive and motor will turn the OTHER WAY

It's just like a power window motor, +/- up, -/+ down

If motor turns both ways then its OK, it does have STOPS inside so it will only turn so far in one direction

On the actuators connector on the truck, the Motor wires should BOTH read as Grounds with key on engine off
If not then the Dual Relay box behind the GEM may be bad or unGrounded
Put a volt meter on those 2 wires and move the Dash switch, should see +12v or -12volt, just for a moment
If not then fuse in engine bay is blown or Dual relay box is not working

Fuse 3 in engine bay is just for the actuator motor its wire runs to the Dual Relay box
Both relays in the box are Grounds when not in use, GEM only needs to activate 1 relay(making it 12v) to move the transfer case shifter
The Flashing 4WD light usually means GEM tried to move motor but "sensors/contacts" didn't change so it stopped
You should hear the one relay "click" when you change switch position

 

[Swooten]

Just to let you know I got mine fixed I replaced the accurator motor and the module behind the radio and the 4x4 switch and it was still not working so I started looking at the relays under the hood I swapped the number 3 relay with number 1 and it started working

 

[RonD]

I think you mean FUSES not relays

Smaller fuses in engine fuse box
Fuse #1 = AC, 10amp
Fuse #3 = 4x4 shift motor, 20amp

Relay #1 is wiper park relay
Relay #3 is wiper hi/lo relay