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92 Explorer transfer case neutral option??



 
 
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  #1  
Old January 23rd 05, 03:14 AM
Professor3700
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Default 92 Explorer transfer case neutral option??

Have a 92 Explorer with the electric shift. Obviously there is no Ford
provided selectable neutral so I can disengage both drive shafts for
towing behind an RV. I know there is a dealer option for the '96 and
newer transfer cases that does allow disengagement of both drive shafts.

I expected that when I removed the electric motor and moved the shift
shaft by hand, I would find a neutral position - but I did not. Truly
surprises me.

Do the manual shift 92's have a neutral position on the shift lever or
does this transfer case model simply not have am idle position between 4H
and 4L. If it does, cool, I should be able to find same on mine. If not,
then the question becomes:

Is the 96 BW transfer case bolt-on identical to the earlier ones. If so,
this will completely solve my problem because I can certainly build an
electronic module that allows access to the neutral position.

Thanks for taking the time

p.s. I'm very familiar with the drive shaft disconnect schemes - don't
even go there - not a viable option in my view at all.

Ads
  #2  
Old January 23rd 05, 04:20 PM
John Normile
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Default

I have a '91 Explorer that has the manual (shift on floor) transfer
case option, that has a neutral position. It was ordered this way
and came with factory manual hubs.

John Normile


On Sat, 22 Jan 2005 21:14:31 -0500, "Professor3700" >
wrote:
>Have a 92 Explorer with the electric shift. Obviously there is no Ford
>provided selectable neutral so I can disengage both drive shafts for
>towing behind an RV. I know there is a dealer option for the '96 and
>newer transfer cases that does allow disengagement of both drive shafts.
>
>I expected that when I removed the electric motor and moved the shift
>shaft by hand, I would find a neutral position - but I did not. Truly
>surprises me.
>
>Do the manual shift 92's have a neutral position on the shift lever or
>does this transfer case model simply not have am idle position between 4H
>and 4L. If it does, cool, I should be able to find same on mine. If not,
>then the question becomes:
>
>Is the 96 BW transfer case bolt-on identical to the earlier ones. If so,
>this will completely solve my problem because I can certainly build an
>electronic module that allows access to the neutral position.
>
>Thanks for taking the time
>
>p.s. I'm very familiar with the drive shaft disconnect schemes - don't
>even go there - not a viable option in my view at all.
>


  #3  
Old January 24th 05, 02:35 AM
Jim Warman
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There should indeed be a neutral in your transfer case.... it is located
between 4H and 4L. The later neutral tow option is a computer subroutine
that stops the shift motor at the neutral position. The 4WD control in the
early models is relatively stupid compared to later models and I don't think
you could teach them this trick. Someone talented with electrical and a
knowledge of the shift plate arrangement in the motor head could cobble a
separate switch to allow this selection.

The usual caveates about watching the car roll off into the sunset because
the park brake wasn't applied before neutral was selected....



  #4  
Old January 24th 05, 05:45 AM
Professor3700
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Default

Thank you Jim. Still a little puzzled because I removed the [electric]
motor and rotated the shift shaft manually. Between 4H and 4L the front
drive shaft never disengaged. Unfortunately I did not have the rear
wheels in the air so I couldn't tell for sure that the rear drive shaft
did not come free.

But you are suggesting that if I had the car in the air and rotated the
shift shaft manually, I would find the neutral position. If this is true,
I'm home free because a computer that can find that position is easy for
me. Lots of ways to do that.

Probably can't put the car in the air before weekend but I'll try then.

Thanks again - I'll keep you posted.



  #5  
Old January 24th 05, 05:48 AM
Professor3700
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Thank you John. Your post combined with Jim's post suggest that I just
didn't find the neutral position. Need to look again more carefully.

Jim suggested that the later models that do have a user selectable neutral
do this through a computer software algorithm. I'm not particularly
interested in reprogramming a Ford computer but building a new computer
designed to do just that is easy for me.

