JeepGuy25
Active Member
- Joined
- January 20, 2016
- Messages
- 71
- Reaction score
- 3
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 2010 Ford Explorer E.B.
Hey all. Ive been tinkering with my Auto-4x4 disable for a bit now on my 2010 4.6 Eddie Bauer.
I HATED the way the Auto-4x4 system worked. When I first got the Explorer, the transfer case made so much noise. A noise that many of you describe on the forums as a groaning sound. And it would engage constantly. Dry, warm, sunny days going up an on-ramp would make it kick in. Pulling off from a red light on a straight dry stretch of road would make it kick in. It was horrible. Come to find out...my t-case was broken. It had no 4-low at all, and there were actually pieces of the case floating around inside. Ford replaced it under my extended warranty. Thank goodness for that!!!
Upon getting it back, I almost immediately did the disable mod. On the 06-10 models, you guys know, its not the brown wire mod. Its the grey with orange stripe mod. There is another good thread on here showing what wire it is, and my video also describes which wire. Im not going to get into a debate about why I did it. I give an explanation in the vid. But I will say Ive been in 2wd mode 100% of the time for a few months with zero ill effects.
Instead of putting a toggle switch on it, I wanted to make it work more seamlessly with the buttons that were already there. I wanted to basically toggle Auto-4x4 on and off, so it made sense to me to use that button. Exactly how I feel FORD should have done it in the first place. What I ended up doing is using a simple circuit to turn a momentary switch into a latching switch. The buttons in the Explorer cant be tapped into directly, unless you build a logic circuit that can read different resistances and act on one specific value. That was too much for me to mess with, so I went with the simple mechanical route.
Here are a couple of pictures of the set up. Below you will find a video demonstrating how it works. The second half goes into more detail about the circuit and how its hooked up. This could also be used in older models, or anything that has a system that you can disable by disconnecting a single wire. If you have any questions let me know!
Micro-switch glued to the back of the stock switch assembly.
This is the wiring for the LED. Decent amount of space to run the wires out.
Here's a tip. Any time you shove a circuit into a small project box like this, print out, or draw up the circuit diagrams and tape them to the lid. This way you have a quick reference if you ever need to service or adjust it. This is better than having to look it up, or remember where you put the diagrams.
This is the whole setup.
And finally this is how the switch looks when activated. The light is highly visible even in direct sunlight.
Finally, here is the video I made covering the whole idea. Is it more complicated than it has to be? Heck yes! Was it really fun to figure out? Yup! With the added bonus of being a "neat" solution and having minimal permanent damage to the car, Im glad I did it!
Thanks for checking it out!
Justin
I HATED the way the Auto-4x4 system worked. When I first got the Explorer, the transfer case made so much noise. A noise that many of you describe on the forums as a groaning sound. And it would engage constantly. Dry, warm, sunny days going up an on-ramp would make it kick in. Pulling off from a red light on a straight dry stretch of road would make it kick in. It was horrible. Come to find out...my t-case was broken. It had no 4-low at all, and there were actually pieces of the case floating around inside. Ford replaced it under my extended warranty. Thank goodness for that!!!
Upon getting it back, I almost immediately did the disable mod. On the 06-10 models, you guys know, its not the brown wire mod. Its the grey with orange stripe mod. There is another good thread on here showing what wire it is, and my video also describes which wire. Im not going to get into a debate about why I did it. I give an explanation in the vid. But I will say Ive been in 2wd mode 100% of the time for a few months with zero ill effects.
Instead of putting a toggle switch on it, I wanted to make it work more seamlessly with the buttons that were already there. I wanted to basically toggle Auto-4x4 on and off, so it made sense to me to use that button. Exactly how I feel FORD should have done it in the first place. What I ended up doing is using a simple circuit to turn a momentary switch into a latching switch. The buttons in the Explorer cant be tapped into directly, unless you build a logic circuit that can read different resistances and act on one specific value. That was too much for me to mess with, so I went with the simple mechanical route.
Here are a couple of pictures of the set up. Below you will find a video demonstrating how it works. The second half goes into more detail about the circuit and how its hooked up. This could also be used in older models, or anything that has a system that you can disable by disconnecting a single wire. If you have any questions let me know!
Micro-switch glued to the back of the stock switch assembly.
This is the wiring for the LED. Decent amount of space to run the wires out.
Here's a tip. Any time you shove a circuit into a small project box like this, print out, or draw up the circuit diagrams and tape them to the lid. This way you have a quick reference if you ever need to service or adjust it. This is better than having to look it up, or remember where you put the diagrams.
This is the whole setup.
And finally this is how the switch looks when activated. The light is highly visible even in direct sunlight.
Finally, here is the video I made covering the whole idea. Is it more complicated than it has to be? Heck yes! Was it really fun to figure out? Yup! With the added bonus of being a "neat" solution and having minimal permanent damage to the car, Im glad I did it!
Thanks for checking it out!
Justin
It will be super clear.
Good video and good explanation.
