1986 nissan pickup... 4x4 will not engage

mrchampie · Dec 27th, 2004, 10:00 AM

Hello

I have a 1986 4x4 Z24 5 speed pickup with about 95k miles, that I have owned for a few months.

I went to put it into 4 wheel drive last night and it seems as if the automatic hubs are not engaging. The light comes on but nothing is happening. I tried driving a bit to see if maybe it would take a minute to lock in. I drove around in the snow for a few minutes slowly and nothing.

I am wondering if anyone else has had this problem and where to start looking first.

I am not to familar with the truck, it is the first nissan that I have owned

thanks

**88pathoffroad** · Dec 27th, 2004, 08:35 PM

The hubs probably need to be rebuilt if they're not locking when you put it into 4WD. Did you try both 4HI and 4LO?

NPath · Dec 28th, 2004, 03:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrchampie

Hello

I have a 1986 4x4 Z24 5 speed pickup with about 95k miles, that I have owned for a few months.

I went to put it into 4 wheel drive last night and it seems as if the automatic hubs are not engaging. The light comes on but nothing is happening. I tried driving a bit to see if maybe it would take a minute to lock in. I drove around in the snow for a few minutes slowly and nothing.

I am wondering if anyone else has had this problem and where to start looking first.

I am not to familar with the truck, it is the first nissan that I have owned

thanks

Very low mileage on that truck. Don't you need to turn the hubs on both sides of the axle to lock on that year of truck? My 87 Nissan KC had to be.

Npath

**88pathoffroad** · Dec 28th, 2004, 01:41 PM

Only if it has manual locking hubs...

mrchampie · Dec 28th, 2004, 04:19 PM

I tried it again today.....it actually sounds like it goes into 2 wheel low, I can hear the difference in the way the motor rev's, but the front axles are not turning.

The truck was laying for a while, maybe a year or more before I got it and started driving it. I had it checked out by a friend, but I guess that he didnt check that.

Is it real expensive to get the hubs rebuilt ? ....I don't have a place to work inside, and now of course it is winter.

the truck also has that bucking problem under load....it's like a mystery. Sometimes it does it and sometimes it doesn't. As long as I don't give it to much gas it is fine, you just have to be carefull when you are crossing intersections....I was going to follow some of the other advice on fixing that.

I am not sure how much money I want to put into this thing. It drives real nice once you get up to speed on the highway, and it's still getting like 20 mpg.

I appreciate any help and advice that I am getting.....

thanks

Will · Dec 29th, 2004, 07:06 AM

Hey mrchampie. Glad to see you made it over here from that other forum. Looks like you've gotten a few more responses here. I can't help you much with the 4wd problem but the bucking is probably caused by water in the fuel system some where. First and cheapest is put dry gas in the fuel system. It's a drying agent.

**88pathoffroad** · Dec 29th, 2004, 07:49 PM

Take the hubs off, go inside and rebuild them yourself. All you have to do is take them apart, clean them all up, then regrease them and put them back on. It's pretty easy to do. Just keep the parts in order so you don't get screwed up on how to put them back together.