4x4 only working in reverse, and no traction in Drive

So last storm my 4x4 worked perfect never had an issues. But this time around i went to go put my truck in 4x4 and i was sliding instantly, couldn't get any traction at all. Mostly compact snow. In reverse I have all the traction but none going forward, I have to go from forward to reverse back and forth until it eventually kicks in and I have traction. Same thing happens when in crawl mode, 4H, and 4L. Tires have less than 5000 miles on them also, not sure if its just that icy or there is something actually wrong.

 

I think your transfer case actuator is faulty - have you done any deep water crossings? Some of the actuator cases get flooded and they corrode inside. It’s just my best guess.

By the way, welcome to the forum. There are some very knowledgeable people here to help out. You might even want to post this in your local region forum here - someone near you might help as well.

 

Thank you for the welcome. I havent done any deep water crossings or anything. There was a foot and half or snow that i went in a parking lot with, and one trail. Do you know the difficulty or replacing the actuator inside? i know that outside actuator isnt too bad, but any info on the inner one?

 

On another note, the light never flashes it goes into gear i hear everything engaging and the 4x4 light is solid. if that changes anything.

 

I was thinking the outside one, a black box on the back end of the transfer case but I may be wrong since you said that your lights engaged. I don’t wanna muck up the diagnosis with the wrong answer, so I’ll just wait and see what the experts say when they come on.

 

I was thinking the same thing, but I’ll wait I rather not spend the 300 for a diagnosis just yet

 

Oh I meant the diagnosis as in the helpful questions others here ask to get to the source of the problem for you. I thought it might be the actuator because it sounded similar to others who had issues engaging 4wd also.