Hi everyone, I just signed on to the board. I have an 88 S10 blazer that I keep at a cabin upstate. It's the first car I ever owned and I didnt want to get rid of it so I keep it at the cabin and use it for off roading.
The truck hadn't been touched in close to 4 years. I drained out the gas, put in a new battery, checked the fluids and she fired right up. I need to do some work on the brakes but aside from that it was running great....until I tried to engage the 4wd. The lever moves through the full range from 4high, nuetral, and 4 low with no problem but the front differential isnt engaging. When I switch to 4low I can hear a whining noise as if the 4wd is actuated but it's not.
From what I've been reading it sounds like a vacuum hose. Does that sould right? Anything else I should check for? If it is a vacuum hose, is it pretty easy to locate? will i just see a hose going from the transfer case to the front differential?
Thanks for the help

 

There are posts exactly like this one all over the forum. Take a look in the Tech Article (DIY) section (there's an index in there at the top) for a post entitled '4wd no worky.....'.

Your problem could be vacuum related or it could be in the actual mechanism that engages the front axle. Search, read up, and get dirty!

Good luck!

 

Thanks for the reply! I did a seach but didnt find exactly what I was looking for. I'll check out the tech article that you mentioned.

 

I just read the article. It was a great writeup and will be very helpful. Would anyone happen to know what size the vacuum hose is? I imagine that is most likely the culprit and since the hose is cheap I was going to bring some up the next time I go to the house. The nearest auto parts store is like 15 miles from the house so I'd rather buy it here and bring it up.