Deyhsa,
Thanks for responding. My frustration is exactly because I only get feedback from non technical people, as if the issue is some mystery I am not permitted to know about.
For the 97 F150, it has been to the dealer twice in the last year for the ESOF issue, first trip the xfer case shift motor was changed, replacing a brand new Autozone unit. Got it back with a new Ford motor, still fails, exactly the same way. Went back again, got it back, no charge, but it continued to fail again after a day or so. Does occasionally work, more often it goes in and won't come out until you shut the truck off several times and restart. Probably go back again as soon as I have time to get it there. I have not had time to work on it myself until last month. I have all the Ford wiring diagrams and troubleshooting sequences from Alldata printed out, and have not found any solid cause from my limited troubleshooting. Hours of googling also fails to provide a common cause or solution, but indicates a great number of other owners of 97 to 2003 trucks with the issue. It makes an otherwise great vehicle useless for the 4x4 function. Its most spectacular failure was at the county landfill, nearly getting me stuck. Have had 4x4s back to a 72 Jeep, which never had similar issues with the transfer case. The ESOF is a disaster not at all worth the supposed convenience at this point. I absolutely never want another one if this is howthey work.
Surely there must be some good experience available for this. Throwing new parts at it has not worked. Thanks.
