4x4 problems

SleSierra14 · July 12, 2021

Hello so I have a 14 Sierra 1500 sle 4x4

i was towing my 16ft flatbed trailer and using the 4hi mode and I back the trailer up and turned it off with the 4 on. I turn it in and the service 4wd shows up. I said huh weird and pulled the truck out. I tried to turn it back to 2wd and it won’t change. The light doesn’t turn on for 2 hi, auto or 4low. I know that it’s in 4hi bc when I turn it hops. Had to drive with the 16ft for about 30mins on 4hi

bdbake01 · July 12, 2021

I just had to replace the transfer case force motor and position sensor in my '14. Very similar behavior. I was in 4auto moving a trailer. Parked it, forgot to turn on auto. Got in the next morning, turn it to 2wd, nothing changes. Auto light blinked, went out, and then no 4wd position lights. "Service 4wd" light came on, and it was stuck in 4wd. You don't wanna know the price.

SleSierra14 · July 12, 2021

30 minutes ago, bdbake01 said:

I just had to replace the transfer case force motor and position sensor in my '14. Very similar behavior. I was in 4auto moving a trailer. Parked it, forgot to turn on auto. Got in the next morning, turn it to 2wd, nothing changes. Auto light blinked, went out, and then no 4wd position lights. "Service 4wd" light came on, and it was stuck in 4wd. You don't wanna know the price.

Yikes sounds bad then. I’m going to see if maybe changing the transfer case oil and or the switch might help. I gotta know how you paid friend

bdbake01 · July 12, 2021

4 minutes ago, SleSierra14 said:

Yikes sounds bad then. I’m going to see if maybe changing the transfer case oil and or the switch might help. I gotta know how you paid friend

$1,411 at the dealership. Not happy about it. Good luck. FYI, apparently there's some specialized tool for removing/reinstalling the force motor. Normally I do these kinda jobs myself, but I didn't have the tool or the time in this case.

SleSierra14 · July 12, 2021

4 minutes ago, bdbake01 said:

$1,411 at the dealership. Not happy about it. Good luck. FYI, apparently there's some specialized tool for removing/reinstalling the force motor. Normally I do these kinda jobs myself, but I didn't have the tool or the time in this case.

Mmm is the dealership the only place that could fix it? Apart from oneself , the good thing is that I have another truck (06 ram)in the meantime if I fix it myself.

CrawlSlow · July 12, 2021

I forgot which thread contains the info on how to reset your 4x4 system. Might have to do some reading.

CrawlSlow · July 12, 2021

On 5/10/2019 at 9:38 AM, Mr.GGMMCC said:

2014 GMC was stuck in 4WD (High) with message "Service 4WD" As with several other comments....not 100% what caused it but....transfer case was stuck in 4WD (high) and the light on the selector dial would only come on when the selector dial was on "AUTO". But it was not in "Auto" it was in 4WD (High). To test if it was the electrical or mechanical, with the truck off, I first removed the fuse #6 (FWD) in fuse panel in the engine comp (without DC power it shifts to 2wd) I did a short test drive to see if the 4WD had disengaged and it had. When I put the fuse back in, it reengaged the FWD and the actuator was still stuck, turning the dial on the dash still did nothing.

To resolve or get it to reset. I left the truck engine running and again removed the fuse. With the engine still running, I turned the dial to 4WD (hi) and put the fuse back in. This time is cycled and the light on the dial was now on when it was in 4WD hi, to match what the transfer case was positioned in.

Now when I rotated the dial it shifted to Auto, 2WD, etc. with the light blinking during shift just like it is supposed to. It has been working fine since then. I sort of viewed it as forcing it to reboot. I may have been able to get this same result with the ignition switch simply turned (without the engine running), but that isn't how I did it.