Hey all.

I just bought a 1993 S10 4dr Blazer. It has 91k miles and has 4WD.

I didn't get the owners manual. The main thing is I'm not sure if the 4WD works or not. There is a switch that says 2D/4D but nothing happens when I press it. No lights appear at any time. Is there something else that needs to be done to engage 4wd or does that mean it's not working?

I bought it from an older lady that probably drove it 3k miles a year for the past few years and she bought it from a friend whose husband died so neither of them know anything about specifics. The only thing she's done is ensured regular oil changes even less than 3k mile intervals since it wasn't driven that much.

The back lift supports on the rear glass are shot. What's the best source for replacements?


oh, one more thing. She's had pads replaced on brakes. The pedal seems to go down father than normal and is kinda soft but it stops good. I've never owned a Blazer before so I don't know if this is normal or not.

 

window struts can be found at autozone and as for the brake, mine dosent tdo that but unless it bothers you, I say who cares? it stops fine as you said and thats what matters. not sure on the 4wd. when you engage it does it drive different? when you drive in 4wd in regular weather conditions u should feel the difference.

 

Do the struts at Autozone have the rear defroster plugins? The ones on mine have a wire on both ends of the strut to connect to the defrost.

I don't know if there is a different or not as I don't know if it's engaging 4wd or 2wd since there are no lights and I don't hear anything.

Do you have to change while in park or can you engage while driving?

I'm thinking since there are no indicator lights I don't know if it's in 2wd or 4wd right now.

 

There should be little orange lights next to the buttons on the 4x4 switch. Put the truck in neutral and hit the 2wd button, then hit the 4wd low button. You will be able to tell if the truck is in low if you drive more than a few feet...

 

But the lights do not light up.

I will check tomorrow if it's actually engaging while trying in neutral.

If it does not, is there some kind of fuse or relay that is known to go bad that I should look at?

 

in a empty parking lot...
put it in 2wd, turn wheels fully cranked and do a circle.
then straighten the wheels, push 4x4 fully turn wheels and do another circle...you should notice a difference.
there are lights on the buttons, it should tell you what it is in.
does it have 4hi, 4LO 4 auto and 2hi? mine has 4 buttons.
if its not doing anything pop the switch out and check to make sure it is plugged in. you may have to remove the dash frams that goes around the deck, dash cluster and some other switches (good time to put in a aftermarket deck and sub rca cables for your system you are about to buy jkz)

to remove the frame...
1 scrue bolt (8 or 10mm cant remember) on the top center of dash cluster
2 on the tray that covers the under dash under the steering wheel
once the tray is lowered you will see 2 more that hold the dash frame on, take those out, the rest of the frame is just held in with clips and the switches wires tangled.. its easy to remove..about 5 min job. ive taken mine off more than 10 times switchin the deck and wires.

good luck

 

thanks gmike for the suggestion but none of the lights work.

also I had a brain fart while typing... I have an 03 Town and Country and typed 2003 but the s10 blazer is a 1993.

So hopefully a mod will see this and move it to the 1st gen forum. Maybe there are different checks can be done?

 

there is a fuse for the electronic 4WD system, if i remember correctly, it ties into the power locks. if you're not getting any lights appearing between 2WD, 4HI, and 4LO, then this would be the first place to start.
it could be that the switch is also gone (check your local wreckers for a parts truck-good luck with that).
if the switch is ok, then start tracing for a short. start at the transfer case and work back up to the fuse panel bulkhead, then check the power door lock wiring for any damaged wires.
remember to be extremely patient when tracing for a short,it could look like nothing at first glance, but be the first thing you overlook when checking. i once spent over 8hrs trying to find a short, and it turned out to be within the first 1/2 hour of my search, so make sure to check throughly.

 

Thanks for the tip.

I wasn't for sure if it power locks or not, because if it does have power locks they are not working, so I'll check that first tomorrow.

If it has power windows would it automatically have power locks? Or not necessarily? Besides the manual lock lever and power window switches, there is another switch on the doors that I figured was the power lock switch. If there was any markings on it originally it's been worn off.

Also, I found there is a recall on the 4wd switch on that year. And it seems that ntsi (or whatever it's called) recalls don't expire so I'm gonna go to a dealer and try to get that replaced too.

If I understand it correctly, the ABS is tied into it too, which I think is it not working because the brakes did lock up on me once when I hit them kinda hard the other day.

 

Put it in 4x4 on a gravel road. Hang your head out the window and hit the gas. See if the front spins. That's my hillbilly way of testing