Feb 03, 2022
I received some good feedback on this problem elsewhere but the discussion got short-circuited by The Powers That Be. Whatever -- no big deal.
TLDR; I took my Bronco Badlands Sasquatch 4-door 2.7L/Lux wheeling. I promptly got stuck. I luckily had my Jeep Wrangler (TJ) on 38s with me, driven by a friend of mine, but that wasn't enough. I needed a second Jeep friend to aid in rescuing my Bronco because the Bronco refused to let me have 4 wheel drive. I would like to receive additional troubleshooting commentary from folks who may have experience with this issue.
Things started off happily enough.
Got stuck on an icy climb. Then, the electronics took over and the Bronco refused to let me have 4-wheel drive in any flavor. Here's the dashboard message I received.
That's a gigantic WTF, when you're here:
(as usual, the photos don't do justice to the grade. This is a steep, icy, narrow section of trail.)
Now. Here's where photography and real life collide. Notice the 4A?
It wasn't in 4A. It was in 4L. I took the photo a little later, after I started receiving the message, and tried cycling through all of the various 4WD modes to include 4L, 4H and 4A. If you don't have a Badlands or Wildtrak, this is a mode which you won't see on your Bronco. So before anyone comments on that...
Again, I was on this trail in 4L from the start, and this problem developed while I was in 4L. I was NOT in 4A or 4H.
Let me be specific so the best possible trouble-shooting may occur. (Would appreciate insight from anyone familiar with this issue.)
Here's how I got stuck. Scenario: Climbing a snow-covered, icy hill. I've done this trail before with no snow, and I know where the rocks are. I avoid the rocks, I get past the rocks. I hit ice. I slide back. Rear diff glides up onto a slickery rock which keeps the rear wheels ever so slightly elevated -- like a half inch to an inch off the ground.
I try getting the Bronco off the rock. No more than 30 seconds of this elapse before I get the "4 wheel drive temporarily disabled" message you see above.
Ultimately this necessitated my own Jeep climbing around me on a crazy steep section of trail to winch me up. Of course, there's nothing to winch off of up above so we need a second Jeep and we run a snatch block off of that Jeep's bumper. Ultimately, we got the Bronco out thanks to the two Jeeps and the one functioning winch available. First photo, below, is before the Bronco started dragging Jeeps down the ice as the Jeep to your left started sliding around. Second photo, a little blurry in terms of the Jeeps, shows both Jeeps wedged up against rocks so they could winch the poor Bronco out. The entire time - the Bronco refused to allow me to utilize 4WD of any kind.(sigh. embarassing)
This message, according to the owner's manual, means the 4WD system is "overheated," which is strange because I was only a mile into this trail and it was 10 degrees below freezing out. LOL
Now here's what's strange. It appears the solution to this problem is to "drive the Bronco on a flat surface for a short period of time to reset the sensors." That's a pretty dumb solution for a vehicle designed to be taken on adventures like this one.
I did manage to get the darned thing backed down the trail, and turned around. Here's the "hero" shot of my reliable Jeep, still in its hero pose, and the Bronco on its way out in the distance.
But when I got it back to the parking lot, all the error messages cleared and it drove normally. I tried 4L, 4H, 4A... no problem. Everything worked the way it should.
I would love some insight from anyone at Ford as to why this may have occurred.
Possible factors include:
1) Excessive rear wheel spin due to the diff being (slightly) hung up on a rock.
2) A "wrench" icon appearing with the message "check rear locking differential," like a service message.
Kindly advise, anyone who may know. Thank you!
-JC
TLDR; I took my Bronco Badlands Sasquatch 4-door 2.7L/Lux wheeling. I promptly got stuck. I luckily had my Jeep Wrangler (TJ) on 38s with me, driven by a friend of mine, but that wasn't enough. I needed a second Jeep friend to aid in rescuing my Bronco because the Bronco refused to let me have 4 wheel drive. I would like to receive additional troubleshooting commentary from folks who may have experience with this issue.
Things started off happily enough.
Got stuck on an icy climb. Then, the electronics took over and the Bronco refused to let me have 4-wheel drive in any flavor. Here's the dashboard message I received.
That's a gigantic WTF, when you're here:
(as usual, the photos don't do justice to the grade. This is a steep, icy, narrow section of trail.)
Now. Here's where photography and real life collide. Notice the 4A?
It wasn't in 4A. It was in 4L. I took the photo a little later, after I started receiving the message, and tried cycling through all of the various 4WD modes to include 4L, 4H and 4A. If you don't have a Badlands or Wildtrak, this is a mode which you won't see on your Bronco. So before anyone comments on that...
Again, I was on this trail in 4L from the start, and this problem developed while I was in 4L. I was NOT in 4A or 4H.
Let me be specific so the best possible trouble-shooting may occur. (Would appreciate insight from anyone familiar with this issue.)
Here's how I got stuck. Scenario: Climbing a snow-covered, icy hill. I've done this trail before with no snow, and I know where the rocks are. I avoid the rocks, I get past the rocks. I hit ice. I slide back. Rear diff glides up onto a slickery rock which keeps the rear wheels ever so slightly elevated -- like a half inch to an inch off the ground.
I try getting the Bronco off the rock. No more than 30 seconds of this elapse before I get the "4 wheel drive temporarily disabled" message you see above.
Ultimately this necessitated my own Jeep climbing around me on a crazy steep section of trail to winch me up. Of course, there's nothing to winch off of up above so we need a second Jeep and we run a snatch block off of that Jeep's bumper. Ultimately, we got the Bronco out thanks to the two Jeeps and the one functioning winch available. First photo, below, is before the Bronco started dragging Jeeps down the ice as the Jeep to your left started sliding around. Second photo, a little blurry in terms of the Jeeps, shows both Jeeps wedged up against rocks so they could winch the poor Bronco out. The entire time - the Bronco refused to allow me to utilize 4WD of any kind.(sigh. embarassing)
This message, according to the owner's manual, means the 4WD system is "overheated," which is strange because I was only a mile into this trail and it was 10 degrees below freezing out. LOL
Now here's what's strange. It appears the solution to this problem is to "drive the Bronco on a flat surface for a short period of time to reset the sensors." That's a pretty dumb solution for a vehicle designed to be taken on adventures like this one.
I did manage to get the darned thing backed down the trail, and turned around. Here's the "hero" shot of my reliable Jeep, still in its hero pose, and the Bronco on its way out in the distance.
But when I got it back to the parking lot, all the error messages cleared and it drove normally. I tried 4L, 4H, 4A... no problem. Everything worked the way it should.
I would love some insight from anyone at Ford as to why this may have occurred.
Possible factors include:
1) Excessive rear wheel spin due to the diff being (slightly) hung up on a rock.
2) A "wrench" icon appearing with the message "check rear locking differential," like a service message.
Kindly advise, anyone who may know. Thank you!
-JC
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Feb 03, 2022