Need 4X4 help

[kersey1999]

Hello, All I am new to this site and new to the Power Stroke nation of Ford owners. I have owned Fords for many years and this one is driving me crazy. My F-250 has the ESOF feature however when I put in 4 wheel drive, I am not getting motion at the front wheels. I turned them from Auto to Lock (at the hub) and I still am not getting any drive out of the front tires. Do the front tires have to turn a little before they will engage? My truck is in the back yard (stuck) and I will not let my neighbor use his Chevy to pull me out. Any ideas on the root to this matter? In the ESOF, I can hear the hubs engage but no luck with the front drive train? I would rather let it sit in my backyard than to allow my neighbors Chevy pull me out!

 

[05wh250]

If you flip it to 4x4 can you spin the front drive shaft?

Could be the motor on the transfer case or a fuse.

 

[kersey1999]

I had my son get in an hit the gas while it was in 4 wheel drive so I could watch for motion. The front drive shaft was turning but no motion was visible at the front tires, the back tires spun.

 

[kersey1999]

How can i add a video to show you guys what is going on with this truck. I check both front diffs this morning, they seemed to be locked in as I cannot turn them by hand. However with the engine running the front drive shaft is turning, the passenger diff is turning with no pull what so ever, and the driver side is not turning at all? What now?

 

[kersey1999]

I made a video and posted it to Youtube, maybe this will shed some light it is here

 

[kersey1999]

Ok a little update, the Ford is out under my own ingenuity and no help from a Chevy, had to jack it up and put boards under tires to get movement and did not stop until I was free. Now upon further investigation, the driver side tire is able to free spin in either auto or lock position, as for the passenger side I have not checked it, but I know the front joint is turning there so that is not an issue, what I feel is the bigger issue is that it never grabbed. Looking for some ideas let me know what you guys think.

 

[msmith]

Did you for sure have your hubs manually turned to manual and not on auto? It looked to me like your hubs were not locked in.

 

[msmith]

with an open diff, it will spin. Is the axle turning when you spin it?

 

[kersey1999]

I had them manually locked in during the video, I even tried to switch them back and forth during the whole process. When I was turning the wheel I did not take notice to the axle, I while try that when I get back home.

 

[Duckdawg]

I believe the front tires have to roll over a few times for the hubs to lock but I may be wrong


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[kersey1999]

That is what I had also thought, definitely not the case here. This is a 2004 model in case that makes a difference to anyone.

 

[msmith]

When you manually lock them in, if they don't lock immediately, they will as soon as the axle turns just a little bit.

I had mine out yesterday putting in new o rings. Should have taken some video of how they work.

 

[kersey1999]

I am going out in a few minutes to look it over again. I had the driver side up in the air yesterday morning trying to lock it in. I was turning it both ways while trying to lock the hubs in either direction. Nothing seemed to help. Still concerned why the driver side shaft never turned also.

 

[kersey1999]

Ok here is what I have found, when i jacked the front driver side up I can rotate the tire in auto and nothing moves, when I locked it in initially it would also not move. I gave it a smack with my hand and it locked in and turned the shaft. That is a good sign to me, however when it was stuck I could never get the shaft on that side to turn. I am half tempted to get it in the back yard and try it again and then smack the hubs with a rubber mallet to make sure they are engaging. My luck it would be another several hours stuck in the mud. Could it be the front transfer case not allowing the driver side shaft not to turn??

 

[purpleheart350]

I just did work on my front end and I found that if you put it in reverse it locks quicker than if rolling forward. Something to try.

 

[Trqmnstr]

I had hubs go bad in an 02 (same hub lockouts and esof).
They where so bad one side would lock and unlock on its own, thatll pucker u up at even slow speeds.

Pull the hub lockouts, super easy to do. Pop the cover off and there is a big snap ring around the hub, use needle nose pliers to get it off and then The lockout slides right off.

The lock should switch from auto to free relatively easy even with the lockout off the hub, if not it may be just dirty and need new o rings and a cleaning.

If you have the lockout unlocked and you can spin the yoke inside freely with no resistance or even slight grinding then cleaning may fix it as the switch could just be stuck. If it grinds or in my case it would grind and if i shook it or tapped it the hub would lock you need new hub lockouts. Mine would lock and unlock when i shook or tapped them even in the locked position, you dont want that. Lol

I put superwinch manual lockouts on that truck and they worked fine, looked like azz tho and no esof but they where only around $150.

 

[msmith]

^^^ That's right, the 04s still have the old style hubs. I was thinking they had the newer style

Here is a video to service your hubs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XNFm4NWxaw

 

[kersey1999]

Sounds easy enough! I will give it a shot and see where it takes me. Thanks for the info and the video, I will update when I have finished this up for both sides.

 

[msmith]

So whadya find out with your hubs?

 

[kersey1999]

Nothing yet, I ended up getting called into work due to unforeseen circumstances. Worked until midnight, came home and got in bed and headed back in at normal time. I intend on working on it tomorrow after work, I am going to bed here shortly...those call in's are typically not good for me. Rest assured I will update as I discover the error. P.S. I went out at lunch today and bought a Haynes manual for my truck so maybe I can learn more of the technology that is used with these diesel monsters.