'97 Tahoe 4X4 Switch/Charging Problems

[tallshenanigans]

hey all, i have a 97 tahoe that i am confused about. about a year ago it gave a great thunk and it no longer had 4WD, since then we've gotten taht fixed but the little switch on the dash will no longer light up the 3 orange lights and it wont switch into 4WD. while tinkering with that we noticed that if we tripped a few of the wires to the switch, that it would turn on the DRL's . we gave up on working on it for the night, while driving it home it was noticed that the right side cluster of smaller 4 guages (oil pressure, volt, temp, and possibly gas) where no longer working. as we continued home, the lights got dimmer and dimmer until the battery finally lost its charge and the car died on the road. does any of you have any clue as to what the problem might be? the DRL fuse is fine, the 4WD fuse in the dash is fine. its just so confusing and annoying, plus now it wont recharge the battery as you drive!! any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

[777stickman]

Charging problem sounds like a failed alternator. Take it off and have it tested. 4WD problem sounds like the switch assy.

[tallshenanigans]

Originally Posted by 777stickman

Charging problem sounds like a failed alternator. Take it off and have it tested. 4WD problem sounds like the switch assy.

as for the alternator, maybe. ...for the switch assembly, no, we just bought and plugged in a new one while we where working on it.. .thanks though

[777stickman]

OK. Check the T CASE fuse in the instrument panel. It's HOT AT ALL TIMES and if you didn't disconnect the batt ground cable when you were replacing the switch it could have blown that, or it could have been blown before?? The alt should put out 14.2 to 14.7 volts at idle at the batt posts. Let me know and we'll get into it deeper.........Steve