Hi Everyone;

My 2002 Ranger (4liter, auto, 4x4) has been just a wonderful truck, only 54000 miles, my garage queen. No rust. I have never needed to post before, because I have never had any problems.

Finally have an issue, sadly. Years ago I couldn't get into 4hi, using the dash switch, but after a couple of tries, it worked OK. Reading up on it, the shift motor seemed like a common failure point, so I bought a Dorman replacement. However, the 4x4 continued to work fine, so I never did change the shift motor. 5 years ago. I hardly drive this thing.

Fast forward to last week. I was bringing some straw bales home and used 4lo while on a bit of a hill. Afterwards, it wouldn't shift out of 4lo. I have made sure I was in neutral, foot on brake, but no relay clicks, nothing. It stays in 4lo.

Today I decided to swap out the shift motor with the Dorman I bought years ago. I removed the old motor, put truck in neutral, spun the shaft on the transfer case to 2wd, put on the new motor (which was already indexed to 2wd) and 2wd works fine. I shift to 4HI, I hear relay clicks, the 4HI light flashes once then goes out. I switch back to 2wd and no relay clicks or anything, it appeared to still be in 2wd. I switch to 4hi again and the 4hi light flashes on and off once again. I switched several times between 2wd and 4hi and the 4hi light would only flash once, every time, then go out.

I was curious, so I put it in neutral, shift to 4lo, relays click and I switch successfully to 4lo. However, I AGAIN am stuck in 4lo. Ugh.

With the shift motor removed, the shaft rotates easily back and forth, without a huge amount of force, so I think the transfer case is OK (I hope). The weather went for a dump tonight so I have not done anything else yet with the new shift motor.

Just wondering if anyone has any tips or tricks, or is there a step I missed? Could it be a faulty replacement motor or the controller? I've been doing a bunch of reading on this tonight.

Tomorrow I will:

• Remove the new shift motor, reindex the shaft back to 2wd, ensure 2wd works fine again
• spin the shaft to 4hi, to ensure 4hi works fine
• Try the new motor (and the old motor I guess) using the yellow and orange wires to see if they spin OK forward and reverse
• I will also try the motors hooked to the truck harness, but not mounted, to see if the motors spins to the right position based on the dash switch (2wd, 4hi, 4lo, and back)

I haven't checked any fuses yet because of the weather but I was hearing relays click so hopefully the fuses are OK.

Thanks for any tips or pointers everyone,

Rick

 

Believe your 2002 Ranger uses same 4x4ShiftMotor & 4x4ConMod versions as my 2001 SportTrac.
These ShiftMotors are just barely strong enough to do the job when everything is new\perfect,
so when the DC Motor Brushes\Bearings\Grease get worn down or crusty from non-use\corrosion\salt\water, ShiftMotor tends to get weak & not work.
With Wheels blocked & EBrake engaged, the ShiftMotor removed from the TransferCase but still plugged into the Harness,
have a friend\wife\girlfriend press BrakePedal, shift to Neutral, then operate 4x4 dash switch 2WHi~4WHi~4WLo & back to 2WHi;
if ShiftMotor does NOT rotate thru those positions properly, then 4x4ConMod is bad (behind right kick panel or behind the radio panel);
if ShiftMotor DOES rotate thru those positions properly, then ShiftMotor is getting weak\worn & needs replacing.
Best to excercise\drive the 2WHi~4WHi~4WLo system once a month to keep it from getting crusty & have some confidence that it will work when needed.
Be sure to buy the correct version of the 4x4ShiftMotor &\or 4x4ConMod; click here for details & part numbers.

 

Thanks Dillard - The shift motor I bought was a Dorman 600-807 which is listed as fitting my 2002 Ranger, but the one in the Sport Trac is a Dorman 600-926. But I have no idea what the difference is between the 2...the pictures look exactly the same, the connector looks exactly the same as well. The Dorman writeup on Amazon says they both fit the 2002 Ranger, I dunno!

I don't mind spending the extra money if the 600-926 will work. I'll do the tests you mentioned tomorrow, with the motor off the truck to see if it is fully rotating in both directions. I'm going to check both the old and new motors. Nice to know it's easy to rotate the shaft back to 2wd though.

 

Seems to be a lot of duplication\confusion on part#s & application for ShiftMotors...both Ford & AfterMarket numbers;
wouldn't be surprised if Dormans 600-807 & 600-926 are actually identical.
Compare 8pinPlug & 7wires on your FactoryOE & the 600-807;
should be 2 wires into DC Motor & 5 wires into rotary LimitSwitch as follows:
Pin1=WireWhit ~LimitSwitch
Pin2=WireWhitBrwn~LimitSwitch
Pin3=WireOrngWhit~LimitSwitch
Pin4=WireYelo ~Motor12v+\-=50~65ohm+OpenToCase=Good
Pin5=WirePurp ~LimitSwitch
Pin6=WireYeloWhit~LimitSwitch
Pin7=WireOrng ~Motor12v-\+=50~65ohm+OpenToCase=Good
Pin8=NotConnected

 

Thanks for the color pinouts - the pictures of both shift motors (even on the Dorman website) show the color codes and pin locations for the 7 wires to be identical. Very odd for them to have 2 different listings. I wonder (what If anything) is different between the 2 models. They even have different part numbers stamped on the motor casing. Could there be a torque difference or something?

Will report back on my test results today

 

Today's adventure:

• Removed new shift motor from transfer case. Left it connected to the harness. Ignition on, neutral, foot on brake, motor would not turn at all, no relay clicks from the controller either
• Spun the shift shaft back to 2wd. Truck still indicated 4lo (I assume with the motor connected to the harness, but NOT mounted to the transfer case the system was expecting to read a sensor in the transfer case maybe?
• Disconnected the new motor. Truck now indicates 2wd
• Hooked up a 12Vdc power supply, cleaned old motor up. Hooked BOTH the new and old motors up to the power supply (one at a time)
• Both motors spin successfully in both directions, based on the polarity of the yellow and orange motor wires
• I spun both the new and old motors, back and forth, through their range of motion, 10 times, to potentially wipe the contacts of the limit switches, in case they were corroded. Thought it might help with the connections
• I installed the old motor. Truck now successfully shifts between 4hi and 2wd

It's snowing at the moment, so I will take the truck for a spin later to see if the shift continues to be a problem into 4lo.

One good thing - I found the controller behind the passenger kick panel. I was worried it was behind the radio and I'd have to dig to get it out, if I need to.

Curious why the new motor would only momentarily light up the 4hi light when switched. Maybe either it's defective or there is indeed a difference between the Dorman 600-807 and 600-926 motors. I might reinstall it later as well to see if it still shows this issue

Edit: I reinstalled the Dorman 600-807 shift motor and now it works. I took the truck for 2 drives, one with each shift motor and they now both work, in 2wd, 4hi and 4lo positions. Fingers crossed it was just lack of use, and running both motors on my 12Vdc power supply forward and back several times cleaned up the limit switch contacts. I read somewhere on one of the threads here that it is good practice to exercise the mechanism monthly or so, I guess this does make sense to me now.

Thanks Dillard for the tips!!

 

Excellent trouble shooting!
Note the 3 screws+slots on the rear face of the rotary LimitSwitch on the 4x4ShiftMotor assembly;
allows for slight adjustment & may account for the light operating difference between Original & Dorman units that you're seeing.
Yep, a monthly routine of driving the vehicle, at least a few yards, in 4WHi & 4WLo will be good.