Locking hub will not disengage

[Tim R.]

Hi folks. New here. Have had 4 Monteros over the years starting in 1989.

I now have a 2000 Montero that my wife drives here in Maine. She loves it. I have searched the forums and have not come up with my exact issue.

This past winter I had the dreaded flashing light problem when disengaging 4wd. That seems to have cleared up. Last week I replaced my front wheel bearings and notice one hub and axel spun freely while the other had some resistance to it. My wife has also noticed that the mileage has decreased 2-3mpg and when driving at 65+ the right front seems to be noisy. She says it sounds like it does when AWD is engaged.

From this I suspect that one of the automatic hubs is not disengaging. Is this possible? What could be causing this?

I have considered swapping out the hubs for manual lockers but that does not solve the issue.

Thanks for your help.
Tim

 

[PirateMcGee]

Check the front diff actuator. Have someone shift from 4wd to 2wd and check if the actuator is moving.

 

[Tim R.]

Will do. Thanks.

 

[plh]

The both the drivers side & passenger side front axle always spins with the wheel rotation with the stock setup locked or unlocked. Thing to check if the actuator is disconnecting properly would be the front drive shaft. It should spin freely when in 2wd and actuator unlocked - even in park, engine off.

 

[PirateMcGee]

What plh said is a much easier and quicker check. On mine it was intermittent when the actuator vaccum switch failed so it took a bit more digging.

 

[Tim R.]

I assume that the actuator visibly moves and should be obvious once I remove the belly pan. If it is stuck can it be moved manually?

 

[PirateMcGee]

You'll need to pull back the boot but yes it visibly moves.

 

[Tim R.]

The actuator is moving about 3/4-1". Is this what actuates the front diff or locks the hubs or both. If not, what exactly causes the hubs to lock?

Thx,
Tim