Stuck in 4wd

[nosaJ]

Heres the deal, I put it in 4wd about 4 days ago during a bit of a snow storm and since then I noticed my gas mileage going pretty bad. I noticed that the forward driveshaft is still spinning but the 4wd light on dash has gone out. I have tried to shift it in and out but still, the drive shaft spins, Any clues? Its an 88 with the 229 case. Jason

[ITLBOK333]

Mine is doing the same thing, I replaced the vacume rubber connectors on the T-case vac motor, to no avail, I was told the T-case fluid needs to be changed, But I come here for answers to those questions...

[nosaJ]

I already did the check on the vacuum shift motor and it works fine I also changed the fluid today and it is still doing it. The dash light comes on and off but nothing changes down below the drive shaft still spins

[FSJ Thing]

Unless you or a previous owner installed some after market lockout hubs in front, your driveshaft will always spin. It's still hooked to the front axle, so if the front tires are spinning, the front drive shaft will spin too. If you want to make sure that your stuck in 4x4, lift ONE front tire off the ground, and with the truck in park (no parking brake though) see if you can spin the tire. If the 4x4 is still engaged, the viscous coupler will provide too much resistance for the front tire to spin. If the tire spins, then the front drive shaft will spin too, but the t-case is not engaged in 4x4. Hope this helps!

[andy d]

if you can shift into 4 lo, the t-case is still in 4 wd. if not, then its in 2 wheel. re the mpg, how can you tell? at most there is only a couple of mpg loss at most.

[partywagon]

if you have automatic hubs then after you take it out of 4wd your supposed to put it in reverse and roll back about 15-20 feet and that dissengages the front axle

[Subconscious]

Mine was stuck in 4-lo for a while after I bought it. I pushed and pulled, but the lever wouldn't budge. I had to crawl under it and beat on the linkage while the wife pushed the lever. Eventually, it went back into 4-hi. Upon closer inspection, I decided that the "R" clips were binding, due to the DSPO.

Next step was an hour or so removing the R clips and installing them the other way. Did not help. Was not the problem. I was stuck in 4-lo again, and had to go through the hammer ritual again.

Finally fed up with it, I resorted to hitting the shifter lever with a rubber mallet. It worked! I now carry a rubber mallet with me for when I want to shift out of 4-Lo.

I still don't know why it gets stuck in 4-lo, perhaps the PO tried to move it into 2wd while in 4-lo, and tweaked the linkage a little. That's all I can tell you.

[Chevelleguy]

The '86 and later front axles do not dissengage. All shifting between 2h-4h is done only in the transfer case.

[cammobus]

Subconscious - so you never did figure out what was binding in the transfer case ?? i just bought an 87 PO had bought it in NJ last yr and this winter put it in 4 low and could not get it back out - so he sold it ........

[Poley]

that fhappen to me and then the t-case broke.
http://www.fullsizejeeps.com/jeeps/files/AZ_FSJers/229tcasehole.JPG

sorry don't mean to scare you.
but got me 208 today.. smile.gif

[grand_wag_85]

Try temporarily disconnecting vaccum lines, I helped a guy in town w/an '89& that worked.

[grand_wag_85]

Almost forgot...to verify you're actually in 4, try spinning the tires on mud, snow, ice, etc...

[Gambler68]

I had problems getting my old s-15 INTO 4wd, it was the vaccum switch...but what I thought of was..check the vaccum line at the transfer case end, it could be cracked/dryrotted there, even if its fine up in the bay.

[cammobus]

Poley - nice Ventilation Hole - was that custom by BFR ?