My 97 blazer never likes to switch into 4hi when its cold. 2 years ago i converted over to this and yet to have any problems. Hot or cold.
The vaccum actuator under the battery is useless. Even a slight crack in a hose and "no 4x4" So i replaced it with a door lock actuator. Wired it to the push buttons on the dash. (both 4hi & 4lo)
The encoder motor yet usefull is junk! Can't they figure out how to insulate it better so the motor doesn't short out? Anyways... I used a 4" actuator thats has forward and reverse on it, Makes it great for 4hi & 4lo. Again wire to the push buttons on the dash.
If i press the 4hi both actuators are used to lock into 4hi. Same as 4lo. Press the 2hi button and it goes it to 2hi.
I believe I spent under $100 for everything i installed. One thing i didn't do was insulate the actuators. After a year of heat, rain, snow, and salt. After buying two actuators again and used metal screws to mount them. I used a can of liquid insulation (used around doors & windows) make sure you cover it fully.
Hope this helps anyone thats looking for a easy way to swap to total electric 4x4.

 

The electric front axle engagement sounds interesting, but the rest sounds like it is as reliable as the factory encoder motor at best...

Some more details would be nice. The information really isn't very useful without the details.

 

+1 on that...

I´m a fan of manual engagement, you can just feel what`s happening...

 

Yeah talk is cheap. Lets see some pictures and step by step directions. It will help many on this forum .

 

 

Well i could give you pics but the olny thing you would see is two piles of insulation and a rod coming out of it.
Part 1~ First i removed the vaccum actuator from under the battery. Disconnected the cable and attatched the cable to the new door actuator from a 02 ford ranged. $12.99 from advance auto. Mounted it with 4 metal screws in the same place as the old actuator. I use a hose clamp to hold the cables together. I ran the wires up to the push button controller using the exsisting wires. With a test light and able to follow wire leads. You take the positive wire and attatch it to the 4hi & 4lo. The ground attatches to black wire. Ground wire.
Part 2 ~ Once the shift motor is disconnected. I used a 4" commerial actuator that i had from a handycap door I replaced. Now this unit has 3 wires and able to move back and fourth. I actually lucked out with this. I took apart the old shift motor to use the gear that slides over the male/female connector on the transfer case. Using a tact welder I drilled a hole in the gear and tacted a small 3/8 bolt as a handle. As the gear is straight up, I also tacted it to the transfer case. So it won't slide off. Now the actuator has 3 positions on it. I set it to the end of the rod to it would attatch the the bolt on the gear. As I set and measured were it would be able extend and contrated easily. Once I've found the spot. Using metal screws again. I screwed in place.
As i said there are 3 wires... Not sure why but after testing it before installing 2 wire are a positive and a negative. So once i figured out which wire did what then I qired them to the 4hi & 4lo. Now the reason for 3 wires is 1 wire allows it to extend half way and the other is full lenght. So the #1 wire is wired to the 4hi switch. #2 wire is wired to the 4lo switch.
Now in part 1 both wires went to both hi & lo so once pushed it would engage the front diff no matter what button is pushed. So with the shift actuator wired in. Pressing the 4hi extends the shift motor to move half way (3/4 inch) switches it to 4hi. To return to 2hi pressing the 4hi button again retracks the rod. So on for 4lo.
Like i said in earlier post i insulated both actuators so no weather can destroy them.
Any questions??? Again sorry no pics