4x4 problem

[noob4x4]

hi, facing a little problem here...
I recently bought a 94 xlt for a $1,000 and my 4x4 wasn't working so i took it to a shop. They told me some gear in front was out and i needed to replace this and this would cost me around $1,000... Is this reasonable price?

 

[noob4x4]

i did some reading on this forum and seems like many people are having problems with their 4x4 due to auto hub... Could my truck have the same problem..???

 

[Grovebaby]

Well I'm a noob also, but I've learned a lot in the last week while checking out a 91 XLT that I might buy. You haven't described the problem yet, but I'm pretty sure that $1000 bucks is pretty unreasonable. Give some details and I'm sure one of the experts here will help you. What shape is your 94 in. I'm looking at a 91 for $1500.

 

[noob4x4]

Grovebaby, my truck is a 94 with 120k miles and was in pretty descent shape. I had to replace front shocks, some bushings and tires.

When I put trans on N, press on the brakes then press 4x4, the 4x4 light goes on and when i press Low Range, i hear some sort of click/thunk sound in the back and Low Range light goes on but no power in the front wheels on either of'em. Am i suppose to hear the click sound when i press 4x4 button as well??
Also, I had the "luka-luka, grinding, whining" noise when i first bought the truck. Now i don't hear that sound at all... I'm leaning towards the auto hub problem... or could there be somethign else?

 

[Grovebaby]

What do you hear if you just put it in 4x4? you should here a few clicks then. does it actually go into low? you will notice the difference in the gearing. How do you know that the fronts aren't getting power?

 

[noob4x4]

What do you hear if you just put it in 4x4?

nothing...

 

[Grovebaby]

I added some stuff to my previous post.

 

[Grovebaby]

you there

 

[noob4x4]

i don't hear anythign when i press 4x4. WHen i press low range then i hear the click and yeah the gear goes into low because when i accelerate, the engine's rpm goes high but speed is slow... We had about 15'' of snow here in nyc 3 days ago. I was trying to get out of snow yesterday and noticed there was no power in the front..

 

[Grovebaby]

Did you hear any grinding from the front when in the snow? Did you stick your head out the window to see if the wheel was spinning.

 

[Grovebaby]

Like in some snow, if you gave the gas a little punch as if you were trying to break the tires free.

 

[Grovebaby]

noob

 

[Grovebaby]

I'll have to refer you to level 2 support. I'm still in training. sounds like something with the shift motor or transfer case. And you probably have bad autohubs too. Maybe someone has been following our post's and can take over. how is the body and inteior? is it a 4door? automatic? The autohubs are an easy fix if you have some mechanical skills and will cost a lot less than 1000 bucks

 

[noob4x4]

no grinding sound, nothing.. I first had the griding, lunka-lunka, whining, sound when i first bought the car... It went away though, so i thought it was fixed but now no 4x4... is there a way for me to check to see if its shift motor or transfer case??

 

[LBarr2002]

I wouldn't think that its the shift motor, since the usual problem with it involves no 4x4 lights coming on, no low range, etc. Somebody else might know this, but if you put it in 4wd, pull it forward a little (which would lock the hubs if they're working) and jack up all four wheels (or just the rear, but be careful) and ease off the brakes. The front wheels should turn. If not, see if the front drive shaft is turning. If the shaft turns and the wheels don't, then your problem is hubs. If the shaft doesn't turn, the problem would be transfer case related.

 

[DeRocha]

If you press the 4x4 button and the dash lights up and the 4x4 indicator comes on then your Transfer case is 100% in 4x4... This means power from the transmission is being split 50/50 with the front and rear axles... The front axle shafts will rotate within the front wheels... it is the job of the HUB (either auto or manual) to lock onto the shaft and power the wheel... As such your problem is related to a non functioning hub... it only takes one to go bad since with open diffs the power is always sent to the wheel with the least resistance... You can search the various links and check out the hub section within the explorer maint sectin in my sig for info on cleaning your autohubs... All too often people will pack the hubs with grease... Unfortunately too much grease will hydraulically lock the hub towards the disengage position. Hubs should only have a thin coating of grease to prevent Rust, nothing more...

 

[noob4x4]

It seems like mannual hubs are the way to go... I will switch to mannual and hope its nothing else is wrong... Thanks for the advise.