1990 ranger 4x4 help!!
Thread Starter
|
Member
Joined: Aug 2021
Posts: 1
Likes: 0
From: sheridan, CA
1990 ranger 4x4 help!!
Hi, so I bought a 1990 ford ranger 2.3L 5 speed manual with the electric transfer case. I have been trying to fix the four wheel drive for about 2 month now and I'm at a halt.
To start I have replaced the transfer case motor and the push button switch. The fuses are all the. the module behind my seat seems to be good I think, when I press the button on it the red light flashes 4 times. For the actual push button switches they are both constantly light up but very dim and when I try to press them I get no response and hear nothing at all. I have tried everything that I can think of and still nothing. The transfer case seems to be decent because when I replaced the motor I manually put it in 4x4 and both axles spun just fine. has anyone had this problem or know anything I can do to fix it. I tried to put all the information in this post to help you understand what's going on. thank you
To start I have replaced the transfer case motor and the push button switch. The fuses are all the. the module behind my seat seems to be good I think, when I press the button on it the red light flashes 4 times. For the actual push button switches they are both constantly light up but very dim and when I try to press them I get no response and hear nothing at all. I have tried everything that I can think of and still nothing. The transfer case seems to be decent because when I replaced the motor I manually put it in 4x4 and both axles spun just fine. has anyone had this problem or know anything I can do to fix it. I tried to put all the information in this post to help you understand what's going on. thank you
Welcome to the forum
All electric 4x4 systems can be tough to troubleshot, its not a Ford thing
Couple of troubleshooting guides here: https://www.therangerstation.com/tec...l_module.shtml
And here: https://www.therangerstation.com/tec...circuits.shtml
1985 to 1994 are different than 1995-2000, and in 2001 they were changed again
But they all work the same
Same shift motor was used in all years and on several Ford models, Rangers, Explorers, F-series all used the same shift motors
Buttons/shift switch on the dash rarely breaks unless physically damaged
The Controller was also pretty hardy(except 2001 and up), but after 25+ years anything can give out
The shift motor is just a 12volt motor like a power window motor, it has 2 wires, if one wire is 12v and the other a ground, then motor turns clockwise, if you Reverse polarity, ground and 12v, then motor turns counter clockwise, so same window up or window down
The other 5 wires at the shift motor are for contacts that show the position of the transfer case shift rod, 2wd, 4h, or 4l
There is also a brown electric clutch wire, used until 2000, its not integral for 4x4 operation just makes "shift on the fly" smoother
You can test shift motor by hooking up 12v and ground, it has STOPS so it can only rotate so far in either direction, so if its not moving Reverse Polarity
The way it works is that the Controller has two 5 pin relays inside, one for each Motor Wire, when relays are off BOTH motor wires are Grounded via the 5th pin in relay
When Controller wants to move the motor it only needs to activate one relay making that one wire 12volts, so motor turns one way
The buttons usually have 1 wire with 5 volts then 2 return wires
If both return wires are 0volts then 2WD is selected
if 1 return wire has 5v then 4high is selected, if both return wires have 5v then 4low
The fact your button lights are glowing could mean and issue in the controller
In some years there was a separate fuse in engine bay fuse box just for the shift motor, 20amp, not sure on 1990
The button on Controller just tests the chip circuit, not the system, so a PASS doesn't mean controller is not the issue, just that the software passed the test
All electric 4x4 systems can be tough to troubleshot, its not a Ford thing
Couple of troubleshooting guides here: https://www.therangerstation.com/tec...l_module.shtml
And here: https://www.therangerstation.com/tec...circuits.shtml
1985 to 1994 are different than 1995-2000, and in 2001 they were changed again
But they all work the same
Same shift motor was used in all years and on several Ford models, Rangers, Explorers, F-series all used the same shift motors
Buttons/shift switch on the dash rarely breaks unless physically damaged
The Controller was also pretty hardy(except 2001 and up), but after 25+ years anything can give out
The shift motor is just a 12volt motor like a power window motor, it has 2 wires, if one wire is 12v and the other a ground, then motor turns clockwise, if you Reverse polarity, ground and 12v, then motor turns counter clockwise, so same window up or window down
The other 5 wires at the shift motor are for contacts that show the position of the transfer case shift rod, 2wd, 4h, or 4l
There is also a brown electric clutch wire, used until 2000, its not integral for 4x4 operation just makes "shift on the fly" smoother
You can test shift motor by hooking up 12v and ground, it has STOPS so it can only rotate so far in either direction, so if its not moving Reverse Polarity
The way it works is that the Controller has two 5 pin relays inside, one for each Motor Wire, when relays are off BOTH motor wires are Grounded via the 5th pin in relay
When Controller wants to move the motor it only needs to activate one relay making that one wire 12volts, so motor turns one way
The buttons usually have 1 wire with 5 volts then 2 return wires
If both return wires are 0volts then 2WD is selected
if 1 return wire has 5v then 4high is selected, if both return wires have 5v then 4low
The fact your button lights are glowing could mean and issue in the controller
In some years there was a separate fuse in engine bay fuse box just for the shift motor, 20amp, not sure on 1990
The button on Controller just tests the chip circuit, not the system, so a PASS doesn't mean controller is not the issue, just that the software passed the test
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
