2001 Ford Ranger Four wheel drive

Tiny
THE LONE RANGER
  • MEMBER
  • 2001 FORD RANGER
  • 6 CYL
  • 4WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 6,000 MILES
For over a year now my 4 wheel drive will not work. The drive motor and actuator on that motor have been disassembled and reassembled and all is in order, clean and greased. With direct battery current it operates properly. All fuses are okay and are not blown, nor have they ever been. The dash switch has been replaced with new factory replacement, thinking that was the problem. The switch does not light up when turned to 4 wheel drive and the actuator mounted on the transmission/transfer case does not receive power. The truck was recently in for the wiring harness change (factory warranty/recall job). My cousin owns a ranger with the same exact problem. I am reluctant to take it to a dealer fearing that they will issue a large bill for a simple fix. Our two rangers have experienced no collisions and have no damage. We wondered if it might be a warranty/factory recall situation. Hope you can help.
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Sunday, November 30th, 2008 AT 5:42 PM

2 Replies

Tiny
DAVE H
  • MECHANIC
  • 13,383 POSTS
No TSB or Recall. Yet i'm afraid. I supect your fault lies in the 4WD control module. Power to the 4WD switch on transmission comes from this. Of course it could be the module is getiing no signal from another sensor.

Four Wheel Drive Control Module. In right kick panel
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Sunday, November 30th, 2008 AT 6:36 PM
Tiny
THE LONE RANGER
  • MEMBER
  • 2 POSTS
I replaced the module (Ford part # TM 101) and all is well. Thank you for pinpointing the problem. It was an easy task to replace: remove the kick panel, two screws, and two harness plugs, then retrace steps. It is a crying shame that the part is so pricey. This electronic 4-wheel drive set-up is a poor replacement for the manual shift lever on the floor which I never found to be a problem on my '82 F150 4X4 (although it also had an ignition module that I had to replace four or five times). This is certainly NOT one of Ford's "better ideas".

I noticed on other message boards that I am far from the only one with this problem. Ford should sit up and take notice of this epidemic and do something right by their loyal customers. Thanks again for you assistance.
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Tuesday, December 9th, 2008 AT 2:56 PM

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