Hey all. Bought my 96 Jimmy earlier this year. Everything seems ok. Today here in Southern Massachusetts we are having our first snow fall. Right now there is maybe a couple of inches on the ground. Here's my question. Backing out of my driveway slight incline, got to the road with my back tires and someone decides to come down my road so i put it in drive and my rear wheels are spinning. So i put it in neutral push the 4 lo button light turns on and stays solid, truck moves but rear wheels are still spinning. I thought 4 wheel drive should handle this small amount of snow. I moved my wifes Lexus es300 with no spin at all. Car drove like it was on dry pavement. Is this a problem or am i doing something wrong. This is my first 4 wheel vehicle.

 

I'm no expert, but check if it's working. take it out to a parking lot, turn the wheel all the way to the side, and put it in 4wheel. See if you can feel it "engage." the car will shift a bit. Then give it gas and see if you're getting pulled by the front tires. Trust me, you'll feel it pulling you because if it doesn't work, you'll be slow to go because the wheel is turned hard, and the rear wheels are pushing.

 

now this is coming for a newbie to the blazer platform so bear with me, but can you go from 2hi to 4lo? I thought you had to be in 4hi before going to 4lo I could be all wet also so this will be a learning post for me as well.

 

No you can shift from 2wd to 4hi or 4lo it would not matter

YOU cant shift into 4lo on the fly (when moving)
you can shift into 4hi on the fly meaning you can go into 4hi while driving

I do suggest doing it at a low speeds. Its also bad to use your 4wd on dry pavement

if you had a problem going up a big slope in 4wd your 4wd is prob not working

 

No you don't have to go through 4hi to get to 4lo, especially with these fancy push button electronics


As for the OPs question. I would check to make sure the 4x4 is functional. If something like a vaccum line to the front axle is off or broken the transfer case will engage and the light will come on but the front wheels wont get any of that power

 

A common vacuum line that comes off that will cause your 4X4 not to work is the vacuum line that connects to a vacuum canister attached to the underside of your hood on the drivers side. (its a black ball) there should be vacuum line running out the back of it. if thats still connected follow that line as far back as you can and see if you can see something that might be wrong with the line (dry rotted, holes, etc...) if all is fine then take your battery out and look at the actuator that is under the battery, push the 4hi button and see if the cable moves at all.

if the 4hi light comes on but your front tires dont engage then more likely than not its a vacuum problem. happens a lot on these trucks, usually really easy to fix.

do a search on here for "4x4 problems" and you will find a million and one threads about it.

This should be all you need here: https://blazerforum.com/forum/tech-a...ill-help-7180/