1990 K1500 350 Auto

[bigearl]

hey guys, hew here. i just wanted to post a thread and say that i love this truck but in it's old age is getting sort of moody. i live in the arctic north on Minnesota. my vehicle is what i would consider mint. 115K rounds, no rust, original body/paint. no major dents or dings. obviously over time i've put on new parts in the high wear and tear zones. anyways first real snow of the year here and i was just engaging the 4x4 for the first time. now my transfer case i believe is a little moody as well. it went into 4 high like a champ. i was pulling up on my side street and about to get in the drive way were i decided i would put it back into 2 high before i pulled in. that was my first mistake. anyways long story short, the transfer back into 2 high was not the smoothest, in the initial engagement it grinded, i didn't force or continue to put into 2 high i just left the transfer case in the neutral indicator. the gear shift by the steering column was in neutral as well with the parking brake on. as i go to put the transfer case back into 2 high from the neutral position same result. ok, so now with everything still in neutral and the transfer case not wanting to go back into gear, that leads me to my first question, why is it doing that. am i trying to engage it wrong, what gives. the transfer case as of spring 2007 recieved brand new fluid and really hade minimal 4x4 use between now and then. honestly the truck is really babied. so that's question 1. now what followes is question 2. with everything being in neutral i shut the vehicle off,thinking that when i restart the vehicle everything will be lined up and i shouldn't have any problem putting it back into 2 hi. well it doesn't start. i mean literally nothing, turn the key over and the only noise is the 1 of the engine/coolant temp dash gauges going from cold to hot, like it normally does when you start it. so with that being said i believe the starter selinoid is not in it's proper place and brings me to the fact that i really just need to go and buy a new starter and replace it myself.

 

is that the case guys or am i just an idiot...

[Mike G]

Your 4x shift is on the floor next to your foot, correct. On mine, the shift is back toward the seat from 2 to 4hi. When I want to go back to 2, I just let off the gas and pop the shifter forward one notch. If the rpms are up high sometimes I will get a little grinding to 4hi, so I just let her calm down and slowly engage from there. Since you are having problems starting with the column in nuetral, I would think you have a bad neutral switch or electrical connection, not necessarily a starter problem. You may not be able to start however, with both the trans and case in nuetral, I will have to go give that a try myself....

--Mike

[bigearl]

in response to Mike...i actually dug it out of the snow (because i have to push it in neutral next to my driveway on the side street. the plow went by and plowed me in with our 3" we got last night. so after all that was said in done i was dug out, i got underneath and took the good old rubber mallet and gave it a tap tap tappy and she fired up first try. it's gotta be the starter. from the looks of it, it is original. so 18 yrs old, i would say it had a good run. i'm acually going to be heading up to NAPA to pick a lifetime warranty one up.

 

p.s. yea my 4x4 shift is on the floor next to my right foot