Chevrolet Repair: 4wd woes, axle shaft, chevytalk

Question
Hey Van, grab your thinking cap for this one. My (old body style) '99 Z-71 worked fine a few months ago when I bought it. We had an ice storm during Christmas and I left it in 4hi for several days. After 2 or 3 days I noticed that in 4hi only the back axle was working. Since then I have put an actuator on the front axle, no help. I put a new/rebuilt encoder motor on the transfer case. Now it won't go into 4wd at all. When I push the 4wd buttons on the dash they will flicker from hi to lo a couple of times and then go back to 2wd. Any idea what is causing this?

Answer
Hello Clay,
The electric shift is newer than any I have worked on, but I would jack up the rear end, and then see if the front driveshaft is turning.
If it is, look at the front axle shaft "U"joints, and see if one of them is turning.
If the driveshaft is turning, and the axle shafts are not, then the actuator isn't engaging.
If the front driveshaft is not turning, then the transfer case isn't shifting.
I don't think you have auto locking hubs, but if you did, and one of the front axle shafts was turning, that hub would be not working.

Go to the following site, and do a search in your vehicle section. Search for about the last year.

http://www.chevytalk.org/

Van

Van