ok, i've been tearing into wiring while the weather has been decent. replaced more connector terminal ends and chasing possible open circuits. so far nothing. only problem i keep having is the atc 20 amp fuse pops once the battery is reconnected.
my question is, can a bad transfer case motor cause a grounding out circuit which is popping the fuse? tomarrow im going to disconnect the harness and put in a fuse and see what happens. i will also keep the tccm disconnected as well.

 

you mean the encoder motor? if it is failing it is possible to pull too much current and thus blow the fuse

 

yes, the encoder motor on the transfer case

 

if anyone wants to know, i got the 4x4 fixed. replaced the tccm with a new one from the dealership. replaced 6 mini terminals and 3 big terminals to the tccm. replaced all the vaccum hoses under the hood. and last but not least, replaced the encoder motor for a used one. the original encoder motor froze up and shorted out causing the tcm fuse to blow.
spent 2 days going threw all the 4x4 wiring which was a pain. only thing left to replace is the dash selector switch. it works, but the lights flicker on and off. if i tap it, they stay on. it has a bad connection inside it.

 

so what was your issue? or was it a combination of all the above? i was told when I bought my 95 that the 4x4 worked... Kinda. If I put it in 4 high it would work, but when I went back to 2 wheel drive it would drop into 4 low and to get it back out I have to idle in neutral and pull the fuse for about 5 - 10 mins.... guy said it was the encoder motor on the underside.

also when changing yours out, were you able to do it with the transfer case in the truck and everything else still together? i have heard that you need to pull the drive-shafts or something in order to swap encoder's...

 

it was a combo of everything. started out with the tccm cause both plugs were green and several wires either were corroded so bad that they didn't work or the wires were about to break. one pin was half gone.
once i fixed the wiring, i plugged the tccm in and reconnected the power. the dash lights flashed, the tccm went nuts than nothing. no power nothing. the tcm fuse popped. pulled it, put in another fuse and as soon as it touched the terminal, it popped as well. which ment a wire or something went to ground. i was hoping it wasnt the encoder motor cause the one i needed was the super expensive one. so i chased all the wires. everything showed good. so i went under the truck and unplugged the encoder motor, put in a new fuse and reconnected the power. the fuse didn't blow so i knew it was the motor.
pulling it was easy. i just disconnected the driveshaft and popped it off the transfer case and pulled it forward enought to get to the three encoder bolts. oh, there is a small skid plate to remove as well. no big deal. went to the salvage yard and got lucky, they had one. was worried it wouldn't work but didn't want to pay full price. anyway, put in the new one. disconnected the power first. reconnected the harnesses and reconnected the battery. now everything works as it should.
as for the vaccum hoses, they were all rotten and needed replacing regardless.