And no, not from turning.

I switch to 4hi and when it engages it feels heavy and starts to slow down until I'm literally dragging the front tires, and then it takes forever to get it out of 4hi. Any ideas? Front Diff or transfer?

Also will a 95 LS front diff fit the 93 SR and work properly?

 

It is difficult to say if it is Front Diff or the Transfer case. One way to test it is to drop the front drive shaft and then engage the 4wd. If front end binds up again - it is front diff or some component at the front axles. If it doesn't, then it is more likely to be the transfer case.
You are going to have to dig into it to figure out what is going on. Definitely do not continue to do this to your vehicle - you'll mess up something even more than it is already messed up. Keep us posted.

 

Sorry it took so long, but I had surgery and I'm just now getting back on my feet. The free wheeling actuator, how is that supposed to move? It doesn't move at all on the front diff and I have applied vacuum to both sides of actuator.

 

It is possible that you have a slightly different design but, the actuator has an arm with a fork attached to it. When vacuum applied to one side of the actuator diafragm, the fork moves a sleeve inside the differential housing that engages or disengages the front diff. When front differential is disengaged (2wd) both front wheels should spin freely and independently of each other. You can test it by lifting the front end of the truck on jack stands and spinning one of the wheels. If the second wheel spins in the opposite direction of the one you are turning, the differential is not disengaged. You can try to move the fork (under the rubber sleeve) by hand. If it still not disengaging, you may have a locked up front differential. Sounds like good time to pop open that cover and do an examination. If on the other hand moving the fork by hand does engage and disengage front differential, it is possible that the actuator diaphragm had a hole it in and that prevents normal operation.

 

Tired moving it by hand, and Yea it's completely frozen. So I might pop the cover off later on.

 

If you are lucky, it is just stuck and will move with some lubrication and effort. I do hope the differential did not seize.

 

Update if I put it in 4 wheel drive from a stop it works fine. Although it works but the active track part of the four wheel drive won't work. If I switch into 4 wheel drive while moving that's when the front starts binding and starts to lock up.

 

Do you have a user manual for your Montero? Perhaps you have to be stopped to engage 4wd. That was fairly common on vehicles of that vintage. Don't know enough to tell you how that particular year Montero should behave this way or not.

 

From what I read this Monty comes equipped with an Active Trac system allows it to be driven full time in 4wd and allows the system to come in and out of 4wd moving up to speeds of 65 mph. Also, after a day or two of testing, seems like the transfer case is done fore.

Anyone know if the trasfer case from other year Monteros sr and non sr work on a 93 Sr?