Check 4x4 / Power Terrain Fault

[Boosty06]

Hopefully one of yall have run into this and figured out the issue!

2 months ago went rock crawling and 30-45 seconds after putting Bronco into 4hi I get the dreaded check 4x4 screen, trip immediately ruined. Took it into ford and after 3 different visits they said that my “transfer case internals were bound up” so they replaced the transfer case. Fast forward to this past weekend. We went to the beach and went to an off road area. As soon as it started getting soft I put it in Sand GOAT mode. As soon as I press the gas, check 4x4 again. Hopefully not another transfer case but we will see as it goes back in on the 31st. Has anyone been through this before? Seems kind of unusual.

Mods
4” lift
37” tires
Ford ProCal

No power terrain mods.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Edit:

VIN : 1FMEE5BP0PLA96103

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[Brian_B]

Did it make any gnarly grinding or something breaking noises?

Bronco loves to kick out the 4WD fault if it sees too much wheel slip, which is measured from the wheel speed sensors. It’s hard to get into that condition unless you are in a spot you truly need 4WD - if you are on flat level ground, all four wheels are gonna spin at more or less the same speed no matter what. But get in some mud or on ice, or have a wheel up in the air, and too much of that and the Bronco just assumes you stripped out the tcase or lost an axle.

Usually, just resetting the code brings it all back - assuming nothing is actually mechanically broken.

If something is mechanically broken, it’s gonna make some unholy noise. The only way it’s silent is it’s either stripped so clean there’s nothing left to grind, a drive shaft is completely missing, or something really iffy like that.

I can’t see how you would bind up a tcase like this so bad - except maybe trying to do donuts with the front locker on or something like that. Well, also, I guess flat towing - haha

 

[Boosty06]

Did it make any gnarly grinding or something breaking noises?

Bronco loves to kick out the 4WD fault if it sees too much wheel slip, which is measured from the wheel speed sensors. It’s hard to get into that condition unless you are in a spot you truly need 4WD - if you are on flat level ground, all four wheels are gonna spin at more or less the same speed no matter what. But get in some mud or on ice, or have a wheel up in the air, and too much of that and the Bronco just assumes you stripped out the tcase or lost an axle.

Usually, just resetting the code brings it all back - assuming nothing is actually mechanically broken.

If something is mechanically broken, it’s gonna make some unholy noise. The only way it’s silent is it’s either stripped so clean there’s nothing left to grind, a drive shaft is completely missing, or something really iffy like that.

I can’t see how you would bind up a tcase like this so bad - except maybe trying to do donuts with the front locker on or something like that. Well, also, I guess flat towing - haha

Fortunately/Unfortunately, no noises. When I pressed into the gas the wheels didn’t slip, but also didn’t feel like 4hi was engaged either. I still felt like only back tires had any sort of roll to them.

I only have rear lockers and haven’t tried the donuts yet lmao.

When I went wheeling with my buddy he said it didn’t even look like my 4x4 was engaged because there was no tire spin in the front. I think I have a bigger issue somewhere that Ford hasn’t found.

 

[Brian_B]

Mine has done this in the snow and it was the FAD - but not every model has a FAD. I went and manually engaged the front axle and hooked the FAD back up it’s been good ever since. It wouldn’t throw the 4x4 error tho until I could get the wheels to slip a good bit - then it would detect the front wasn’t engaged since it wasn’t moving with the rear.

 

[Boosty06]

Mine has done this in the snow and it was the FAD - but not every model has a FAD. I went and manually engaged the front axle and hooked the FAD back up it’s been good ever since. It wouldn’t throw the 4x4 error tho until I could get the wheels to slip a good bit - then it would detect the front wasn’t engaged since it wasn’t moving with the rear.

Mines a 23 BD NonSas with the 4.46 so I am assuming I don’t have the FAD

 

[Brian_B]

Mines a 23 BD NonSas with the 4.46 so I am assuming I don’t have the FAD

I believe if you do NOT have the full time tcase (4A) - then you DO have an FAD on the 4.46

Why, I have no idea.

That FAD would be where I would start. Also make sure the ESOF is actually shifting the tcase into 4Hi/4Lo.

You can check all this on jackstands. I have a old post where I was troubleshooting mine I will try to dig up that can help

 

[Brian_B]

What I had done a while back, may not exactly apply but can maybe give some ideas

https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/threads/powertrain-malfunction-service-4x4.104935/#post-2392583

 

[mjp2]

Unplug/clean/reconnect the wiring bundle running into the back of the transfer case. While you're in there, check the wire bundle for any visible wear that could point to a frayed or internally broken wire. If the error clears after reconnecting, jiggle the wires on that connector to see if you can cause the error.

Do the same unplug/clean/reconnect process for the connection attached to the outside of the frame rail under the passenger front door.

 

[Boosty06]

Heard back today that it is the transfer case clutch actuator. Anyone else seen this? Think it’s really the issue?

 

[Brian_B]

Heard back today that it is the transfer case clutch actuator. Anyone else seen this? Think it’s really the issue?

I think @SierraBronco had something similar happen? But that was on a 4A transfer case. Not sure the part time case has a clutch - just the ESOF motor that basically pulls the shift handle for you.

 

[SierraBronco]

I think @SierraBronco had something similar happen? But that was on a 4A transfer case. Not sure the part time case has a clutch - just the ESOF motor that basically pulls the shift handle for you.

Part time transfer case does not have a clutch, correct. It's a physical lock, which is nice. But! Still a damn electric actuator to keep the masses happy cause levers are scary.

Ultimately I don't think our issue was the clutch, as it started giving us issues in 2H as well. Then other people started having module communication problems similar to what we were experiencing.

 

[Boosty06]

Heard back again today and still broken. Throwing the same "Check 4x4" warning. Dealership is now lost and doesn't know what direction to go so they are handing it over to the Ford engineers. I have a feeling I am in for the long haul on this one.

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