Hey guys,
I have a 2006 Diesel Manual transmission (stick shift in American English!) Ford Ranger. When I bought the vehicle, the RFW light was on permanently and it still drive fine. It bugged me however and I fixed the issue by bypassing the faulty relay and wiring a switch to the solenoid. So I can normally get the light to go out after putting it back into 2WD. Today I went off road and while driving in a straight line at slow speed, I shifted from 4WD to 2WD. I normally stopped to do this but today I didn't. After this I continued onto the highway and the RFW light would not go out. I continued driving but it still felt like it was stuck in 4WD even though I'd shifted to 2WD. It was sluggish and felt under a lot of resistance. I pulled over after 15 kms. There front diff was smoking and leaking a bit of oil. I got underneath and manually disengaged the RFW solenoid with a long bar. I drove home and it felt much better and the RFW light was now off. What is going on? I should be able to drive with the RFW light on and in 2WD without the car overheating like this? Is there something wrong with the diff? The oil was changed recently. Thanks!