2004 Chevrolet Suburban Logo
Posted on Feb 21, 2009
Answered by a Fixya Expert

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Four wheel drive wont engage

When i push the four wheel drive it wont engage and the dash says "service four wheel drive" does it need a annual service or is this another scam to get you into the shop.

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  • ciao_pete Mar 11, 2009

    Yeah same thing with us too. Sometimes it won't even engage in 2-wheel drive and we'll just have a red light on the drive panel in the nuetral position. We can still drive though. Other times the 4-wheel drive engages on its own but we can't disengage it. Is this a thing I can fix on my own?

  • Anonymous Mar 14, 2014

    four wheel drive won't engage

  • Anonymous Mar 26, 2014

    the four wheel drive indicator on dashboard remains on even when engaged on two wheel drive, what can i do pls?

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  • Master 15,935 Answers
  • Posted on Feb 21, 2009
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If you have push button 4-Wheel Drive, it is recommended that you use it every once in a while, in order to keep gunk, rust, and corrosion to build up on moving parts. The mostly likeley (though not definite) reason would be that you let the 4-wheel drive unused for so long that corrosion has built up on the parts and the actuator that engages the 4-Wheel Drive doesn't have the power to engage it past the corrosion. You'll need to take it in to be cleaned, or to have parts replaced. In the future, every month or so, engage 4-Wheel Drive and drive around in some mud, grass, sand, or any other loose ground for a bit, just to keep the parts moving and clean.

The service Four wheel drive light is to alert the operator the system is not being read properly by the ECU.

If the ECU loses contact with or position of the Transfer case actuator motor the service light will come on. Same thing goes for the front diff actuator.

So it may be a bad switch, sensor, or an actual problem in the 4WD linkage. This is not a Oil Change light that you can ignore a few extra weeks - it indicates a problem that should be taken care of ASAP to avoid costlier problems down the road.
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  • Contributor 13 Answers
  • Posted on Nov 28, 2014
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Switch is an extremely common prob in those

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