Ford Excursion :: Auto Locking Hubs Won't Engage?
Apr 1, 2014
And the vacuum pump was replaced.
View 7 RepliesAnd the vacuum pump was replaced.
View 7 RepliesI just recently purchased a 2000 Excursion and had some questions up in another thread. After doing some diagnosing....I have a couple of questions about the auto locking hubs. The problem I have is that even with the vacuum line disconnected from the knuckle and no vacuum...the hubs won't unlock in auto/2wd. I confirmed that the knuckle and the hubs will hold vacuum when I hooked my vacuum pump up to it and it held vacuum (the fitting should be clear as I heard the hub making some sounds). I'm getting ready to pull the hubs to clean and re-grease them. My question is that being they are still locked....will it be any harder to pull them off the spindle and after disassembling them/cleaning them.....when I re-install them....will they be unlocked by default after putting them back on the spline as they have been pulled apart and reassembled?
View 14 RepliesMy Excursion is having an issue with the 4x4 system. The. 4x4 selector switch on dash lights up properly for 4x4, but the auto hubs don't actually engage. The hubs will lock only if I manually lock the hubs. I can hear relay click, so I don't think its electrical. The hubs had new o rings installed when I did front ball joints a few thousand miles ago, and the 4x4 worked fine up until today.
View 5 RepliesI am considering buying a 2001 Ford F250 Super Duty XLT 4x4 V10 engine tomorrow. I am hesitant because I cant get the 4x4 to engage. It goes into 4x4 low and high and the front driveshaft spins but it wont engage the wheels. One side locking hub locks but the other side the locking hub is cracked off and so I there is no way to turn to lock that side. I will of course replace the Locking Hub ASAP if I buy the rig but my question here is, if one side is locked should one side of the front axle spin, meaning if only one side Locking Hub is locked should that wheel turn and the other not? Both are not turning but as I said the driveshaft is spinning.
I don't know if both sides need to be locked in order for the front wheels to engage while in 4x4 high or low. Or if one side should engage if only one side is locked; the wheel that's locked of course..
2001 Ford F250 XLT Super Duty 4x4
V10 engine...
I got new auto-locking hubs. The updated ones. As I proceeded to replace them, I pulled out old ones and when driver side came out, there was like 1/2 ounce of water that flowed out from where the auto-locking hub would sit. Strange. I had changed out lines, vacuum pump, vacuum solenoid and reservoir. All new and dry. I blasted both sides down with brake cleaner to clean off old grease, let dry and installed new auto hubs. So far so good. Will test the ESOF feature another time. I was wondering where this water would come from? Other side of wheel hubs are dry.
View 2 RepliesMy hubs will not lock when put into 4x4. I disconnected all lines from the solenoid to both hubs and tested them for leaks... All good there. I put a gauge on the lines at both hubs one at a time while the other is still connected and get no reading when switched into 4x4. I checked for vacuum right out of the solenoid, and I get 2inHg when switched into 4x.
The vacuum pump kicks on every time I start the truck, even if I just shut it off and re-start right away. There is no delay when switching my ac/heater controls to different settings or vent locations. So I know there is vacuum. How much vacuum I should be getting out of the solenoid to the hubs?
2004 F350 6.0L....
I know this is going to sounds lame, my wife can't turn them, they have cover over it that has to be unscrewed to get at 'em. It would be nice to shift in and out "on the fly" as weather condition change.
Is it a difficult change?
I recently purchased a 2003 F350 FX4 Dually with the 7.3L Diesel. It has locking hubs and electric shift in the cab.
I have had locking hubs before that you had to engage to shift into 4 wheel drive and I have had trucks without locking hubs.
My truck didn't come with a manual, so I am looking for instructions for the proper use of this system.
Have a 1995 F150 with 83k with manual locking hubs. Haven't used them in almost a year. Today turned them to LOCK, normally very stiff, but this time easily turned with two fingers. Front wheels would not engage. Local mechanic put it on a lift, manually switched each hub from LOCK to FREE several times and they work fine now.
View 2 RepliesI took apart, cleaned and lubed my hubs. My question is: how does the vacuum make the gears work?
Does the vacuum force (suck) the nylon assembly to push the outer gear towards the center of the truck, sliding on the inner gear thus engaging the teeth so that the axle shaft turns the hub?
When the vacuum is gone, does spring pressure pushes the outer gear away from the center of the truck thus disengaging the teeth from the inner gear and allowing the hub to free wheel?
Is this vacuum source constant during 4wd and not present during 2wd or do I not understand how the system works? I have read about a “vacuum pulse” that locks the hubs and another pulse that unlocks the hubs and this confuses me.
BTW, I like the way the Auto lock works. I had a set of Warn Auto Lock hubs on my 78 CJ. They worked on the principle of a set of roller bearings that would lock (pinch) when there was torque coming from the drive shaft. There was no vacuum involved at all. The down side was that when you coasted, the front hubs would be in two wheel drive and so you would not get the engine braking on all 4 wheels. These ESOF seem to have solved this problem.
Oh, I should probably tell you that I just purchased my 04 F250 SuperDuty 4x4 with the 6.0 diesel, just had it a week. It has been 18 years since I owned a 4x4. Before this I owned an 87 F250 2wd with the 6.9 diesel.
My F350 4x4 won't go into 4 wheel drive unless I get out and take them out of auto and put them in locked position and when I have it in lock mode it seams to work like it's in auto mode, when I put the switch on the dash in 2wd, it seams like it's only driving the back wheels....
