What I meant was verifying that pin moves in and out to determine it's not stuck (manually as I described earlier). Air or vac will just blow by if stuck, know what I mean ? It has to move both ways for 4wd and 2wd. If it's stuck and you free it up, vac will actuate instead of doing nothing. It only takes around 8 HG's to engage and disengage.

So verify that before going further.

If it has to be removed, be careful. I've seen broken brackets more than once. If that happens, you'll need it welded. They don't come off easy, they fuse to the bracket over time lol. It's a PITA. You might need a little heat to get it apart.

 

BTW, purpose of the pics is to show you 2wd and 4wd positioning. That's what you should be able to do by hand to verify and determine the problem.

 

Sorry I should have been more specific. When I had the vacuum lines off of it. It moved freely in and out. I was just confused as to why the vacuum leaked out when I put it on the 2wd side? Thought that might mean it was broken? As far as removing the actuator it is well in a sense "welded" on there or at least it sure doesn't want to budge lol. Thanks for the pics to.

 

That's alright. Yea, the actuator is bad then. It should retain vac without leaking.

 

Ok I will try to replace it then. Any tricks to get it out? It's really stuck in there. I've searched around but no one really has give a good run down on the best way to get one out without breaking the housing or anything else for that matter.

 

Do you have the manual? I can't recall what has to come off. I believe there's a snap ring from what I remember. I can get the procedure if you don't have it.

 

when you put your vac pump on the 2wd side did you remove the 4wd side of the side? I bet you didn't by the sounds of it. When you had the vacuum on it the other side is sealed.

I did the same thing and replaced the actuator, never fixed it. I have had to replace both vacuum disconnect solenoids on my truck now. Un hook the outlet of both vacuum lines on the disconnect solenoids and see if the proper sides have vacuum when selected in 2wd and 4wd. The 2nd time I did it, I diagnosed, replaced and tested in less than 10 mins.

 

Jbrew- I have the manual. And you are correct it just shows a E clip under the rubber boot and that's it. I got my e clip off but the actuator is "welded" in there I beat on it with a hammer and a screw driver and nothin. I don't want to break something so I guess il just start throughing the PB Blaster to it lol.

Gotts- Not sure I follow you. I pulled both 2wd and 4wd lines off at the actuator. Then put the vacuum tester on the 4wd side of the actuator and pumped it up and the vacuum held. I moved the tester the the 2wd side and pumped it up vacuum immediatly started to fall to zero. So this lead me to believe like jbrew said that the actuator is bad maybe the diaphram?

Here's something else odd that happened yesterday making me think it is the actuator motor on the axle. The other day I tested it beat on it etc, and the truck did it's normal thing light stuck in 4h and the truck still running in 2wd. I figured it would engage eventually like it always does and I'd switch it back to 2wd. So I got in the truck yesterday to go to work and tryed to put it back into 2wd it worked. Going down the road thought il just try it 4h it worked!!! 2wd it worked!!!! 4h it worked!!! Lol. So this went on for bout a mile or so. I thought maybe if I could keep it going back and forth it would work the kinks ou of the system. Well the back and forth worked bout a dozen times and then it got stuck light 4h truck 2wd lol. But when I got out of work at 6am this morning it went back to 2wd light off. So point is I think actuator even more like all that beating on it the other night fixed it for a minute. That's the most it's worked in almost a year lol. Let me know what you think and how I can get the actuator out to replace it cause it's stuck. Thanks

 

I found this posted from another user, -

O1 F150 4WD ACTUATOR REMOVAL:

Quote:

For it to come out the large e-clip needs to be removed, the smaller e-clip that is under the dust boot will fit through the hole. The little arm that sits into the shaft notch of the actuator needs to be out and away from the actuator shaft, - I sprayed mine with WD40 and tapped it out with a screw driver and hammer. It is a very tight space to work in but I did get it out in about 30-45 min just trying to find something to tap it with.

 

Ok well I will have to try that on Monday. Hopefully I can get it out and the actuator is the problem.

 

Ok so I beat out the actuator motor on the axle. That was a chore it came out but it was in bout four pieces lol. I replaced it with a new one and the four wheel drive worked great. 2wd, 4H and 4L. But that only lasted a day. Took it out on some easy trails and same thing again. Dash says 4h but the trucks in 2wd and then eventually it will engage 4h and you can put it back into 2wd. I think that the 90 degree rubber connectors that plug the vacuum lines into the actuator may be worn out? They are kinda easy to put on and off. Any ideas?