4x4 Problem
Senior Member
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 435
Likes: 14
From: South Dakota
Jack the front end of your truck up one side at a time. Crank your truck. Spin your wheel. Is it spinning freely? Any grinding? Is your CV axle turning? Now. Turn the motor off. Wait about 10 to 15 seconds. Spin your tire. Your CV axle should turn and your tire should be harder to turn. That is an easy way to determine if your actuators are bad. Do this and holler back .
I did this the other day and when the truck was running and in 2wd both wheels spun freely and the cv stayed still. I shut the truck off, waited about 30 seconds and then went and spun the wheels again. The passenger side spun the cv but when I went back to the drivers side, the tire only spun not the cv. I could hear a very faint grinding sound. I even unplugged the vacuum hose and jt still wouldn't turn. Does this mean the iwe is bad?
If you could hear a faint grinding noise then more than likely the IWE is your culprit. But to make sure, go rent a vaccum pump from the parts store. Unhook your iwe. Cover the small port with your finger while using the larger port to pull vaccum. Pump it up to 15 psi. If you have a leak then the vaccum will drop pretty quick. Losing a lb over a min or so is normal. But at the same time your vaccum might hold but the spring is weak in the actuator and not engaging correctly.
Sheep Dog
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 2,128
Likes: 330
I did this the other day and when the truck was running and in 2wd both wheels spun freely and the cv stayed still. I shut the truck off, waited about 30 seconds and then went and spun the wheels again. The passenger side spun the cv but when I went back to the drivers side, the tire only spun not the cv. I could hear a very faint grinding sound. I even unplugged the vacuum hose and jt still wouldn't turn. Does this mean the iwe is bad?
