4wd Won't DisEngage

Ok here is the problem. My dads 91 Explorer will not disengage. Sounds like a baseball card in spokes, he says. He tried to go in reverse for awhile but it won't kick out. Looked through the Chiltons manual but no avail and looked through here but only found maybe it could be the automatic hubs. Any info or suggestions maybe a 4wd switch on the console needs to be replaced or something else.

sounds to me like its the hubs. The grinding and nasty noises that they like to make. LOL Anyway, to disengage them, put in the 4x4 then take it out and back up for like 15 or so feet and that should do the trick to at least get you through the rest of the winter. I prefer my parents Blazer 4x4 system over my Explorers. Has a much better way of doing things. Good Luck with it.

yeh i always tell my dad you need to get a chevy no hubs to lock. He tried to go in reverse ill tell him to do it somemore.

My dad said the 4low came on by itself and wont go out. He pulled all the circuits and the battery cable and did some more reversing to no effect. If you hit the button on the console you hear a whirring a noise. Like its trying to go in but i dont know

4 low came on by itself?? Hmm.. usually just 4 high will do that when the hubs go bad. You have to put it in neutral to take it out of 4 low.

ill let him know

He told me he tried neutral for the 4Low. He said it does not matter it wont come out for anything.

man that sucks. Tell him not to drive it like that. You can't even go above like 30 mph. Could be that the shift motor is sticking. Go underneath and on the transfer case, there is a wiper motor looking case that is a cylinder shape with some wire connected to it. Try giving it a few whacks with a rubber mallet and it might loosen up a seized brush or something. That could be your whole problem. Let us know how it turns out. Good Luck

alright will let him know. kinda have a noreaster goin down outside right now but he is driving my moms cavalier i dont let him near my blazer.

Yeah I had fun in that Nor'easter with my broken 4x4- got home just in time. It sucks living in Delaware in the winter :(

I had fun this morning went to move my blazer back on the street turned around got hung up on snow and ice ended up in a fence and shrub had to have my uncle pull me out with his jeep. My dad said he knows what your talking about did not climb under yet.

Cool- let us know how it turns out so anyone else with the problem can try to solve it.

yup tomorrow night will do

my dad said today its out of 4low still stuck in 4high because he can get to highway speed without much of a problem. We hope to get under there on Saturday morning its supposed to be a little warmer/

ok we pounded on it no luck. There was this big ol wiring bracket down there and we unplugged that and this other one. Still in.

Definately sounds like those hubs are just frozen up. That really sucks. I wonder if jacking it up and wiggling the wheel around would dislodge it? I don't know if taking the wheels off would do any good- but at this point something needs to be done anyway, so it probally can't hurt. Best of luck man-

yeh i know. My dad and i were at the junkyard this morning and on the way we saw a K5 blazer for sale for 1500 bucks. he goes to me if your mom would allow i buy that for you and take your S10 Blazer that would solve the problem .

Sounds good :) Not bad if its not all rusted out

body looked good not real rusty just an 84

The older the better! Less stuff to go wrong with it-

true

By an act of God today it went out by it self. My dad said he does not know how but he came down this morning and the 4low light went out and then the 4 high went out automatically. He is gonna probally unhook it either at the transfer case or the switch behind the dash.

I would say the problem is not with the switch or transfer case. It is most likely the hubs have too much grease in them and froze up because of cold temps. Since the weather has warmed up they probably unfroze. Take the hubs off and clean out all the excess grease very carefully. Lube up with a little automatic transmission fluid. This should probably fix the problem. Good Luck

My dad was talking to the mechanic today because my moms cavalier blew a head gasket a week ago and he said he will look it over in April when it goes in for inspection. He said to my dad he will look at the hubs because there problematic as you say but what is not problematic in a ford. I don't really want to play around with them they make me angry.

I just traded my 92 Explorer XLT. It had the same problem that yours had. You can swap the lock outs to manuals for about $135.00 USC. If the transfercase control motor goes out your looking at about $325.00 USC. The hub change isn't to hard, took me about two hours. The t-case motor was a pain because you have to swap some of the wires out yourself. The man. hubs were worth it though, never had another problem with those. :) Unlike the rest of the truck. :eek7: