jeep stuck in 2wd?

[hondahaulic]

Hey, there any 4x4 guys out there? My friend has a 95?ish jeep wrangler that hasn't been driven too much in a while and we just started cruising around in it the last few days. Theres one problem though, it just wont go into 4wd. it has the 2hi, 4hi, and 4lo shifter and you can feel it go into every range, but 4hi and 4lo are both still 2wd. Were in Iowa and its been pretty cold and icy for quite a while and our best guess was that something could be froze up somewhere. Is this very likely, and is there a quicker way to fix it than finding a heated building for it? I'm a complete noob to the whole 4x4 truck thing so any help is appreciated.

[Howdy]

Warming up the whole truck is probably the way I would do it. This can be done many different ways. A warm garage would be the easiest.

I'm not to kowledgeable on jeeps, but I would crawl under it and try to find & Follow the linkage that engages the 4WD. Then try to find anything that looks out of place. Also, if you have manual locking front hubs then you may want to check on those as well. I have had a few ( Old Scout ) that wouldn't lock in and it caused issues.
Howdy

[200xman]

It's probably the vacum actuator on the front axle or a cracked vacum line somewhere. There should be a hose running from the motor to the transfer case and then to the front axle.

[hondahaulic]

hey this helps, now i kinda know what to check for. If its a cracked vaccum line will I be able to just buy a new piece of hose from a hardware/plumbing store or is it a special formed hose with bends that i'll need to order? also, is this hose or actuator fairly accessible to get at and inspect?

[Dirtcrasher]

Did the 95's have the vacuum actuator? If you crawl underneath while it's in 4WD the front driveshaft shouldn't turn or it's a transfer case problem. If it doesn't have the VA then I'd just take the hubs apart and grease them up.

My actuator is easy to get too and uses regular vac hose...

[Tri-Z Pilot]

It's probably the vacum actuator on the front axle or a cracked vacum line somewhere. There should be a hose running from the motor to the transfer case and then to the front axle.

I would bet this too. happened to my dad's 90 wrangler before.

[hondahaulic]

Thanks for your help guys, the vaccum hose sounds like a pretty likely problem. I'll be sure to check it out and see what i come up with

[200xman]

The actuator is on the front axle next to the diff. It's obvious once you look under there. It just slides a collar back and forth to engage the axle. You can pull it off and check it for motion and make sure the collar slides.