The story
Well today we got about 8 inches of snow and a friend of mine called me for some help because he had gotten run off the road by a dually(which did not stop to help). Wanted to know if I could come pull him out of the ditch. I think no problem, I am glad to pull a chevy out of the ditch anyday. Well I get there and have trouble getting the 4x4 to lock up but finally do and after a couple of tries and a couple of times of the 4x4 not working we get him out. Now I get ready to leave and cannot go anywhere as the 4x4 does not work again. What a pain in the butt. Finally get back home

The investigation

Turn the truck on, flip the 4x4 switch and hear the transfer case engage, the pump come on but it seems to run forever.

Next start the truck turn the AC on, turn the 4x4 on and the air goes to the defroster. I thinks we have a leak

Any special type of hose used for the line or just plain ole vaccum line?

Not sure if you can see it in the pic but there is a hole in the hose

Other Issues

Upon looking at this issue I find that one of the hubs will not turn from Auto to Lock. Does this have to be pulled out to fix??

As I am looking at the spindle and all I notice that it looks like the seal is out on both sides of the axle. I assume this is a seal that is supposed to be pushed in there not freely flopping around. Take a look at the pic and let me know what you think

What is involved in fixing this?

 

Vacuum line is just vacuum line...local parts shop. The lock/auto switch is easy. Go to Lowes and get the DuPont Teflon lube spray. Spray in the TINY groove and give it a second or 2 and then turn. This stuff doesnt make the rubber behind the selector swell like other stuff does. Guzzle pointed me to it and it worked like a charm in less than 2 seconds.

The dust cap thing thats swingin in the wind isnt too much of a big deal. A lot of folks have the same issue and worry about it when the time comes for new ball joints or something worth doing to break everything down for.

I would service your autolock hubs per Guzzles instructions just to do it and make sure everything is functional and lubed properly...
http://www.guzzle7pt3.com/allube.php

This is a pic of the DuPont stuff just for reference....
http://www.webbikeworld.com/t2/motor...chain-lube.htm

 

Thanks for the info. I changed the vacuum line tubing out on both sides and it seems to work better now. I also am going to get the rebuild kit for the hubs then follow the Guzzle writeup to redo those. Hope there is no damage inside there as there was some ugly grinding sounds as the thing kicked in and out of 4x4, although it sounded fine now. Now the snow can leave

 

Make sure thrust washers are installed correctly. Last mechanic that did work on mine they installed the one with the 4 grooves on the wrong side and it ground into the knuckle seal and ruined it.