02 f250 4x4 problem

[big.d]

so i went off road to check a few treestands today and the field i was in had some snow on it,anyhow i parked the truck and did what i needed to do but when i got back in it to leave it started to spin,so i turned the switch to 4wheel high light came on and nothing happend,tried reverse to drive a couple of time to try to get it to lock in but nothing,i ended up getting out ok,but anyone have a clue what the problem might be,thanks for your replys in advance.Dustin

[Wildfire532FB]

Were the hubs locked?

[big.d]

Originally Posted by Wildfire532FB

Were the hubs locked?

yes, they are set to auto

[big sig]

Wildfire meant were the set to lock. If they are in auto and they dont lock either vacuum leak or soleniod. When you did this did the heat change to the defrost?

[Wildfire532FB]

Wow learned something new myself, I thought "auto" was just another word for free wheeling. I was told the hubs were manual only.

[big sig]

My understanding is if you leave them in auto, you have vacuum lines that run to the hubs(I had one bust going down the interstate earlier this year), you turn the switch and it "auto" locks the hubs. When you manually turn them to lock you eliminate the need for the vacuum pump. And the t-case is electronic with the switch.

Manually lock the hubs in and put 4x4 in. See if the front wheels will turn. If so its in the hub auto part of the hub. When your doing this see if the defrost comes on. That means it has a leak. A lot of people on here dont like the auto hubs, because the stop working and have a lot of problems.

[big.d]

Originally Posted by big sig

My understanding is if you leave them in auto, you have vacuum lines that run to the hubs(I had one bust going down the interstate earlier this year), you turn the switch and it "auto" locks the hubs. When you manually turn them to lock you eliminate the need for the vacuum pump. And the t-case is electronic with the switch.

Manually lock the hubs in and put 4x4 in. See if the front wheels will turn. If so its in the hub auto part of the hub. When your doing this see if the defrost comes on. That means it has a leak. A lot of people on here dont like the auto hubs, because the stop working and have a lot of problems.

thanks ill check it out

[Wildfire532FB]

Good info Big Sig

[big.d]

Originally Posted by big.d

thanks ill check it out

ok, when i turned it 4x4 it did not switch to defrost,thats as far as i got so far.time to look elswere ill keep you guys posted

[zpd307]

the hubs are also known to freeze up so you cant even turn the dial to lock. guzzle has a write up to take them apart, clean, and relube them. i did this on my 03 hubs, wasnt hard to do. but, i must have either used too much or the wrong kind of grease, because when it was really cold, the hubs would not want to auto lock. they would if i had been driving first and got the hubs warmed up. do what big sig said and lock the hubs manually. then try and turn the axle shafts by hand. just reach around the wheel and grab onto the ujoints for the front axles. if they wont spin by hand, then you have a problem with the hub. if they dont spin, then you have a problem with the auto locking feature of the hub, ie: vacuum leak...
ford does make non auto hubs for these trucks. they would say say lock and free on the outside of the hub. auto locking hubs would say auto and lock.