shift motor need to be cleaned?

[tsmalls]

I know this has been posted a thousand times but my ex seems to differ from the conventional "my shift motor is dirty and needs to be cleaned" story. This moring (first snowfall of the year) while commuting to work on the interstate I hit the 4wd-hi button. It seemed to go into 4wd fine. At lunch there was even more snow so I hit the switch again to get around town--the light lit up telling me it was in 4x4 but it didn't seem to be grabbing with the front tires at all. After goosing it a few times it felt like the fronts had engaged a bit but not all the way. So I hit the 4hi button and took it out and engaged it a few times and the light lit up as usuall. For some reason I hit the 4lo button and the lights went off instantly. Since then when I hit the button (4hi) I hear no clicking from the relays, no drop in rpm's when the switch is hit, and most importantly no 4x4. I rand the diognostics on the 4x4 computer over the driver's rear tire and the light blinks. Does this mean that the motor is stuck?

Thanks for any help you might have

Terry McDonald
92' navajo 4x4

 

[RFR2212]

Well, the least, you gotta be in neutral to engage 4lo...

 

[tsmalls]

update

when I left for work this morning I hit the 4hi button. I could hear the relays clicking but it doesn't do it everytime.

I wasn't trying to get into 4lo---i'm trying to get 4wd to work at all.

 

[RangerX]

There's been a few times on the trail where I would be in 4Hi and go to shift in to Lo. As soon as I touched the 4Lo button, the 4Hi button would go out. What worked for me was crawling underneath and jiggling the T-case wiring harness.

 

[TPLYNCH]

It's possible the motor "forgot" what position it was in. You can try resetting the computer by disconnecting the battery for ~30 minutes.