just got a 94 explorer xlt and have a few questions

Howdy,

I just bought a 94 Explorer xlt a few weeks ago. It is in great shape for an 11 year old vehicle with 145k on it.

The Explorer did not come with a manual however and as this is my first 4x4 I have a few questions...

I know these questions may seem trivial but I did not want to feel like an idiot asking at a garage or a dealership.

I have 2 buttons on the dash labled "4-wheel drive" and "4-wheel drive low." The vehicle has an automatic transmission. What is the proper way to go into 4 wheel drive so I do not screw anything up? Can I shift it into 4x4 on the move or do I need to be stopped? Does it have to be in park? do I have to manually turn the hubs on the front wheels in a specific direction or do I need to back up slowly?

How the hell do you get the spare tire out? It is underneath the vehicle in the back. A co worker told me I need to put a handle into a small hole near the back bumper but I could not find any hole.

I have a weird electrical problem. The vehicle has auto lock switches located on the door panels. The driver side switch does not work at all and the passenger side switch only unlocks the doors and does not lock them. The remote does not unlock or lock the doors. My co worker friend told me to check the fuses and I have crawled all over underneath that dash and could not find a fuse block. Where is this located please and would anyone happen to know the correct fuse for the locks?

One last thing for now is the driver side seatbelt. The slot for this seatbelt located to the right of the driver seat is broken. It looks like someone may have shoved a screwdriver into it and it will not connect to the tab. I have been streching the belt tab of the driver side across the center console and connecting it to the passenger side slot. Needless to say this is unfomfortable as I am not exactly a skinny guy. Is a seatbelt easy to replace myself or are there safety issues/regulations that need to be followed? My idea was to take the slot part from the single middle lapbelt in the rear seat as I will never use it, and replace the driver side slot in the front.

I love this truck. I am the second owner and the origional owner took very good care of it. When I purchased it I had to replace the exhaust, sending unit on the gas tank and a brake line. Exterior and interior are in great shape, engine runs strong. I have not driven a rear wheel dive vehicle for a long long time so that takes some getting used to.

Very Happy with my purchase.

Thanks in advance,

Jeff

The easier answer tour questions is to go to a ford dealer ship and buy a manual but i would not reccomend engaging the 4 x4 on the move

1. Well, you've probably found out by now, but my book says you can go into 4wd on the fly up to 55mph.
2. 4wd LOW is another story... you must be stopped AND in neutral. Otherwise it does not respond and the light won't go on. I thought mine was broken till I found out.
3. The spare is secured by a cable and there is a hole at the top of the rear bumper just to the right of center. The jack handle (under the hood) slides in and turns to release tension on the cable.
4. My guess on the locks is more than a fuse (inside r/f fender well #11 = 30A) otherwise they wouldn't work at all. Probably a short somewhere.
5. The seatbelt should be easy enough to replace (unbolt and disconnect wire), but if you're going to disable another one, first be sure you won't need to have it working to pass any kind of state inspection.
6. I've seen owner's manuals on eBay. The original are a bunch of booklets in a zip up faux leather (made from the hide of an actual Nauga) wallet.

Rear wheel drive is still the best and, of course, 4wd is even better!
Hope I was of some help.

Parté

PS. Manual locking hubs have arrows indicating "free" and "lock", otherwise... fahgeddaboudit!

I also have a '94 Explorer XLT EB Edition. 265K miles on it and still running strong. Looks like you've gotten good answers from the others so all I'll add is this. Do NOT run the 4WD on dry pavement. It is not designed for it and will not hold up to it. These are good vehicals in my opinion but they are not for anything even approaching serious off-roading. But they will get you through the snow and muddy roads. That's it! Good luck and enjoy.

For your electrical try taking swapping the swithches around, (if possible) to check & see if the switches are good, If there good check your relays (under the hood). If good check for damaged wiring.

I ended up picking up a used manual.

I thank you all for your responses, this is a great place to come to for information without being ridiculed for lack of knowledge.

You would think with all the advancment in the auto industry, developers would figure out a better way to remove and replace a spare tire than cranking it out from underneath with a long handle.

I had some time to experiment with my explorer this past weekend as it won't start (see other thread)

My driver side seatbelt is infact damaged. Many lose pieces inside so I think I will just purchased a replacement. I most likely will buy directly from Ford.

As for the power locks I checked the fuse under the hood and it is good. I will try checking the wires behind the door panel once I figure out how to get it off. All I see are 2 screws behind the door handle. If wires seem good I will try switching the buttons with the passenger side to see if I get a change in results.

Thanks again,

Jeff

Electrical issue: You're already planning on switch swapping. Good idea. Another hot spot for electriical problems is where the wires pass from the under dash to the door. They flex every time the door is opened and closed. Power is sent to the drivers side switch and from there it is jumped to the passenger side switch. Hope that helps. let us know what you find or don't find and we'll be that much smarter from what you learned.