OK, I'm creating a topic for my AWD problems first decribed here.
When I bought the truck in June AWD worked. Or at least I saw it working at the end of July when I had the car up in the air and saw front wheels engage. I considered AWD story closed and then at the end of august I changed the TC fluid for the peace of mind, only to find out there wasn't Auto-Trak II in there. But I had seen my AWD work before that so I wasn't afraid and just put a fresh fill of ATII in.
Now that winter came I've been in a few situations that I thought would not have been possible with only rear wheels (and an empty car and cargo area), the car is stable, predictable, handles much better than my previous front-engined FWD cars, fights for traction only momentarilly... So I thought that it was AWD and took it that it simply works. But then I went to a snowy parking lot and did a few test, introducing intensive slippage of the wheels etc... And I found out that AWD doesn't work. I even saw the SERVICE AWD light once, however how it doesn't work without any lights or messages.
So today I took it to a shop that does american cars here to hook it up to the all-seeing Tech 2. The mechanic tried to run the Automatic Transfer Case tests but every time he ran it the display just said "multiple motor control attempted" (and I believe it was presented as an error). If I understand it correctly that means that Tech 2 tried to move the encoder motor multiple times and failed. We then took it for a spin around their lot and to a small snowy road and watched the data from the TCCM as I was flooring it and loosing traction. The TCCM gets all the data, front+rear shaft RPM, slippage RPM, so the sensors work and TCCM does as well. There was also a value called "Clutch Pedal", which was always "Off" (or "No"?) - since there is no pedal it sounds a bit misleading. Does this relate to the clutch pack that is supposed to be actuated by the encoder motor?
My main question is of course whether I should first try to change the motor or whether the error message points to a problem inside the TC. As I mentioned in my post about the transfer case fluid, there was a different fluid and it also has a gasket sealant on it, i.e. was being worked on. But then again: I saw AWD kick in on at least one occasion and since then I haven't heard any bad sounds.
The problem is that the shop has Tech 2 and is able to work on GM cars but it was evident that they are more focused on Chrysler and Jeep cars (though they had an old Ford Explorer and a 6.0 Avalanche parked in their lot - what a beast!) and the mechanic wasn't very sure about what to deduce from all this...
When I bought the truck in June AWD worked. Or at least I saw it working at the end of July when I had the car up in the air and saw front wheels engage. I considered AWD story closed and then at the end of august I changed the TC fluid for the peace of mind, only to find out there wasn't Auto-Trak II in there. But I had seen my AWD work before that so I wasn't afraid and just put a fresh fill of ATII in.
Now that winter came I've been in a few situations that I thought would not have been possible with only rear wheels (and an empty car and cargo area), the car is stable, predictable, handles much better than my previous front-engined FWD cars, fights for traction only momentarilly... So I thought that it was AWD and took it that it simply works. But then I went to a snowy parking lot and did a few test, introducing intensive slippage of the wheels etc... And I found out that AWD doesn't work. I even saw the SERVICE AWD light once, however how it doesn't work without any lights or messages.
So today I took it to a shop that does american cars here to hook it up to the all-seeing Tech 2. The mechanic tried to run the Automatic Transfer Case tests but every time he ran it the display just said "multiple motor control attempted" (and I believe it was presented as an error). If I understand it correctly that means that Tech 2 tried to move the encoder motor multiple times and failed. We then took it for a spin around their lot and to a small snowy road and watched the data from the TCCM as I was flooring it and loosing traction. The TCCM gets all the data, front+rear shaft RPM, slippage RPM, so the sensors work and TCCM does as well. There was also a value called "Clutch Pedal", which was always "Off" (or "No"?) - since there is no pedal it sounds a bit misleading. Does this relate to the clutch pack that is supposed to be actuated by the encoder motor?
My main question is of course whether I should first try to change the motor or whether the error message points to a problem inside the TC. As I mentioned in my post about the transfer case fluid, there was a different fluid and it also has a gasket sealant on it, i.e. was being worked on. But then again: I saw AWD kick in on at least one occasion and since then I haven't heard any bad sounds.
The problem is that the shop has Tech 2 and is able to work on GM cars but it was evident that they are more focused on Chrysler and Jeep cars (though they had an old Ford Explorer and a 6.0 Avalanche parked in their lot - what a beast!) and the mechanic wasn't very sure about what to deduce from all this...