View 14 RepliesI was using 4x4 High the other day and it was working just fine. Now today, I was at my first parking lot to plow and used the ESOF to shift into 4x4 High and it did not engage with the hubs being in auto mode. The lights on the dash show up indicating that I am, but I am still in 2wd.
If I manually lock the hubs, it engages 4wd high. I tried the same thing using the ESOF to switch over to 4x4 low and it does NOT engage either.
I also noticed that heater blower was switching over to full defrost even though I had it set on the floor setting (manual heat climate *****).
Does this sound like a vacuum leak? I haven't had a chance to test the lines yet. Btw, this is my second work truck and not the one listed in my signature below. It's a 2006 f-350 6.0 xlt.
Just notice this in the manual page 302 The vehicle should not be driven in 4x4 high or low with the lock hubs set to auto as this condition may damage driveline system components.
Page 303 It then goes on to say !!
Automatic operation of the hub locks is recommended and will increase fuel economy.
when using 4x4 once in awhile LOCK or AUTO
My 2010 F350 shudders when turning right. From what I read it could be the auto locking hubs not dis-engaging or sticking in the locked position. Tutorials show it's pretty easy to pull the auto locking Hub out taking out the three screws holding it in place. My questions is what type of grease do I need to apply to the auto locking hub once I have them out and determine that is what the issue is?
View 13 RepliesI have a 2013 F250 which has both the Manual and auto locking hub feature. I tried to plow my driveway this morning and after making one pass I put the truck in reverse and could not back up my steep driveway. The truck is showing locked in 4x4 on the dash, the 4x4 control is in high lock but the front wheels will not turn. It has been very cold here lately (-30) and I'm wondering if the vacuum lines for the auto locking hubs have frozen. I have switched the control out of 4x4 and back in several times, and it does lock in again, but as soon as I put the truck into reverse, they unlock again. The hubs are covered with ice and snow right now so I have not yet tried to manually lock them.
View 14 RepliesThe 2000 X I have has Warn locking hubs on them. Just to be clear, I'd need to switch them to 'lock' then choose either 4-Hi or 4-Low on the dash in order to engage the transfer case, correct?
View 8 RepliesI bought a 2001 Excursion Ltd 4 years ago. A previous owner put Warn Premium hubs on it, which I would have eventually done myself.
I got stuck a couple of weeks ago and tried to use my 4wd. Nothing.
A friend suggested I replace the Transfer Case Motor as it can go out if you don't use it. I got that done today but I still don't have 4wd.
I can hear the transfer case shift and see the drive shaft spinning, but the front tires don't spin.
I thought it was the PVH solenoid, but discovered the Warn locking hubs don't use the vacuum and it has been disconnected/plugged.
After a lot of reading and troubleshooting, I have come to know that it takes vacuum to engage and vacuum to disengage the automatic locking hubs on the Ford F series and Excursion. Most indications is that ~ 15" hg is required to engage and approximately half that much to disengage them. The mechanism that either engages or disengages them acts similarly to a ball point pen. The full amount of vacuum causes the mechanism to travel to it's limit, where the hub is engaged, whereas half the amount of vacuum applied only causes the mechanism to travel to its midpoint, which is where is should be for disengagement.
In my case, I have tested for vacuum leaks, none are present. I have installed new Ford OEM hub assemblies, a new locking hub solenoid and have tested the function of my vacuum pump. It draws about 13.5" hg of vacuum on the system. I do not have any issues with HVAC controls in the cabin of the truck. When installing the new hubs, I ensured that they are unlocked, the inner spline assy spins freely and once installed, the wheel shaft spins freely by hand. When I shift to 4WD on the dash, the hubs engage and all is well.
Problem I am having is when I shift back to 2WD, the hubs remain locked. I can tell as the wheel shafts are not able to be spun freely by hand. I have tried backing the vehicle, etc. No luck. Furthermore, when monitoring vacuum while engaging and disengaging 4WD, I can see that the full vacuum (~13,5") is applied when engaging. What concerns me is that only 3.5 - 4.0" hg is applied when disengaging. This is certainly not enough to operate the mechanism to the point of disengaging the hubs.
I have considered replacing the vacuum pump as I am only getting 13.5" hg of vacuum, however, when I research the replacement part, many have indicated that a new one only draws about that much, so I do not see the value in replacement.
Have any of you dealt with the same or similar problem and if so, what was your resolution?
On my new to me '03 Excursion (I've owned it for 1.5 weeks now), I'm starting to get through the 1st level of issues (Wandering - fixed, Speedo/ABS issue - still working on that, changing the rear diff fluid this week, hopefully).
Now, I want to look into why the manually locking hubs won't turn. When I brought it up to the Previous Owner, who was about as mechanically inclined as my Golden Retreiver, he said "these are auto locking hubs. I never turned those things before".
They are frozen in the non-locked position, so I have to pray that I never need to actually manually lock them.
Any lucky experience at un-freezing stuck hubs? I've started the liberal application of PB Blaster process.
Last weekend I was cutting wood and put my 2001 F150 into four wheel drive for the first time in a long time. I did it "just in case". Anyway, now my fuel mileage really took a nosedive. Is it possible one of the hubs did not unlock? If so, how can I test? Common problem?? 215,000 and going strong!!!
View 8 Replies2004 fx4, transfer case engages, but front wheels won't engage. I assume the vacuum solenoid is stuck, any other thoughts?
View 1 Replies