1995 Chevy S-10 Shifting and 4WD

BLUE71VW

MEMBER
1995 CHEVROLET S-10
6 CYL
4WD
AUTOMATIC
140,000 MILES

I recently bought a 95 S10 ZR2 4WD with 140k miles. The 4Wd setup is a manual shift on the floor and was working with some cracked hoses. I replaced the two short vacuum lines near the ball shaped reservoir that are 7/32 diameter earlier in the day and I could feel the transfer case kicking in after replacing the lines when shifting in the driveway. The movement of the drive selector lever was still very tight and needed encouragement to go back to 2HI from 4HI, and also was sticky between the other gears. I was moving the drive selector back and forth while in neutral, pushed on it hard to get it back to 2Hi and it now moves freely between 4Hi and 2Hi with no locking at either position. As a result of this, the transmission won't engage when shifting from park to neutral to drive or any other setting. The park setting also does nothing to keep the truck on place. I left the transmission in drive and looked underneath to see the driveshafts not spinning. How do I fix this?

Tuesday, July 21st, 2009 AT 2:26 PM

6 Replies

JACOBANDNICKOLAS

MECHANIC
110,176 POSTS

It sounds like you have the transfer stuck in neutral. Make sure the linkage is still attached at the transfer case. If it is in neutral, it will do exactly what you described. It will feel like both driveshafts are off and there is no connection between the transmission and the tires.

Let me know what you find.

Joe

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Saturday, July 25th, 2009 AT 12:03 AM

BLUE71VW

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5 POSTS

Joe,

If the linkage is a metal bracket that is then connected to a rubber accordion, then it is still attached. The nut is still present on the attachment bolt. The lack of connection feeling is what I feel when trying to shift the transmission.

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Sunday, July 26th, 2009 AT 4:03 PM

BLUE71VW

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Joe,

I took the center console apart and found that the loop at the end of what looks like a cable was not on the peg. After putting the loop on the peg, the shifter will move from 4LO to N to 4HI but will not go any further forward to 2HI. The loop wants to pop off the peg. Is there a certain area on a long steel cable that runs along the driver side frame rail that needs lubrication or something? Or is there some sort of grease fitting on the transfer case?

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Sunday, July 26th, 2009 AT 5:11 PM

JACOBANDNICKOLAS

MECHANIC
110,176 POSTS

There are no lube points. Why is the cable coming off?

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Sunday, July 26th, 2009 AT 9:23 PM

BLUE71VW

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5 POSTS

I don't know why the cable wants to come off. I looked around more and noticed the frame rail cable is not the same one that attaches to the 4WD shifter mechanism. My assumption now is that the metal cable that runs through an outer rubber sleeve under the truck has to be binding internally due to the heavy pressure needed to move the shifter all the way forward. However, when this is attempted, the hole in the cable slips off the peg. After thinking about this, I crawled underneath with a wrench and was able to access the pivot linkage on the transfer case to get the case back into 2HI. It looks like I won't be using 4WD until I get the cable that runs from the transfer case to the shifter replaced.

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Monday, July 27th, 2009 AT 6:05 PM

BLUE71VW

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5 POSTS

I got the cable replaced that goes between the transfer case and shifter. Only GM dealerships can get the cable, so I just had them put it in as well. The shifter actually moves easily. Now they told me that when shifting the transfer case that they couldn't feel the front axle engage. Could this be a vacuum switch problem, line or other? I'm looking around online but not finding a lot, this is the 1st 4WD vehicle I've owned.

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Monday, August 3rd, 2009 AT 2:12 PM