2000 Silverado 4 Wheel Drive Not Working.

rodama28 · May 19, 2009

I have a 2000 silverado 5.3. i was out this weekend and tryed using my 4 wheel drive and it acts as if it isnt engaugeing when i shift into 4 hi or lo. the lights come on like they should, but the front wheels would not spin. what could be the cause of this?

rgp717 · March 20, 2020

OK, Did the experiment. Put the truck in 4HI. The light on the dash board selector blinked in 4HI and then went solid in 4HI. Drove it about 50 feet into my driveway. Put the transmission in Park. Left the motor running. Raised the driver front wheel. Crawled under the trunk. I was unable to turn the front drive shaft by hand. However, I can spin the driver front wheel while its up in the air.

So I take that to mean the front transfer case looks ok. My next experiment will be to remove the front actuator, reconnect its electric, and have my wife switch it back and forth between 4HI and 2HI, to see if the actuator moves in and out. So, I"ll report back soon.

Comments welcome, especially if I'm doing something wrong.

Edited March 20, 2020 by rgp717

davester · March 20, 2020

That's good. If you find the actuator moves in/out, then somethings wrong inside the diff, if it doesn't, then the actuator has failed, or there's an electrical problem (from the sensor in the transfer case to the wiring harness, fuse, ground point).

rgp717 · February 17, 2021

Sorry, but I lost track of the forum.

Long story short, I replaced the front axle actuator and now my 4 wheel drive is working. Thanks to everyone for all the advice. It's so much nicer to have my 4x4 back. By the way, removing the old actuator was a nightmare. I finally gave up and went to a garage, and they had to bust it into pieces before getting it out.