4x4 Auto Delete and Modification - 2010 Ford Explorer 

I think I have a couple :) Check the rest of the channel out. That tablet was developed in my Subaru Legacy, then transferred to the Explorer, and the install was MUCH nicer.

I would love to set something like that up. Unfortunately I am not in a place to do so right now. I only have a few precious minutes a day to tinker with what Ive got going on right now. Maybe once I move, and get a workshop setup I can look into making something. Thanks for watching!

I noticed my 2010 was doing same exact thing and the MPG was definitely affected

Still working great to this day!

@@JEGsGarage doing my 2010 today

Thanks!

There is a pretty fair amount of debate on this. Here is my analysis of the V8 transfer case in the 2006-2010 models. Im being specific, because I think the V6 may be different. When in 4x4 Auto, the rig is in 2wd. The transfer case has the ability to add power to the front wheels, and it does so more often than it should, but I dont believe its distributed beyond 50/50. I.E. with traction control completely off, rear tires slipping, transfer case engages and sends 50 percent to the front. Its not smooth, and most times it almost sounds like its hurting parts. Locked in 4x4, it acts like a regular transfer case. And Low Range acts like Low Range. With power to the engagement motor interrupted (like with my hack) the transfer case does absolutely nothing. With traction control off, power stays to the rear 100%. I could be wrong on this of course. I havent been inside the transfer case. But just seeing how it acts when you only remove power to the engagement motor, it kind of makes sense.

Thanks Ken!! I love how it works. I actually havent needed 4x4 more than once or twice since I bought the truck. One could argue that I dont even need something with 4wd. So its nice to be able to save the components and wear and tear on things. The display on the dash is my stereo head unit. I have a tablet installed where the stock radio goes, and the head unit's brain is behind that. I remote mounted the face plate up on top where the little tray was. Thanks for watching and commenting!

You don't have to make it complicated like me. Just put a toggle on the wire and you're good to go! I just like being fancy sometimes.

Yeah those t-cases take a beating with that auto 4x4. I'm not sure why they designed it that way.

A kit will be hard just with everything else I have going on. At first I didn't think it would be reliable but it still works great. The bigger issue is I no longer have the explorer so it's hard to copy.

Not really. It will still kick into 4x4. Turning off traction control by pressing the button once still leaves some of the systems on. If you press and hold for 5 seconds it turns everything off, but Auto 4x4 still functions.

Hi Jesse. Its not the power wire...its the signal wire down to the transfercase motor. I THINK. You want the 4x4 module to think its doing its job. I has no way of knowing that the transfer case isnt doing what its told. And putting a toggle on it is totally fine. I like to overcomplicate things haha. I am trying very hard not to drill holes or make things stick out in this car. TO me...this is how it should have come from the factory.

Jesse Taylor so did you try putting a switch off the behind the selector switch?

Hey leadfoot! Awesome thanks for subscribing! That would be a nice swap esp if you live somewhere where you dont need the AWD all year round. I need 4wd in my daily driver maybe 10-15 days out of the year tops. Doesnt make sense to have it going the rest of the time. Thanks for watching!

4x4 auto doesnt ever provide front wheel power only. Its either rear wheel drive, or 4 wheel drive. On/off. In my opinion, its not a good system. This vehicle doesnt have AWD, but I believe some of them do. In that case, I think they can feed power gradually, or to the wheels that need it. Being able to shut off the auto 4x4 is a great feature and I wish they gave that option from the factory.

Thanks for the extra info. Dont the older ones use the "brown wire mod" though? I think that was what it was called back before the 06...

Marco Franchetti plugs and wires plus clean the intake sensor guaranty you will get way better gas mileage ho after you clean the sensor try to drive at low RPM for about 15 miles why because cleaning the sensor will reset your fuel injectors so you will get better gas mileage

Sorry for the delay Joseph. Hopefully you were able to get it working by now. Your switch should have come with the wiring diagram. If I get a chance maybe I can do some videos like that with some small projects.

Hi Tiberius. Do you mean the radio controls on top of my dash? Thats actually a Pioneer headunit. I remote mounted the faceplate in a little pod that I built so I could still have full radio controls along with my Nexus tablet that is installed in the dash.

Glad you like it!

