primos97hunter

First of all, glad to be on here. Seems to be a place for good info! I bought a 1996 Chevrolet Step Side yesterday. Has 138,000 miles on it. Paid $1800 for it. Runs great and drives great! Having a problem with the 4wd. The guy said he put a new solenoid for the 4wd in it. (Its a push button 4x4) When we was driving it and testing everything out, we tried the 4wd out. We stopped, put it in neutral, and pushed the 4 high button. The light quickly switched over. Then we tried 4 low, and we felt it gear down. Then put it back in neutral and put it in 2 high. So we figured it worked. This morning, I put it in both 4 high and low. Neither would work. But the lights would stay on the buttons like they should. So whats going on? Thanks in advance

Here is a pic of the truck

Matt_pound

Nice truck! I've got a 1996 as well. What goes bad on these trucks is the 4x4 actuator which locks the hubs, so your truck is shifting everything into 4x4, the front diff is also spinning, but the hubs are staying open.

primos97hunter

Thanks for the reply!! Tell me everything about a actuator. Like how many do I need, what brand, ect?

primos97hunter

Also, how hard are they to replace?

Matt_pound

No problem, there is only one actuator, it goes into the front axle. It isn't a hard job to replace it you just unplug it from the wiring harness, take out the old one and put in the new one and plug it back in. I found a picture on google images that should help you locate it

If you wanted to do it the easy way you can just replace it with a replacement like an oe actuator. But i heard of something called posi-lok which replaces the thermal actuator with one that is mechanical that you control with a button, it would be a little harder to install since you have to wire up the button and everything, but in the long run it would be worth it because this one can't fail like the oe one.
4x4 Posi-Lok Positive Axle Engagement System for Chevy/GMC K-Series 4x4s

primos97hunter

Thank you