Stuck in 4L - 4x4 Error Message

[JayJay]

Two weekends ago I was on a camping trip in northeast Georgia. About an hour after going through the water crossing at Earls Ford, I tried to go from 4L to 4H and the light on the selector began to flash and the shift in progress message was displayed and after a few seconds the message to drive slowly forward popped up which I did followed by the stop and shift to neutral message. After a few tries, the light for 4H illuminated but I could tell once I started driving again that it was still in 4L. I tried again and after a few tries, I shut it off for about 5 minutes and once I started it back up, I got the 4x4 error and service soon message. I decided to disconnect the battery for a few minutes in hopes of resetting the system, but this didn’t work and it was still stuck in 4L with the error message.

With no cell signal, I decided to limp it into Clayton, Ga to Duvall Ford (about 12mi.). I called Duvall once I had cell service, and at first they said they didn’t have anyone that could look at it but, after I explained that I was 5 hours from home, they said they could at least try to scan it for me to see what codes it had. I got there and the service director did a scan but was not able to reset the codes.

Codes

C068F (no description) 0x94
U0403 Invalid data received from Transfer Case Control 0x00
U0415 Invalid data received from %h(ABS) Control Module 0x00
U3001 Control Module Improper Shutdown 0x68


Since there were no technicians available to work on it, I decided to at least check the connectors on the transfer case for any problems or moisture since we did do the water crossing at Earls Ford. I did not see any immediate issues with any connectors and doing this took about 15-20 minutes. I decided to start it up one more time before leaving it there over night and to my surprise, no error code, it shifted into 4H with no issues and then into 2H. I finished up my camping trip (2 more days) with no other issues but, I did not use 4L again until I got back home and again no other issues.

I have read several other posts from members with similar issues but not much in the way of a solution. The only thing that I have seen with a definite fix was with a wire coming out of a connector on the passenger side of the frame. I was wondering if anyone else has seen this and what was done to fix it? Even though I have not had any issues since my trip, I have lost some confidence in the Bronco thinking this could happen again while I’m out on the trails which for me is several hours from home.

*Side Note, the Service Manager at Duvall Automotive was as helpful as he could be given the situation and was very apologetic for not having enough people there to look deeper into it and offered me to leave it overnight with hopes of having someone available the next morning. I am thankful for what he was able to do.

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[mvilla]

When this happened to me it was due to a wire short in the back of the driver side front wheel well. There is a harness that passes over the edge of a body panel there and my oversized tires crunched it when I hit a few whoops too hard. I never had an issue till running the rubicon, and it must have been caused by stuffing the wheels too hard over some rocks. Also caused my gas tank to read empty.

Wire repair, new AWD unit, fuel pump, and IPC to fix it and cost about $3500 total.

To prevent this from happening again, I did a .75” body lift and maxed out the caster on the wheels. It also seems like it would be pretty easy to relocate the wire harness, but I haven’t gotten around to that yet.

I’ve been thinking about adding some protection to the wiring harnesses that pass along the driver and passenger sides near the rock rails. Seen a couple threads where a stick jammed in just the right spot damaged those wires, but I haven’t come up with anything substantial yet.

 

[pillar406]

So the C068F:94 DTC is 4WD/AWD Clutch 'A' Actuator Range Sensor: Unexpected operation sets whenever the AWD module detects an unexpected operation from the clutch in the transfer case. Has your service vehicle message reappeared at all since the first occurrence? If it is send me your VIN in a DM as I'm a tech with access to PTS and I may be able to help you out. It may be that the transfer case range sensor will need to be replaced

 

[JayJay]

@mvilla, I appreciate the info., I don’t think this is the case with mine, I‘m still on stock suspension and tire size for now but, I will definitely be taking a look in that area to see if that harness can be rerouted or protected in some way. I plan on doing a 3” lift and 37’s in the future and don’t want that harness to be an issue later.

 

[JayJay]

So the C068F:94 DTC is 4WD/AWD Clutch 'A' Actuator Range Sensor: Unexpected operation sets whenever the AWD module detects an unexpected operation from the clutch in the transfer case. Has your service vehicle message reappeared at all since the first occurrence? If it is send me your VIN in a DM as I'm a tech with access to PTS and I may be able to help you out. It may be that the transfer case range sensor will need to be replaced

I haven’t gotten the service message since that day but, I can certainly send you my VIN to see if there’s anything you can find out. I’m not sure if it matters, but I never use 4A nor the GOAT mode knob, I always select the range I want to use. I’m sure that even though I engage the transfer case range through the push button, the control module does what it needs to do and 4A may be part of that.

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