And Im assuming you'll get warning lights for the ABS. Im not sure how that is better than putting a switch on that one wire...and i would never want to disable ABS on this big tank haha.

JEG's Garage I hate abs and traction control.. only thing is the warning lights bother me

Not sure on that. I don't think my dash light comes on at all with the system shut off though... 4.0 is a different wire than the 4.6, but not sure how similar the rest of the system is.

@@JEGsGarage the wire I moded was labeled MTR CW. Not the one that goes to the switches.

It's just under the dash on the passenger side. More towards the transmission tunnel. If you Google you'll probably find a photo. It's not hard to get to.

@@JEGsGarage thanks!

Hi Dominique. You should be able to find those switches online pretty easily. Any of the Ford online parts sites should have them. Or if you have any junk yards near you, check to see if they have any explorers and grab the switches. They're easy to get to. Most of the dash just pulls apart!

I published this video back in Nov 2016. I had been running with the 4x4 disabled for quite some time before that, for testing. To this day it still works perfect. I have seen no issues with the trans, and when I need 4x4 it comes on perfectly. I used 4x4 auto a few times over the winter without incident. My button is still functioning perfectly as well.

@@JEGsGarage so did you just disconnect the fuse or did you unpin the wire?

Hey Frank. Go check out my previous videos. That's actual a Nexus 7 Android tablet. I have a head unit installed above that as well. It's all custom. I have several videos on how I installed it into the explorer dash, and if you go back farther in my videos, you'll see where I installed it into my Subaru, and I have info on the actual development of the tablet software setup etc.

@@JEGsGarage thank you . I'm getting ready to delete the 4x4 the way u did it.

Im not sure... You would need the entire system. Im assuming a good bit of it has to do with the PCM and maybe the BCM. Its probably more trouble than its worth. However...I dont know everything so it might be easy haha. I am pretty sure that if you even change the cluster, you need to go to the dealer for the truck to start.

homes24 if your Explorer doesn't have the three buttons, it's probably AWD. If you have an AWD the only way to make it 2wd is to remove the front driveshaft. There's no electrical mods for that system that I know of.

Mahmoud Al-Amoudi I don't see how it could hurt anything to be honest all it's doing is removing any power transfer to the front wheels essentially turning into a f150

Thanks

Jesse is right. Ive had mine disconnected for well over a year now, and I have noticed no ill effects. It still works perfect when I hit the button or lock it in.

Got it

What cable you cut i have a 08 explorer too and want to do this too

Yes sir! To this day it functions just as it does in this video. I just used the 4x4 the other day as we had snow in PA.

I would have to go back and check....but yes I think so. V6 and V8 may be different.

Yes. System now defaults to 2wd on every start. There are ways to keep it at last setting but it's how I wanted it to work. You need to hard press for Auto4x4, then you can select full time or low. Then light press and it goes back to Auto. Another hard press at any time shuts the system down and it's back in 2wd.

Yes. I think they are the same.

How does your 4x4 hi work and how do you shut it off mine wont shut off wheb turning truck off

@@JEGsGarage great , thank u and ill replicate your work :)

@@ninjasway5802 i just press the 4x4 hi switch and it goes off!

No... I think you'd set a CEL or something. You can try it, but Im not sure it would act right. This makes it think its acting right, its just not kicking into 4WD.

Francisco I added it. Its an Android tablet. Check my other videos for details of how I did it.

Not a single clue. Didn't even know they made two different cases for a 2010 Explorer.

I disagree with your understanding of the Ford transfer case. Its NOT AWD. Its auto 4x4. Big difference is that AWD has a "clutch" in the system to seamlessly and smoothly deliver power front to rear as needed. This does NOT do that. Power to the rear wheel is never reduced as far as I can tell, except through traction control. The front wheels do not get partial power/torque. Its abrupt and obvious when power is sent up front. Its basically like you are in a 4x4, and you get the rear wheels spinning and slam it into 4x4. I had to have the transfer case replaced, I feel, due to the application of 4 wheel drive. Im not the only one who has had issues with it. The added power of the V8 doesnt help haha.

@@JEGsGarage No it uses multiple clutches to provide variable locking force. All of these systems do. They are not just on/off switches. You probably only notice it when it applies high locking force.

