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4wheel drive won't work?

L

lgk5

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4wheel drive won\'t work?

you can shift it into 4x4 the drive shaft turns
but not the wheeels?????
any help would be great, /forums/images/graemlins/truck.gif 88 1500 ifs /forums/images/graemlins/truck.gif
 
Re: 4wheel drive won\'t work?

Probably the actuator in the front differential.
 
Re: 4wheel drive won\'t work?

IIRC, the older ones had a lot to be desired in their operation. Most owners changed them to a manual acutator, such as the 4x4 posi lock. (Jeep guys deal with that crap too). It replaces the problomatic vacuum or thermal system with an in cab control.

IIRC, the drive shafts always turn.
 
Re: 4wheel drive won\'t work?

the front shaft shouldn't turn unless its in 4wd. my guess would be a bad actuator as well, unless by "the front wheels arent turning" you mean theyre seized up solid, in which case you may want to just shoot it and put it out of its misery. /forums/images/graemlins/dunno.gif
 
Re: 4wheel drive won\'t work?

Put it in 4wd and either touch the actuator (it should get hot), or take it out and see if it works.
 
Re: 4wheel drive won\'t work?

The early IFS trucks have an actuator that engages when an electrical heater inside causes a gas to expand. This pushes out on the shaft and engages the front diff. When they get old (and some of the gas has leaked out) then they don't work well, especially when it's cold outside. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif GM sells a replacement that uses an electrical motor instead of the heated gas. IIRC, it's around $100, if you can get the "good buddy" price at the parts counter.
 
Re: 4wheel drive won\'t work?

HarryH3 said:
The early IFS trucks have an actuator that engages when an electrical heater inside causes a gas to expand. This pushes out on the shaft and engages the front diff. When they get old (and some of the gas has leaked out) then they don't work well, especially when it's cold outside. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif GM sells a replacement that uses an electrical motor instead of the heated gas. IIRC, it's around $100, if you can get the "good buddy" price at the parts counter.
Click to expand...

Just to add a little to this...(and a good parts counter guy should know) If you get the new style electric motor actuator, you also need to get a little wiring harness to go with the new style motor.
 
Re: 4wheel drive won\'t work?

Emmettology 101 said:
Just to add a little to this...(and a good parts counter guy should know) If you get the new style electric motor actuator, you also need to get a little wiring harness to go with the new style motor.
Click to expand...
The ~ $100 price tag includes the pigtail that you need to buy to plug it all together. :thumb:
 
Re: 4wheel drive won\'t work?

HarryH3 said:
The ~ $100 price tag includes the pigtail that you need to buy to plug it all together. :thumb:
Click to expand...


It's been a while, but I think mine came seperately.. :( But either way, I have a friend that works at the delaership and I didn't pay anything close to retail.. :thumb:
 
Emmettology 101 said:
It's been a while, but I think mine came seperately.. :( But either way, I have a friend that works at the delaership and I didn't pay anything close to retail.. :thumb:
Click to expand...
Yep, it comes as 2 different part numbers, in 2 different packages. As I recall, it's about $140 retail for both. My price at a local shop is around $100. You only need the pigtail the first time. If you have to replace the motor later, you can buy just the motor. :cool:

It just pisses me off that GM screws people to replace a part that wasn't thought out very well in the design phase! :mad:
 
How bad to change the actuator?

I've been thinking about doing this same switch on my '95 Yukon to get better engagement. (I hate the suspense of sitting in a snowstorm and waiting for *blink* *blink* *blink* *blink*................engaged)

It doesn't look like the actuator would be that hard to change on the truck when I look in the manual.

Any guess as to how long of a job it really is? Anything tricky we should know about before-hand?......


THANKS!!

-Ben
 
BigBen said:
It doesn't look like the actuator would be that hard to change on the truck when I look in the manual.

Any guess as to how long of a job it really is? Anything tricky we should know about before-hand?......


THANKS!!

-Ben
Click to expand...


It's not a difficult job at all. You just unscrew the old actuator from the differential and screw the new one in and unhook the old wiring harness and hook up the new one.


Has anyone ever tried the cable type manual actuators?



.
 
Took me all of 5 minutes when I did it on my '91. No harder than pullin spark plugs.
 
If the actuator does not fix it I have come across a lot of the early half tons that broke the passenger side axle shaft inside the front diff.

bigred81
 
That happend to me on my 93 Z71 but it was due to abuse (and about 6 feet of air) I broke alot of other things along with it though.
 
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