Gary

  #6  
Old January 24th 05, 05:50 AM
Professor3700
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Posts: n/a
Default

Thank you Jim. Still a little puzzled because I removed the [electric]
motor and rotated the shift shaft manually. Between 4H and 4L the front
drive shaft never disengaged. Unfortunately I did not have the rear
wheels in the air so I couldn't tell for sure that the rear drive shaft
did not come free.

But you are suggesting that if I had the car in the air and rotated the
shift shaft manually, I would find the neutral position. If this is true,
I'm home free because a computer that can find that position is easy for
me. Lots of ways to do that.

Probably can't put the car in the air before weekend but I'll try then.

Thanks again - I'll keep you posted.



  #7  
Old January 24th 05, 07:48 AM
Jim Warman
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If you have the auto hubs and they are working correctly, driveshaft
rotation will be limited by the action of the front hubs. The hubs engage
when the axle is turning faster than the wheel - direction matters not.....
If the front wheels are stationary and you turn the front driveshaft, the
hubs will engage and give the impression that the t-case hasn't disengaged.

Conversely, we can rotate the wheel freely either way.. again, direction
doesn't matter since the wheel is spinning faster than the stationary shaft.
The concept may be difficult for some to grasp but it does work....

If you disassemble your t-case shift motor (or better, a donor we can screw
up on), you'll notice three or four (CRS disease) brass arcs on a board. The
4WD module understands the position of the shift forks from the
juxtaposition of these arcs - some are making contact and some aren't. The
principal is quite simple though it appears complicated without a real good
stare and some concentration.


"Professor3700" > wrote in message
lkaboutautos.com...
> Thank you Jim. Still a little puzzled because I removed the [electric]
> motor and rotated the shift shaft manually. Between 4H and 4L the front
> drive shaft never disengaged. Unfortunately I did not have the rear
> wheels in the air so I couldn't tell for sure that the rear drive shaft
> did not come free.
>
> But you are suggesting that if I had the car in the air and rotated the
> shift shaft manually, I would find the neutral position. If this is true,
> I'm home free because a computer that can find that position is easy for
> me. Lots of ways to do that.
>
> Probably can't put the car in the air before weekend but I'll try then.
>
> Thanks again - I'll keep you posted.
>
>
>



  #8  
Old January 25th 05, 06:13 AM
Professor3700
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Posts: n/a
Default

Understand the hub operation. When the transfer case is in 4H, the front
drive shaft will rotate about 90 degrees before you feel and hear the hubs
begin to engage. After engagement, another 90 degrees or so will have them
fully locked.

However when the transfer case is in 4H or 4L, the front shaft movement is
restricted to about 5 or 10 degrees before the gears in the transfer case
stop any further movement.

When I was searching for the neutral position, I was trying to feel the
disengagement of the transfer case (constrained to about 5 degrees
movement) to a place where the transfer case had let go of the front axel
and movement was now restricted by the hubs. Never found a place on the
shift shaft between 4H and 4L where the transfer case let go of the front
shaft. Had the motor off and was moving the shift shaft by hand. The
detents and casing marks for 2H, 4H and 4L are really clear. No ambiguity
there.

Since more than a few have suggested that this transfer case really does
have a neutral, I had concluded that the transfer case must have synchro
cones or something roughly equivalent, spring loaded that require the
drive shafts and gear mechanism to be completely unloaded before a shift
can be completely affected. Such a mechanism would make sense because
this transfer case allows shifting in and out of 4WD high while in
motion.

Looked like my best shot of finding this elusive neutral position is to
lift the car so both drive shafts were completely unloaded. If it's there
(no reason to doubt, several have told me quite clearly that it is), I'll
find it.

The encoder wheel is cute - easy enough to understand. Also easy enough
to cut a new one with an identifiable contact logic combination telling a
computer (my design, not Ford) where to find neutral. Other ways probably
easier is to just use a conventional encoder wheel and have the computer
count ticks between 4H and 4L. As soon as I find the neutral place,
figuring out how to have the motor put it there should be pretty easy.

Thanks for your help.

G

 




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