1997 Front Axle Actuator

The front axle actuator went out in my 1997 chevy k1500. I purchased the truck used and assume this is the original actuator. It has a metal casing with a two-wire connector. Both wires are black. When I go to the part stores and the dealership, they have actuators that look the same, but the plugs are wrong. The plug on my original actuator is oval shaped with no divider, i.e. the cavity is completly empty with two prongs sticking out. The new ones have two round holes that are separate from each other. Now the dealer wants to sell me a plastic actuator which looks nothing like the first and a wiring harness that has a five wire connector. I don't know what to do. Can you shed any light on this plug problem?

Your original actuator is the first design and uses freon inside the actuator cylinder. When you push the 4WD button on your dash a signal is sent to a heating element inside the actuator to heat and expand the freon until the cylinder piston pushes out and engages the front differential.

Many customers complained of slow or no engagment of their 4wd in cold weather so GM decided to revise the actuator and make it an electrical stepper motor type. This made it engage the instant you push the button since it did not have to rely on heating anything.

You can still probably get the old style actuator the GM part number use to be 26013495 see if that will work for you.

You can also do the upgrade the dealer mentioned but it requires installing the harness. Other than the cold weather issue there is no other advantage to using the plastic electrical style actuator.

Good luck with it.