94 Ford Explorer 4 Wheel Drive Problems

[Krid186]

I have a 1994 Ford Explorer with 92K miles. Taken good care of it with my fathers help but I am having some problems with the 4 wheel drive. I rarely use the 4 wheel drive except when it snows, once in a blue moon usually. However, when I switched into it this past winter, and then to get out of some mud on a hill, it made the normal click but when i gave it gas, it went tickkkkkk tickkkkk tickkkk, like it was slipping instead of locking up.
I got under the car later with my big green book of explorer knowledge and checked out the differential and transfer case and it doesnt appear as tho anything is wrong.

Anyone got any ideas? Any help is appreciated.

Krid

[bustedratchet]

Do you have the auto-locking hubs ? if so they might be going bad.

[Krid186]

Yes, my explorer does have the auto-locking hubs. We greased them a while back when I was replacing the breaks pads. Is it possible we could have screwed something up when we were putting it back together?

However, the noise does not sound like its coming from the wheels or the location of the auto-locking hubs. It sounds like its not catching from under the front of the car where the front differential is located.

(I am 19 and dont know a whole lot about cars, my dad is helping me through this and this is part of his learning process, though hes not quite sure whats wrong either. So im trying to piece all this together. Thanks for your help)

[bustedratchet]

Well,,, light on the grease in there another thing I see guys do when they install the hubs is not put them on correctly.When putting them on, push in on it with your hand it should not spring back at all. Inside the hub you'll see 3 nubs sticking out. Now look on the spindle you will see a plastic piece with a spring around it on the top of that you can see where the nubs need to be. Align the spaces with the nubs. You may have to turn the inside of the hub to meet the space on the nut. The hub should go on flush without springing back.Those hubs don't need much grease especially heavy stuff.Another thing you might try is switching them side to side.

[Notorious_Ford_Guy]

i suggest getting lockouts, they are less complicated and more dependable

thats what i plan on doing