'97 XLT 4x4 - solved my A4WD vs. 4HI phenomenon
riproaringca
12-05-2007, 05:53 PM
Hey all.
I've noticed a couple of threads that asked about the four wheel drive switching back and forth between A4WD and 4HI. This started happening to me this past Sunday when I used the 4x4 during a snowstorm. Thankfully, I was able to fix it myself without cost! Here's how:
While I was driving in 4HI mode, the lights in the dashboard switch kept moving back and forth between A4WD and 4HI. Alarming, to say the least. The truck was running fine. No issues with moving forward and everything felt smooth. (Nothing like what you might expect to hear if the transmission was actually failing.)
After a stop at home later that night, I tried taking the truck out for a run to the store but couldn't get going any faster than about 10km/hr. If I tried to go faster it just revved like crazy and forward momentum lessened.
It turns out that the transmission must have thought it was in 4LOW, which is used at very low speeds. Not sure why this happened. Could have been the cold. Could have been the slush and wet freezing the works somehow. Who knows.
The remedy was to disconnect the negative (-) battery cable for a couple of minutes, then reattach it. Then, with the truck running and the brake depressed, put the transmission into Neutral and move the 4x4 selector switch slowly to 4LOW. Once I did this I could hear/feel the hubs lock into place like they were supposed to. Once this happened, I moved the selector back to 4HI and again I heard the hubs - this time disengaging. I continued to move the selector back through A4WD and then to 2HI (used for normal wheeling down the road in ideal conditions). I did this routine a couple of times to make sure that the hubs were engaging/disengaging.
A short test drive around the block confirmed that that had remedied the problem. Solved for 0$!
That was a couple of days ago. No problems so far!
I've noticed a couple of threads that asked about the four wheel drive switching back and forth between A4WD and 4HI. This started happening to me this past Sunday when I used the 4x4 during a snowstorm. Thankfully, I was able to fix it myself without cost! Here's how:
While I was driving in 4HI mode, the lights in the dashboard switch kept moving back and forth between A4WD and 4HI. Alarming, to say the least. The truck was running fine. No issues with moving forward and everything felt smooth. (Nothing like what you might expect to hear if the transmission was actually failing.)
After a stop at home later that night, I tried taking the truck out for a run to the store but couldn't get going any faster than about 10km/hr. If I tried to go faster it just revved like crazy and forward momentum lessened.
It turns out that the transmission must have thought it was in 4LOW, which is used at very low speeds. Not sure why this happened. Could have been the cold. Could have been the slush and wet freezing the works somehow. Who knows.
The remedy was to disconnect the negative (-) battery cable for a couple of minutes, then reattach it. Then, with the truck running and the brake depressed, put the transmission into Neutral and move the 4x4 selector switch slowly to 4LOW. Once I did this I could hear/feel the hubs lock into place like they were supposed to. Once this happened, I moved the selector back to 4HI and again I heard the hubs - this time disengaging. I continued to move the selector back through A4WD and then to 2HI (used for normal wheeling down the road in ideal conditions). I did this routine a couple of times to make sure that the hubs were engaging/disengaging.
A short test drive around the block confirmed that that had remedied the problem. Solved for 0$!
That was a couple of days ago. No problems so far!
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