4X4 DASH LIGHT

[89EB302]

Hey guys, maybe you can help. Going down the highway, my 4x4 light flickers. Sometimes it is pretty much on, other times it is sporadic. If I rock the steering wheel to the left, it seems to come on stronger. If I rock the wheel to the right, it seems to go away. I am stumped.

 

[sandmann999]

Hey guys, maybe you can help.  Going down the highway, my 4x4 light flickers.  Sometimes it is pretty much on, other times it is sporadic.  If I rock the steering wheel to the left, it seems to come on stronger. If I rock the wheel to the right, it seems to go away.  I am stumped.

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Are you going down the highway with your 4 wheel drive on? If so (unless its' all time 4 wheel drive), you can damage your 4 wheel drive system. Secondly, do you have manual or automatic 4WD? (Meaning push button or floor shifter/manual hubs)

 

[89EB302]

Are you going down the highway with your 4 wheel drive on?  If so (unless its' all time 4 wheel drive), you can damage your 4 wheel drive system.  Secondly, do you have manual or automatic 4WD?  (Meaning push button or floor shifter/manual hubs)

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It is pushbutton. I dont have it engaged, but the light flickers at highway speed. It almost seems like it may not be disengaging on one side. It is driving me nuts. I don't want to tear anything up. [-o<

 

[sandmann999]

It is pushbutton.  I dont have it engaged, but the light flickers at highway speed.  It almost seems like it may not be disengaging on one side. It is driving me nuts.  I don't want to tear anything up. [-o<

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I can understand not wanting to tear anything up. Unfortunately, I don't know much about the automatic hubs, but since it goes on and off with your steering wheel, there might be a wire loose that is being activated/deactivated with the movement of the wheels.

When the light flickers, do you feel anything gripping, grinding, making noise? Or does it feel normal? If they're engaging or just one is engaging, you should be able to feel it. If not, I imagine it's just the light that's flickering and there might just be a short to the light itself behind the dash that is being activated by the steering wheel.

 

[bob]

On a shifter system, when in 4 wheel the light wire goes to ground. It sounds like the wire under the truck is shorting out. It may have a bare spot that touches metal some times.

This is if the light works the same as a shifter light.

 

[89EB302]

there is a vibration, but it may be paranoia. Someone suggested that the hubs may not be disengaging completely. When I Disengage, I put it in reverse and it only clicks on the driver side. Any ideas on how to check this? Can I replace the auto lock with manual hubs? what is involved? any guidancw would bw greatly appreciated

 

[sandmann999]

there is a vibration, but it may be paranoia. Someone suggested that the hubs may not be disengaging completely. When I Disengage, I put it in reverse and it only clicks on the driver side. Any ideas on how to check this? Can I replace the auto lock with manual hubs? what is involved? any guidancw would bw greatly appreciated

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I'm not sure about the vaccuum system since I don't have auto hubs, but you might just want to pull the ends off and make sure everything is greased up for the moving parts of the hubs. They might just be dry.

However, changing from auto to manual hubs isn't that difficult. Buy yourself a hub kit (eg. Warn Hubs), I think they go for about $60 a side or so. Pull out your automatic stuff, and put the manual parts in their place. You'll still have all of your buttons and vaccuum stuff from the automatic hubs, but it'll mostly just be "sitting there" unless you remove it. If you don't, it won't hurt anything as far as I know.

But I completely dismantled my manual hubs in about 15 minutes once I knew what I was doing, greased them up and put them back in. If you got the manual hub parts, as far as I know, you just stick them on the ends of your axles. They're not very complicated.

Again, I've never SWITCHED from auto to manual myself, but I know people who have done it. My Dad switched from full time 4WD on his old military jeep to manual hubs just by putting some manual hubs on the ends of the axles (where there weren't even any switchable hubs of any kind). Wasn't a very hard job.

 

[bluesman17]

Changing the hubs to manuals involves (if its five pin cap) pull cap, pull guts, put in new guts, put on new cap with lock on it. I get the same light thing, and its a short but i havent gotten around to running down the wire since it got cold here again.

 

[89EB302]

:angry:

Changing the hubs to manuals involves (if its five pin cap) pull cap, pull guts, put in new guts, put on new cap with lock on it.  I get the same light thing, and its a short but i havent gotten around to running down the wire since it got cold here again.

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WELL, WE HAD SNOW THIS WEEKEND AND MY BRONCO SITS. BEFORE THE SNOW I LOCKED HER IN TO TEST THE 4 WHEEL, AND SHE WONT DISENGAGE. THE ONE SIGNIFICANT SNOW WE HAVE SINCE I BOUGHT THIS BEAST AND I COULDN'T GET OUT TO PLAY. I AM NOT VERY HAPPY, BUT MY MECHANIC IS.

 

[89EB302]

THE MECHANIC HAS FINALLY CALLED BACK. THE HUBS ARE SHOT. I AM GOING TO SWITCH IT OVER TO MANUAL. I ALSO FOUND OUT THAT MY RADIUS ARM BRACKETS ARE CRACKED AND THE RADIUS ARMS ARE COVERED IN CANCER. JUST ANOTHER DAY IN THE LIFE OF A FORD, I GUESS. I HOPE THAT AT LEAST THIS GETS SOME OF THE PLAY OUT OF THE STEERING WHEEL. WE SHALL SEE..........................

 

[sandmann999]

THE MECHANIC HAS FINALLY CALLED BACK. THE HUBS ARE SHOT.  I AM GOING TO SWITCH IT OVER TO MANUAL.  I ALSO FOUND OUT THAT MY RADIUS ARM BRACKETS ARE CRACKED AND THE RADIUS ARMS ARE COVERED IN CANCER.  JUST ANOTHER DAY IN THE LIFE OF A FORD, I GUESS. I HOPE THAT AT LEAST THIS  GETS SOME OF THE PLAY OUT OF THE STEERING WHEEL.  WE SHALL SEE..........................

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The hubs you should easily be able to do yourself if you have some mechanical skill. The radius arms, however, are not easy. I simply changed the radius arm bushings myself and it was a several hour job that required a couple guys for help and about three floor jacks to keep everything lined up. It's quite a balancing act to get everything to fit back together. It's definitely doable if you're planning on doing it yourself, just know what you're getting into and make sure you have a couple jacks handy.

It should help with your steering if they're wobbly now. Sorry to hear that the radius arms are cracked and rusted. /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

 

[ptblfrk]

hey, i have a 87 & 88 bronco which originally had all the same problems you are describing. changing to manual hubs is easy-kit from bronco graveyard for warn stainless steel lifetime warr kit $90.00. definately intermittent short which has in my experience is something related to the automatic 4x4 shift motor on the transfer case. the hubs on your veh are not vacuum operated in any way.

 

[k1w1t1m]

The hubs have nothing to do with the light!!!!!!!

The problem will be a short or contact on your wiring to or from the light. It may even be to the Touchdrive module or the shift motor.

Changing to manual hubs is a definite plus but as I said has nothing to do with the light and will not fix the initial problem you described.

 

[bluesman17]

He said one of them wasnt disengaging so we all got in a tizzy and went off on that instead. I mentioned it was more than likely a short though also.