lucass_e

I have a 2001 f150 supercrew with 219,000 miles on it and she is starting to show her age a little, driving up the in-laws driveway on saturday i tried kicking it into 4x4 to help climb the ice mountain, but nothing happened, the light on the dash came on but i was definately still in two wheel drive. So today i started trouble shooting the issue and think that i have it traced down to the vacuum actuator on the front axle, i checked and i have good suction going to the actuator (i bought a vacuum tester tonight and will check to be sure tomorrow) but the actuator is not moving as much as i think it should be . I removed it and there was a bunch of rusty/dusty powder that came out of it and i could hear lots more in it that did not come out. My question is that when i have the actuator removed i would think that i would be able to manually move the shift lever that would normally be moved by the vac actuator and put it into 4x4 that way, but i tried that and nothing happend, i checked and made sure that the transfer case shift motor is working as it should so i don't think that is my issue. Is there something else that i am missing or am i way off base? How much suction should i have at the actuator to make it function properly. Any and all ideas and or suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanks

Oh and sorry for any spelling/grammar misteaks

countryboyedition

I have the same thing with my truck. When I talked to the local mechanic he said the the boot on the actuator can fall off and dirt and rust will prevent it from moving. I left it in his shop overnight to see if maybe water had froze inside there so I should be getting a call today about it and hopefully that was my problem. I'll try to remember to post what was wrong after he calls me.

lucass_e

ok, quick update as to my progress so far, the parts store didn't have the actuator on hand so i have to wait a few hours for that to show up. While waiting on it i jacked up the front end and tried spinning the front drivers side tire with the shift fork on the front axle pushed all the way over towards the passenger side, but the passenger tire never spun and according to other threads that i have read if the front differential is working it should spin . But when i manually spin the front drive shaft and have the shift fork all the way to the passenger side the pasenger tire spins but not the drivers side, so that makes me believe that the differential is working....so now i'm basically more confused than ever, guess i will wait until the actuator shows up and will go from there, unless anyone has any words of wisdom

countryboyedition

When I jacked my truck up and had it in 4x4 I could spin one tire but the other wouldn't spin. Mechanic called me today and told me the shift fork is broke so it will cost me a little over $200 for the part, $50 worth of oil, but only an hour of labor because he found out a way to take the passenger side of the axle off without lowering the whole axle. I hope this helps you.