1998 K1500 Transfer Case Locks in and Actuator works......NO 4X4

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Ok I am new here and I have done days of research and troubleshooting and I have yet to figure out this issue with my 1998 K1500 I just bought. We have snow on the ground so it is crucial that get this figured out ASAP. Just a little info on the truck. 1998 K1500 Vortec 350 Auto Trans. 162K.

I bought the truck two weeks ago. When I was looking at it I was in a hurry and forgot to check the 4x4, of course when I get home and decide to check, it does not work. It has the push buttons on the dash. In normal operation 2WD is lit up solid as it should be. When I push 4HI it lights up and stays on solid as it should. I got under the truck with it in 2WD and I can spin the front driveshaft. I then put the truck in 4HI and check the front driveshaft again, now it wont turn so this tells me that the Transfer Case Switch on the transfer case is working as it should. I now assume that the culprit is the front axle actuator. I bought a brand new actuator from AutoZone and installed it thinking I was on my way to working 4x4......not so much. At this point I bang my head numerous times and swear a bit. So now I remove the new actuator and with it plugged I push 4HI to verify that the actuator is doing its job and it is engaging and disengaging as it should. For the heck of it I checked all the fuses and #2 TCASE, #12 HTR - A/C, and #24 4WD are all good.

When I pull the truck outside I can put it in 4HI and 4LO with the lights staying solid on the swutches and I have no 4WD, just spinning the rear tires. When I switch it to 4LO I can hear and feel it.

At this point I am at a loss. Is my T-Case or front axle broken?

Any help would be greatly appreciated
 

burnhedge

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Check the passenger side axle shaft where it bolts to the cv shaft. Take a pry bar and see if you can slide the axle in and out of the tube or you may just notice the axle is sticking out of the tube too far.
I've seen a couple of times where the circlip that holds the axle in place has worn down letting the axle slide out a half inch or so. If the axle slides out the clutch gear cannot engage.
Google a pic "gm 8.25 ifs diagram" to get a better idea of the parts I'm talking about.
I'm not real familiar with the push button transfer cases so that may be your problem but this could be something to look into until someone else chimes in.

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Burnhedge, Thank you very much for your response. Unfortunately you were right on the money. I am very thankful for your help, not sure if I would have caught that. Glad to know what the problem is now but not so happy about what comes next. I just got done swapping a 14 FF into my 86 K10 and converting the front axle to 3/4 ton, I was hoping to be done with axle work for awhile but shame on me for not checking the 4X4 when I bought it.

I wonder if I will be lucky enough that everything inside is still fine and it just needs a clip, knowing my luck I will need to replace the whole dang thing.

This is good information to know, I searched all over the interwebs and did not find this as a possible cause to my problem. Anybody else experiencing these problems should check this. I have some pics here. The first one is of the Driver side where the cv axle goes into the housing, this is how it should look. The second picture is what I found when I looked at the passenger side. The third picture is me prying the cv axle away from the housing.

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So I guess my next question would be are these front axle assemblies the same from 88 - 98? As long as I get the right gears can I find a front assembly from the junkyard from any of these years?

Thank you in advance!
 

burnhedge

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The two that I've worked on needed nothing but a new clip so hopefully you will be as lucky.

Just drop down the passenger side "tube" with the actuator assembly and all. It's really not as daunting as the diagrams make it look. Take note of which way the gears go in. You will notice they are "cut" a certain way on one side so they can slide together when 4x4 is actuated. If you put one in backwards you'll be back in the same boat.
It's been a few years since I've done it so I don't remember much more than that. I think I did the whole job in my driveway with no special tools in a couple hours.
I couldn't find any info on it the first time either. I just noticed the axle sliding in and out and figured it had something to do with the 4x4 not engaging.


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I will try that first. If it needs more than that I will be no worse off. I didn't hear any nasty grinding or clunking when I drove it home so hopefully all is good and it does not look like a bomb went off inside. I imagine the clip is something I can order from my local Oreilly or Autozone. Maybe I will do some research and look for it online this evening. I will post my findings after I take it apart. Thanks again for all of your help, you saved me a lot of time on this adventure.
 
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Stub axle retaining clip snap ring for 8.25" GM IFS
•Outer axle snap ring for GM 8.25" IFS

Burnheadge, I found this online. Does this look correct or am I looking at the wrong part.
 

burnhedge

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Stub axle retaining clip snap ring for 8.25" GM IFS
•Outer axle snap ring for GM 8.25" IFS

Burnheadge, I found this online. Does this look correct or am I looking at the wrong part.
No it's not a snap ring. It's listed as a retaining ring (7) in this pic. You can see a groove in the axle in the spline section. The axle comes through the clutch gear (6) and the groove will be lined up with the outside of the clutch gear. The ring goes in the groove so that the clutch gear stops the axle from sliding back.
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burnhedge

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I'm not sure how to describe the clip. It's simply a piece of stout wire bent into a "C" shape

I have a great local owned parts store that has thousands of organizer bins full of every clip and fitting you can imagine. I found mine there so I never had to find a part number. I'm sure you could give Rockauto a call and get one ordered.

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burnhedge

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Here's a pic of the clip your looking for. This pic is from a 9.25 so the location of the clip is different but the same style of clip.
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