1994 Sonoma 4WD Stuck in 4Lo Need Help Question on Front Drive Shaft & Encoder Motor

[stargates73]

Hello, My problem is on my 94 Sonoma SLS 4.3 Vortex 4WD with Automatic Transmission and Electronic 4WD.
I had to back down a hill into a muddy back yard to load up a dog kennel and to get out I had to use 4Lo, only now I can't get it out of 4Lo back into 2Hi.

I did'nt want to leave my truck so I decided to drive it home about 10 miles which took me almost 2 hours to do as I only drove between 10-15 mph and pulling over off and on.
My local garages don't know anything about these or don't want to work on for some reason and my closest dealer is 60 miles away.

I have been searching the web for help and have come up with the comon problem being the Transfer Case Shift Motor also called the Encoder Motor that is mounted to the transfer case.
I thought I would remove mine and see if I could manually shift it back into 2hi or neautral as I understand the shift or encoder motor Engages or turns this piece in the transfer case to either Straight up position (2Hi or Neutral) or to the Right (/ position which is Lo)

The dial when I removed the encoder motor was slanted and facing to the right " / " 4Lo so I put the truck into neutral then manually turned this dial to the Straight up " | " position which it is in Picture below:


You have to remove the front drive shaft to get to this and now that I have the motor off and I moved the transfer case back to the straight up (2Hi or Neautral) I cannot reinstall my encoder motor as the center does not align.

This is the positon the Encoder motor was in at 4Lo when I removed and cannot move out of


I plugged it back in underneath and started truck and put in neutral and had someone else push the 4WD dash button but nothing happened just the same click, click sound as usual you get from the Transfer Case Control Module mounted under glove box in dash and I felt a small tingle at the wire connector but not real strong and nothing in the motor unit itself.


Questions:

1 Does anyone know what position these come shipped in when you buy NEW?


2 What I am wanting to know before I replace this motor is has anyone else had this problem before and did replacing the shift motor resolve it?


3 Is there some way I can use an OHM meter and test the shift motor since it is removed or I could test the wire connector that plugs into the motor.
I would think this would verify I am getting signal from the Control Module and the shift motor is probably bad but how would I test this?


4 This is my first 4WD vehicle and does anyone know if it is safe to drive without the Encoder motor or the Front Drive shaft connected?

I ask as I drove it around my circle driveway without the driveshaft attached and it it seems to drive normal with the transfer case Dial moved in the straight up " | " position but if you turn the dial to the right " / " the rear wheels are in 4lo/4WD but the front seems to be normal in 2Hi.
When I reattach the drive shaft and no matter which position the transfer case is moved to it drives in 4Lo/4WD. It's like there is something not shifting it out in the front axle and the dial I am turning makes sense for the rear axle.

Will this damage anything driving without the front shaft in other than only being having 2WD?

I need this to fix this ASAP and I don't have a lot of money to throw out for something I could change out myself as well as save $$ on buying parts myself. The dealership wants $300.00 for the Encoder Motor plus labor and I can buy for $150.00 right now and do myself so trying to do this on my own. If I could drive it this way I could at least take it to a dealer to test (60 miles away) and they could check it over for me.

I would appreciate any help on this and the number one question would be if it is okay to drive without the front driveshaft in.

Thank you in advance.
Michael

[skaterfrk666]

my 92 gmc sonoma is also stuck in 4x4 low. if you found out what you did to fix it please get back to me. thanx much