Mechanic help please!!!


ohiobuckhunter

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i have a 1988 ford ranger xlt 4x4 with the touch drive 4 wheel drive. well i went into the field with it and when i tried to put it back in 2 wheel drive it wouldn't disengauge. so now my hunting truck is stuck in 4x4 low range. so far i have tried driving around the house in reverse with no luck. then i tried disconnecting the battery. then i tried pounding on the cylinnoid all with no luck any ideas of how to get it out of 4 wheel drive would be great thanks in advance

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not sure what it could be unless something is screwed up in the hub... I have a buddy who is a mechanic and will try to give him a call tonight to see what he thinks... will call you if I found out anything. I'm leaving town in a couple minutes for a few days but I could probably set you up with him next week if you need it looked at.. he does work on the side, much cheaper than taking it to a shop.

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Really do not know a lot about fords. Would assume that it is probably something in the hubs/axle as well, but could possibly be the transfer case. Might not hurt to take a look underneath and see if anything is loose. Chevrolet used to use a line running to the axle to engage/disengage the front hubs that was bad about coming loose/unplugged from the axle. I know because that line came unplugged on my 92 Z71 and it would not engage the front hubs.

Another thing to look at, is the truck still in low? If it has not come out of low even with putting the truck in neutral when trying to change from 4 low to 2 high or 4 high, then the switch might possibly be bad. Think I would start with the switch.

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Did you by any chance go over 30 mph? A friend of mine tore up his drivetrain doin about 45 in 4LO...

If not, I know for a fact that Ford's 4 wheel drive system gets a little crazy when the weather turns cold. This could be an electrical problem. Did you by any chance smell smoke from say, a burning wire? Do all your other electrical systems work? My three ideas for a fix are pretty much what you already tried.

1.) Disconnect the battery for 15 mins or so. This should reset the electrical system.

2.) Drive in reverse for a minute or two

3.) Get a rubber mallet and tap the transfer case shift motor, then try again.

I read somewhere you can drop the shift case and shift it manually. If all else fails, you might want to look into that.

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