98 ranger 4.0 4x4 wont work

[nmoore]

98 ranger 3.0 4x4 wont work

hey i have a 98 ford ranger 3.0 extended cab and somedays when you start the truck the 4x4 lights (both hi and low) will flash about 5 times every 2 minutes. When it is doing this they 4x4 will not even try to engage. Other days it may not be flashing when you start it and when you try to engage it wont and then it will start to flash. Then other days when its not flashing at start up it will go into 4x4 like nothings wrong. Does anyone got any ideas? All help is appreciated.Thank You.

 

[WillXLT98]

Vacuum hubs maybe?
Those things are notorious for failing, but i'm not sure of all the symptoms.

 

[nmoore]

Should i just take the truck to a ford garage or is this something i may be able to try to fix myself

 

[bufordanthony]

Have you been mudding, or on trails at all? They tend to get dirty and clogged up, and the vacum doesn't work well. You can try cleaning the screens and stuff, and see if that works, but it's probably time for new hubs.

 

[nmoore]

No havn't been mudding or anything. What do i do just trace down the vacume lines and check them out. Make sure they aren't cracked. I have no idea i have been driving it this way for a year now and just need to figure it out. I Have posted this question on alot of other forums and never recived any responses. Just found this forum yesturday and already love it.

 

[bufordanthony]

Read your problem again. I know you don't want to hear this, but it sounds electrical. You can rule out the hubs by checking your vacum lines like you said. Soapy water, or just pull one off one wheel, and check with gauge. Should be 8" to engage, and 5" to disengage. You can also try finding someone with a higer end computer and pull the codes. Don't think the generic ones at autozone, and pep boys will do, but maybe. Start cheap, check the fuses. There is one in the cab everyone knows about, but there should be a 20A under the hood. Check for loose connections, corrosion, nicked wires etc... . Next would be the switch in the dash. Contact points in switch, loose wires, blah blah blah. And then the good ol' shift motor behind the passenger kick panel I think. If you shift, and don't hear a clicking noise from that direction, your motor hasn't shifted. Could be stuck, and burned out, but most likely if it works sometimes then there is a shitty connection somewhere. The lights flashing is just a generic dummy alerth that there is something wrong with the system. Keep us informed if you find it.

 

[bufordanthony]

Almost forgot, I'm pretty sure the speed sensor will cause a problem too. They're fairly cheap, and easy to replace if you are going to go down the swaptronics mode of troubleshooting.

 

[bufordanthony]

If your hubs are in fact at fault, do a search in the tech library for AVM manual hub swap over. Fairly cheap (100-150 I think), and crazy easy to install (if everything cooperates). Then you have more reliable manual hubs, that actually disengage your front instead of just letting in spin.

 

[paversano]

just unplug and plug the battery back again to reset the computer.