Neil Grepke
New Member
Currently, my 1999 Eddie Bauer (5.4 L) SEEMS to be stuck in 4 HIGH, and the light is on saying it's in 4 LOW. At the same time this situation came about, the speedometer stopped functioning correctly.
Would LOVE to think this is going to be simple enough for me to fix, but my skills probably linger in the realm of brakes, shocks, straight one to one replacements (like a switch or standalone motor).
That's the short version. Here is the history of the problem:
1. On one offroading adventure, as I was switching from AWD to HIGH to LOW as needed, the 4WD seemed to stop working completely, and, stuck in AWD, no lights came on either.
2. Checked fuses 23 and 104 with no visual issue.
3. Took truck to a mechanic who kept it for parts of three days (and, I have reason to believe, spent about 6 actual hours on it). Ultimately, the mechanic claimed there was "nothing wrong" with it, and later claimed he replaced a fuse. Indeed, before I drove it away, I turned the switch to 4 LOW and could hear and feel that it engaged. ONCE HOME, I tried it again with NO SUCCESS... no 4WD again.
4. Over several days, I tried again to test the 4WD by turning the switch. After several no-gos, I assumed something was tripping the fuse, BUT THEN it WORKED. I was in 4 LOW, then 4 HIGH, then after some wrangling, back in AWD.
5. Four hours later, I turned the truck on and the 4 LOW light was on, but the truck was clearly NOT in low, and the switch was on AWD.
6. I couldn't tell immediately, but it soon became clear that I was driving in 4 HIGH (switch on AWD, lights on 4 LOW, driving in 4 HIGH). This was confirmed when I reset the computer-based MPG and it went from 12 MPG to 4.9 MPG and stayed there as I drove over the next few days.
7. As I tried to gauge (by driving) if I was in 4 HIGH for sure, I noticed that the speedometer had also begun malfunctioning. (It's moves, but hovers between 0 and 30 even if I go faster than that.)
I hope this is enough detail to help someone have a pretty good idea what I might be dealing with here. THANKS (this is my first problem post!)
Would LOVE to think this is going to be simple enough for me to fix, but my skills probably linger in the realm of brakes, shocks, straight one to one replacements (like a switch or standalone motor).
That's the short version. Here is the history of the problem:
1. On one offroading adventure, as I was switching from AWD to HIGH to LOW as needed, the 4WD seemed to stop working completely, and, stuck in AWD, no lights came on either.
2. Checked fuses 23 and 104 with no visual issue.
3. Took truck to a mechanic who kept it for parts of three days (and, I have reason to believe, spent about 6 actual hours on it). Ultimately, the mechanic claimed there was "nothing wrong" with it, and later claimed he replaced a fuse. Indeed, before I drove it away, I turned the switch to 4 LOW and could hear and feel that it engaged. ONCE HOME, I tried it again with NO SUCCESS... no 4WD again.
4. Over several days, I tried again to test the 4WD by turning the switch. After several no-gos, I assumed something was tripping the fuse, BUT THEN it WORKED. I was in 4 LOW, then 4 HIGH, then after some wrangling, back in AWD.
5. Four hours later, I turned the truck on and the 4 LOW light was on, but the truck was clearly NOT in low, and the switch was on AWD.
6. I couldn't tell immediately, but it soon became clear that I was driving in 4 HIGH (switch on AWD, lights on 4 LOW, driving in 4 HIGH). This was confirmed when I reset the computer-based MPG and it went from 12 MPG to 4.9 MPG and stayed there as I drove over the next few days.
7. As I tried to gauge (by driving) if I was in 4 HIGH for sure, I noticed that the speedometer had also begun malfunctioning. (It's moves, but hovers between 0 and 30 even if I go faster than that.)
I hope this is enough detail to help someone have a pretty good idea what I might be dealing with here. THANKS (this is my first problem post!)
