95 kia sportage transfer case engages, but hubs do nnot lock. my light for 4X4 lights up,

dont worry about vac hoses as they are redundant with manual lock. i changed to manual and all fine so definately back differential or transfer case

what type of kia a sportage or sorento if its a old sportage under 2000 you have vacume hubs in front and sometimes the locking hubs break you jack up front and check to see if they lock in 4x4 if its a sorento you have a transfer case motor and sometimes the motor burns

the front axles have pinon gear box that the shaft from the transfer case goes to, it has a vacuum hose to it or a solenoid actuator check these for proper function this is how the power is turned on to the wheels.

Ok, this is probably going to sound greek if you have no automotive experiance, so here goes:

There are 2 possibilities I can think of at the moment depending on your 4wd system, however there are several things that can cause this

If you have a Push button 4wd (you push a button or turn a knob) the system engages using actuators or sylinoids meening you turn the 4wd on, the switch sends power to the selector option (high and low) and the 4wd light on the dash. the selector determines where the actuator/silenoid engages (either high or low) in the transfer case. However the actuator or silenoid can be faulty and yet the system will say 4wd is on because the switches still sending power to the 4x4 light

The next setup is the manual linkage set up, and given the year of your kia I doubt you have this setup However I am going to go through it anyway.

With a maual linkage setup you engage the trasfer case maualy using the 4wd shifter. Ironically on newer manual shift 4wd systems the dash light is still triggered electrically by location of the shifter not what is going on in the transfer case (Ah a flaw in the design) So if you linkage is loose/bent/damaged or somehow disconnected your 4wd wont engage but the light will still show that it is! Hope this helps

a quick fix to solve the problem with the 4wd not working on the sportage is fitst check the vacume soionoid is working lockated by the suspention turet on theL/H side of the engine bay, then, chech hoses going to the hub, if there is still a vacume leek from the hub remove the 6 bolts from the outer hub locker place in vice remove the circlip, remove the spring, remove the spline gear then take the spring and swap it around so that it gose under the gear so that it is in conatant mesh/ lock, build back up and fit, it means the front axle will be live all the time but you will still be able to select 2 /4wd,,

Hi

It could just be low fluid in the gearbox/transfer box have you checked these?

Is the car new to you?

Is the four wheel drive activated by vacuum? Check vacuum.

Remove the automatic locking hubs from the vehicle. You will probably notice on one hub or the other the alloy tabs that extend from the inner part of the lockout hub are sheared off, they will probably be found loose in the hub or near the bearing. The manufacturer Warn makes a good replacement automatic hub for the Kia Sportage; Warn part # 61918 for the automatic hub or if you prefer the manual hub Warn part # 60247. The hubs come with excellent instructions to remove the existing hub parts as well as the installation of the new hubs. This seems to be a common failure with the Kia Sportage and almost certainly is your problem.

I had this problem a couple years ago. Turned out to just be the cable to the 4x4 had slipped out or something. Les Schwabb actually fixed it for me. Hope yours is that simple.

Hello... My manual says that if your 4x4 doesn't engage could be because of a bent or broken rod, Broken chain in transfer case or a misaligned or broken transfer lever. not sure if this will help... also if you haven't already check your hubs. Are they locking in? Mine had the same problem it turned out to be the spring in the auto hub was broken.