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93 K1500 4wd Actuator Wiring Harnwess Hookup

gidkid

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gidkid Enthusiast

gidkid

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I purchased the upgraded actuator and wiring harness from GM for my 93 K1500 pickup but do not know where the extra wire from the new harness goes. Can someone please tell where the extra brown wire goes?

sk Senior Enthusiast

sk

Posted
Posted

Here's my post from another forum from a few months ago. Too bad you already bought from GM since there are cheaper places out there :lol:.

Also, don't forget to put the spacer in before you thread the new actuator into the housing or it won't be long enough to engage!:

 

The old thermal design used to wear out quickly and was replaced with a new electric one (you need the actuator and an additional harness). I just replaced the one on my 1994 a few weeks ago. It only took me about 1 1/2 hours, and most of that was spent routing the harness up and over the transmission. Replacing the actuator itself took about 10 minutes. There is also 1 splice you have to make (I made mine in the cab to keep it protected). Make sure you get the electric one. There are still some aftermarket companies selling the thermal one and it will wear out again, plus the electric one engages almost instantly.

 

Here is Dmaxer's GREAT tutorial:

Actuator Upgrade

 

Here are the best prices I found when I did mine:

Actuator ($69 shipped)

Harness ($42 shipped)

gidkid Enthusiast

gidkid

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Thanks for the great explanation and pictures! I however still feel like a failure. I attached the brown wire to the brown wire in the three prong connector coming out of the console but the 4WD did not activate. I will go back and check that the connection was good and try again.

sk Senior Enthusiast

sk

Posted
Posted
Thanks for the great explanation and pictures! I however still feel like a failure. I attached the brown wire to the brown wire in the three prong connector coming out of the console but the 4WD did not activate. I will go back and check that the connection was good and try again.

A few things to check (I apologize if these seem too basic!):

 

1) Make sure they gave you the new electric actuator and not the old thermal one.

2) As I said above, make sure you installed the spacer before the actuator.

gidkid Enthusiast

gidkid

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No worries, basics are good. I checked that it is the new actuator, verified the plug spacer is installed ans verified the 25 Amp fuse is good. Still no go! Something does not add up, nothing happens! I think I will hookup the old acuator and watch to see if it exends (proof that the switch is working at least). Oh well, maybe there is a lesson in here for me somewhere!

sk Senior Enthusiast

sk

Posted
Posted
No worries, basics are good. I checked that it is the new actuator, verified the plug spacer is installed ans verified the 25 Amp fuse is good. Still no go! Something does not add up, nothing happens! I think I will hookup the old acuator and watch to see if it exends (proof that the switch is working at least). Oh well, maybe there is a lesson in here for me somewhere!

 

Yeah, good luck. I'm out of ideas now!!

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