Stuck in 4WD after beach ride

crepitus · July 16, 2015

So last year I was in OBX on the beach a few times. When I got off of the beach I had a hard time getting the truck to come out of 4WD. It took a bunch of switch playing. I ran it through the winter in various snow storms with no problems. What could the problem be? Doesn't seem to like the beach. I will say my driver side wheel bearing was pretty messed up when I got home. Could that have played a role? I am going down again in a few weeks and dont want to have any problems.

nadrojcote · July 16, 2015

It could be your 4x4 actuator getting stuck. Maybe due to heat or from some sand getting in it.

Here's a video showing how to replace it.

gmtech4 · July 17, 2015

Scan it for codes ,

No guessing

Cohen · July 17, 2015

Scan it for codes ,

No guessing

^Agree completely. You must love these posts lol, you always jump in first.

But I was having the same issue with mine. I got a scan done at dealership and it showed Encoder Motor. I put it off until Yesterday because even still I was hesitant about spending $200 on the part and it still not work right (going on for about a year now).

My Symptoms:

-I would use 4WD and it would go in and work fine, after I would hit 2HI and it would flash for 10 secs and stay in 4WD and "Service 4WD" message would come up. I could turn truck off and restart and it would go back in 2HI (usually, might have to try again).

-Intermittently for the next 3 weeks or so, I would start truck and it would randomly be in Auto 4WD, 2HI, 4HI, N, or even 4LO. Sometimes I wouldn't notice it for a few miles and look down and see it was in N with Red light but was still driving (WTF right?)

-Push button switch was always on and never went out on me.

-I could always hear motor working when switching between gears.

New encoder motor sounds 10x better, it snaps between gears without hesitation and is smooth as butter. I'll post a video of it here tonight and you can compare yours to see if yours sounds sloppy and slow compared to mine. But again like GOVTECH4 said get it scanned and any of main issues are easy to do yourself and save $800-$1,000.

crepitus · July 20, 2015

Would the codes still be in there from a year ago?

Cohen · July 20, 2015

Would the codes still be in there from a year ago?

Doubt it but I don't know... I got codes read right after the first time it happened, just put off fixing it since I could work the key on/off and get it to work.