1989 Mazda B2600i 4x4 Issues

[MichaelLeonardo]

Hello,

I'm a new user to this site, and I fairly recently purchased my first Mazda - a 1989 B2600i with 200,000 kms on it. I bought it in the late summer months, and everything was working like a dream. However, now that winter has hit us full force here in Edmonton, Alberta, lo and behold I've realized that my 4x4 has completely stopped working - it will not engage. This seems to be a common problem with Mazda trucks, as I've seen on the forums here.

I'm hoping that perhaps someone can help me diagnose these issues, as I am somewhat of a amateur mechanic myself, by necessity. I'm a student, and so I have not much money or time to have this checked out. Here are my symptoms:

- My truck's RFW switch does NOT light up when pressed, although my dash shows "4x4" lit up plainly.
- The 4x4 system WAS working in the summer - perhaps this has something to do with the issue?
- Auto-locking hubs - they seem to be fairly dinged-up on the outside.
- As well, what's this unmarked switch just to the right of my RFW switch? It doesn't seem to do anything except light up very brightly.

If anyone can lend me a hand with this, I'd really appreciate it. I'm not very experienced with drivetrain work yet, so I'd like to at least now where to look for issues.

Thanks!

Michael Leonardo
MichaelLeonardo@shaw.ca

1989 B2600i 4x4 - Extended Cab