[Crasen]

A lot of people use the word short to describe any electrical malfunction because they just do not know any better. The term short is used to describe an undesired path to ground in an electrical system. What you are thinking of is an open, an open in a circuit will keep you from getting any power to actuator. If you want to troubleshoot this problem see if the electrical connector is getting any voltage when it is malfunctioning. Another thing you could do is disconnect the elsctrical connector when it is supposed to be in 2wd and the front axle is locking up, if the front axle is locked with the electrical connector unplugged it is the actuator, if it is not you are looking at the switch