98 F-250 4 wheel drive

I have a 1998 F250 4x4 and on a recent family outing I had to use my 4x4
drive and had to push it a little hard but it performed flawlessly but
when I returned to the road and tried to switch it to 2 wheel high it
wouldn't work. It was after dark and I drove it about 7or 8 mile home in
4 low. The next morning I removed the switching motor and manually
switched the tranny to 2 hi.I couldn't trick the switching motor to
return to 2hi while it was off, so I guess the motor or the switch is
bad. My problem is the truck doesn't shift out right,it will go from
low, skipping intermediate gears and go right into hi gear resulting in
the expected lugging and loss of acceleration. I could not refit the
switching motor because the triangle shaped fitting was turned to the
wrong position and I could not remove it because it has a wire that
attaches the motor to the tail section of the transmission. I ended up
duct taping the whole thing still attached to the wiring to the frame as
a Saturday afternoon fix. Am I looking at a expensive transmission fix?
Or does the switching motor play a role in the way it suppose to shift
out? even so its still attached electrically just not physically. Can
anyone give me a heads up if you know of this problem as I as not
comfortable with the local transmission shops and the dealer, well he
wanted $30.00 for a set of 4x4 emblems I later found on e-bay for
$4.50.I have gone through this truck in many areas and can help with
some minor problems If asked. This model eats coil pacts for breakfast.
With the K&N filter I am (was) getting 18mpg. equipped with 5.4 liter
engine.