Thanks. Thats my favorite part. Its how they should have made the thing from the factory, but thats just my honest opinion :)

Nope! Zero. Explorer runs and acts exactly how you'd expect and how it should have acted straight from Ford (in my humble opinion)!

@@JEGsGarage Many thanks for the info. many thanks for the info. could you please clarify for me. shall I use power relay to break the grey/orange cable or just enough to install switch button? i have not enough skill to make so excellent installation as you do

I think I saw 4.0 diagrams when hunting around on Google. I've def seen the wire descriptions for the 4.0 regarding turing off 4wd. Might be the same but the plugs are swapped? Sorry I can't help more.

06-10 V8 Model?

I wanna get rid of shifting module I put vise grip on triangle piece that and turn it manually in 4 low or 4 high but it doesn’t seem to lock in 4 wheel drive my number is +18106629529 if you have any ideas thanks

As long as you cut the proper wire, you can put a toggle switch on it and it will have the same effect. I just like overcomplicating things :)

Been like this since this video and my transfer case is fine. It shouldn't affect it. The transfer case in these is auto 4x4, not AWD. So it clanks in and out of 4X4 when needed. I'm simply denying it the ability to go into 4x4.

Ninjas Way back it up about 20 to 40 feet it should go out of low 4x4

Sure! I was going to use an Arduino board to control certain functions but decided to keep it simple with this solution...which is essentially a switch on a wire.... I may have added a little touch but a toggle switch would get you there. Do as you please!

Not sure what you mean Steeve. If you mean does TC have to turn on automatically each time, then yes, i think so. If you are asking if you need to turn off TC to make this mod work, then no. I just did it to prove that it would spin rear wheels vs all wheels.

JEG's Garage the turn is I did that mod put a switch to,I think it is working,I never turn off traction control,do.I have to??

Still going to this day! Still works every time I hit the button.

Yessir. Android tablet installed and a shift knob from a different Ford :)

Thats a good question. I dont know the answer to that. My gut is telling me no...you woudl have to change quite a few other things for that to work. Probably the 4x4 module for sure. And you might need to change/reprogram the PCM. I cant say for sure.

JEG's Garage thanks for your reply. I left that comment while ago and allot have changed since than. First I bought T-case motor. Than I found out my vehicle don't have one. It has the plug for motor but only one wire goes from it to t-case. So I assumed it was clutch wire and motor was for gears. But my version has no low hi. Ok I thought my clutch is bad. Since i tryied to connect positive wire to it straight from battery but it was quiet no click nothing. I Looked for them clutches, and they are nowhere to b found. Only complete T-cases for sale. So I bought one with motor for like 250 together with its original T-case control module from same donor vehicle. And I bought the buttons earlier. So I thought I'm gonna use all this components to modify my car. When T-case arrived I tested it. And I got assured that Brown wire that goes inside is clutch wire. Cuz it's been looking front and rear shaft outputs. But it was done without any noise. So I thought maybe mine is good. I traced that wire from underneath the car to glow box. Disconnected it from TCCM (and keept it disconnected till today), checked with multimeter to make sure that is the same wire. Than checked few other wires on that connector. Found positive and negative for relay power. Installed a switch and led light on my tripple square plug. Switch powers up relay relay connects positive to clutch wire. How ever I think on power off that clutch coil gives big inductive voltage jump and I burned 2 leds only third one I connected in series with rezistor. And it's good till today. So with all this experience I can tell that my car had some low percentage of power to my front but not enough to spin even on snowy surface. Now with my modification it has rear only or both with 100 percent to front and to rear. With the front completely off I noticed car feels lighter and fuel economy gain. And with front on goes easy thru snow half wheel high. That's all I need. Don't know why they design those cars so stupidly. That low percentage clutch slip on dry roads just eats engines energy as soon as you have little difference in tire thread diameter. And kills components.

vityok3000 Mountaineers are not 4 wheel drive there all wheel drive difference between night and day

vityok3000 I got rid of my Mountaineer bro it pissed me off they're so beautiful inside their nice ride but the thing about it is is it will get stuck in wet grass all wheel drive sucks here in Michigan at least and besides the Ford Explorer sits on a fully boxed frame exactly like the pickup trucks from 06 and up

Your traction control, stability control(RSC) and 4 Auto all use the ABS system to engage based on wheel speed, so I'd its not working none of those other systems would be working. So yeah that's probably why you only had 2wd

It WILL work. But the V6 wire is in a slightly different position I believe. Otherwise, it'll work the same.

