I have a 2002 Escape XLT 4x4. Pretty sure rear wheels are not turning in 4x4 mode. Just snowed here and it was horrible on the road. Heard about a viscous coupling and an electro-mechanical switch from reading various forums. Anybody have this problem and fix it without help from the dealer ?? Not much info on this one out there on the web. Any help would be appreciated.

 

one way to find out if your rear wheels aren't helping is to jack up the suv off of the ground and support it with jack stands put it in 4x4 and then put in gear and then get out and kook to see if all the wheels are turning at the same time if they're not then you have a problem. keep in mind that you'll need to have all the wheels up off of the ground

 

I have a 03 and just had the exact same issue.

When on hoist and in 4x4 hitting the gas the rear tires would spin however when all tires on the ground there was no power to turn rear wheels.

The couplings in rear diff were bad and had to replace the whole diff.Works like it should now.