Oops I drove in 4H - and U-Turned!

[boozy.btc]

gm Bronco friends.

On a recent road trip I accidentally drove for about 20 miles, maybe 30 minutes of total driving, in 4H. A mix of in-town driving and highway driving (65 MPH). I think managed to turn the GOAT dial into slippery mode while meaning to go into Sport mode. Oops.

I’ve heard that it’s not so much the speed of driving in 4H that’s an issue, it’s the turning that can cause damage. And with some in-town driving and parking, I definitely did some turning. And as fate would have it I missed my turn, twice, and had to make two sharp u-turns! Yikes. It was the second u-turn when I realized something felt strange. The Bronco felt sluggish like the parking break was on. Soon after I got to my destination and noticed I was in 4H in the GOAT dial.

Everything felt fine until I got home. I drove about about 400 miles in one straight shot and when I parked in my driveway I noticed a loud whine sound. From some searching it sounds like this is the “normal” 2.7 transmission whine. And maybe it’s in my head but kind of feels like turning is a little more stiff and takes a little more effort. Again maybe in my head because I’m being paranoid but the vehicle feels a little different now that it’s at 9000 miles. I purchased it with only 3000 miles.

Driving in 4H can damage both the transfer case mechanics and the transmission, correct? Anything else?

What should I watch and listen for in terms of damage done that I should address?

Thanks in advance!

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[JT58Bronc]

I have done this as well by mistake. Drove about 10 miles. It's when I pulled into a gas station and turned sharp to the pumps I noticed the "chattering" of the front tires and I knew immediately I screwed up. I immediately put it into 2H. But I have had no issues since. I think you will be OK as long as you don't do this mistake all the time.

 

[Headsong]

You said 4H, then you said Slippery Mode, which is 4A....or maybe you don't have that?

 

[cbrenthus]

Yup, slippery mode is 4A, not 4H, so you should be fine. I doubt you were in 4H because you would have noticed with any sharp turn. And even if you were, you either snap and axle or you don't, and you'd know if you did and if you didn't you're fine. We could debate about weakened components for days, but there's really nothing you can do until something actually breaks.

 

[boozy.btc]

Correct I don't have 4A on my OBX. It uses 4H.

 

[cbrenthus]

Oh, and I'm pretty sure slippery mode tightens the steering a bit. Annoys me that they have these prescribed modes, when I just want to be able to set the settings myself. I want tight steering,

 

[boozy.btc]

Yup, slippery mode is 4A, not 4H, so you should be fine. I doubt you were in 4H because you would have noticed with any sharp turn. And even if you were, you either snap and axle or you don't, and you'd know if you did and if you didn't you're fine. We could debate about weakened components for days, but there's really nothing you can do until something actually breaks.

No I can go into Slippery mode, its one of the available GOAT modes for me. It's 4H or 4A (when equipped). I was 100% in 4H.

 

[cbrenthus]

Correct I don't have 4A on my OBX. It uses 4H.

Ok, but wouldn't you also have 4H ten in sport? Or do non-advanced 4wd models stay in 2H in sport?

 

[boozy.btc]

Oh, and I'm pretty sure slippery mode tightens the steering a bit. Annoys me that they have these prescribed modes, when I just want to be able to set the settings myself. I want tight steering,

Ah. Okay thanks for the heads up. It's weird it's like it kept the stiff steering but even in Normal mode and 2H. I'm tempted to disconnect the battery haha!

 

[Jazer]

Ok, but wouldn't you also have 4H ten in sport? Or do non-advanced 4wd models stay in 2H in sport?

Sport mode stays in 2H for those of us with the standard Tcase.

 

[Ducati1098]

Making a few turns in 4H isn't going to hurt the transmission. If everything else was still driving normally, I'm sure its fine.

 

[Jazer]

Ah. Okay thanks for the heads up. It's weird it's like it kept the stiff steering but even in Normal mode and 2H. I'm tempted to disconnect the battery haha!

Im surprised you didn't feel any binding/shuttering/tire skipping when you were doing those tight turns on dry pavement which would have been an instant indication of being in 4H.

 

[boozy.btc]

Ok, but wouldn't you also have 4H ten in sport? Or do non-advanced 4wd models stay in 2H in sport?

Yeah Sport stays in 2H for my non-advanced. The below link has proved accurate for my OBX build.

https://www.cjponyparts.com/resources/bronco-goat-modes-explained

Normal, Eco, Sport are 2H and everything else uses a form of 2H or 2L - but I don't even have the 4A button on my GOAT dial.

 

[cbrenthus]

Ah. Okay thanks for the heads up. It's weird it's like it kept the stiff steering but even in Normal mode and 2H. I'm tempted to disconnect the battery haha!

Cool, might be psychosomatic. I still don't think there is anything you can do until something actually breaks or at least makes a very obvious noise

 

[boozy.btc]

Im surprised you didn't feel any binding/shuttering/tire skipping when you were doing those tight turns on dry pavement which would have been an instant indication of being in 4H.

Yeah I wish I knew exactly what happened. I assume I turned the dial into Slippery as I was using sport for a few days. I know for sure the Bronco suddenly felt like I had the parking brake on and it was sluggish and parked and noticed the 4H button illuminated in the GOAT dial.

I've been obsessing over it so much I even mapped out the path I knew I drove so I can try to pinpoint how many miles and how long I could have been driving in 4H LOLOL

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