@@JEGsGarage in the video you say it's the Grey wire with orange stripe correct? These other comments say it won't work on the v6 engine, but I'm glad to hear it should work from you.

It's a simple pioneer media head unit and a tablet that I installed into a double din kit. You can see the whole project on my channel!

You know...Im not entirely sure. It might be the same wire...I actually never thought to check. Thats a great point though...it would be much easier to mess with up there. Much easier to come up with a plug and play solution too. If I ever need to re-work mine, I will check that out.

JEG's Garage, I may see if I can undo the wire from the harness clip and see if I can get the rears to spin with no 4x4 kicking in. If so I'll get back with you.

Floordford how did it work out?

JEG's Garage i wish you were in gr mi

did anyone confirm that the grey /orange wire in back of the auto switch is the same as the module grey/ orange wire ?

V8 or V6?

Thanks! Nothing much. It has a Magnaflow catback. Makes it sound pretty darn good in my opinion. I own HP Tuners and Im toying with buying some Ford credits and messing with the tune some. Probably shift performance and maybe some other odds and ends.

JEG's Garage can you call Earl Watkins about explorer 4x4. 9013435058 if i dont answer please leave message for call back i want to disengage 4x4.

Hi Christian. Easy...You can either activate the system and put the thing in locked 4x4 mode. OR...if you are going to be shutting it down and starting it up a lot, you could just engage the rocker switch on the little circuit box I built. It will then keep the system active, and it will operate like factory.

JEG's Garage oh very smart nice :)

dwight sersey if you want to just flat out disable it, clip the wire that I describe. But putting a switch on it isn't that much work and if you need the 4x4, it's good to have in place.

JEG's Garage I've pushed the switch it still Kicks on. I just wanna do a burn out lol

dwight sersey there is no way yo turn it off in factory form. That's the issue. You need to modify it with a switch or by cutting it the wire. The button only puts it back into 4x4 auto after you are in high or low.

@@drunkncle2117 pull the abs fuse

Hi Brandon. Unfortunately Im not in a position to do any type of production right now. Im in a temporary living situation and so busy with work I wouldnt be able to do much. Im working on a parts list and instructions as you arent the only person to ask...and it really is an easy thing to make. The button mod is a bit tricky, but you could get the same results with any old push button.

Thats real good! Must be doing a lot of easy highway cruising :) On average, my V8 gets better, or on par MPG with the V6. But 50% of my commute is highway and I drive it pretty easy. Driving style makes a big difference...but Ive tested 2wd vs Auto-4x4 numerous times through numerous tanks of gas, and it does add at least 1mpg. 1mpg isnt much, but for just disconnecting one wire, Ide say for the "cost" its an awesome improvement. Most times Im getting more than 1 extra mpg out of it. Esp on a longer drive.

I got a 2010 4.0 I’m getting 24.7 miles per gallon. All I did was change the plugs and wires and clean the intake sensor. I use Motor Craft standard Ford plugs with Motor Craft 8mm wires clean the senior. Guaranty you get better than 18.9

Charles Love driving on the highway or in the city?

It certainly FEELS better. Not sure if it actually is. It's def smoother and quieter.

Is is because the power is distributed on only two wheels.

Hi Pancho. I have had a few requests, and I would LOVE to do it. Unfortunately Im not at a place right now where I can do that kind of work. Im strung out between working, traveling, kids, possibly moving, etc at the moment. I havent even been able to put up any videos lately haha. Im so far behind.

JEG's Garage not a problem let me know when your up to it. So we can talk some more thanks buddy. Keep up the good work

I've never been accused of being a tease before! Haha. I show pretty much everything if you watch the whole video. I show the circuit and all. I sort of expect if you are going to try this, you'll have some experience messing around with components, switches, etc. If not, it might not be the best project to learn on. That transfer case is pricey! I had no reference, nothing to go by, which is probably why it seems a little scattered. I figured it out, and wanted to share. Step by step, like Chris Fix does, would be cool, but I just don't have the capabilities to develope my videos like that right now. Mostly like to share my work and hopefully inspire someone to get out and mess with this stuff...and maybe come up with a better idea!