Ranger XLT 4.0L V6

• Automatic transmission
• 18,000 miles

At 18,000 miles one morning I started my Ranger, both the "HI 4X4" and the "LOW 4X4" lights would not go out and I could not shift and/or change the setting of the transfer case.

Naturally the dealer diagnosed the problem even before he actually looked at the vehicle as my 4X4 Control Module (CM), and for around $350 fixed it and sent me back on the road.

I am an Electrical Engineer by trade, I worked with Computers and PLC's for most of my life and could not accept the fact that such a PC board could fail for no reason at all, so I did some inquiring and this is what I found.

The original 4X4 CM unit in my Ranger was Part # 1L54-7H417-AC, this part is no longer available and has been substituted with Part # 1L5Z-7E453-AC without notice or reason to anybody. Ford describes this new part as improved and that's all. Motorola manufactured the PC board for the original unit under Part # 01MP207D01.

What is amazing is that the old part can no longer be found anywhere and Motorola does not recognize the board they manufactured for Ford. By the way I have the old 4X4 CM and I know how to read MOTOROLA. I contacted Ford Customer Service but it was like talking to my dog...all the say is "contact the Dealer, he will explain.." Explain what..!!!!!!!

Here is my assessment of what is happening. The original 4X4 CM installed on Rangers has been designed with a running Time Base, meaning that it will cause a "CHECK" failure after a preset programmed time of around 6 to 7 years of driving time that usually add up to 100,000 miles.

Why did the failure happened to me at 18,000 miles?.....well, because I did not drive my vehicle the normal way. Naturally, if you add up all the $350 charges that Ford has racked-up since the inception of this gadget....well you do the math.

Why are the old 4X4 CM being retired, well that is obvious, eventually people wise up and even the best of scams are discovered.
My hope is to find sufficient people out there that have bee affected by this SCAM and together we can make Ford pay. I have one old unit in my possession and all I need is for MOTOROLA to supply me the documentation of the Module they manufactured for Ford and perhaps tell us why there is a new improved Model.

Please, let the Ranger owners that have been scammed with 4X4 CM replacements stand-up and be counted, we might be little people, but together we can achieve justice and put an end to this devious way of doing business.