I have the actuator off. It doesn't seem to be making its full stroke. There are guide slots in the female tube of the portion that sits inside the diff. They are an inch long, which makes me thnk that the actuator shold have an inch or travel to dis/engage 4wd. It is stuck at halfway. Is this right? The truck was in 2wd when I shut it off last. The actuator is at the "top" of its stroke and only protruding from the female tube about 1/2". the guide slots suggest that it should be coming out another 1/2" or so.
This actuator is the same one used on more or less ALL GM 4wd trucks from '97 to '06, including 1500, 2500, and 3500. Wouldn't you know that ain't a GD junkyard in town that has one. Figures.
Anyways, it seems like it is hung up, halfway in its travel. All the pictures of new ones I'm seeing online show the actuator "button" parked all the way in or in other words...completely retracted. I'm guessing that is the 2wd position, and that it actuates to engage 4wd.
With the thing off, I can look in the hole and see the end of the rod that it pushes. When I reached in there and pushed it, everything locked up...driveshaft, and the other wheel. When I let it back out, everything disengaged.
I'm tempted to remove the actuating button and its guts, then put the rest of the unit back in the diff, and see if it runs right.
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