4WD Not Dis-Engaging. Is it Safe to Drive on Hard Surfaces?

[DanielDD]

After the engine rebuild, I put 60 miles on the Montero. 1st time I have really driven it since buying it a year ago. Yes, its actually taking me this long to put it back together...

So, anyway... I'm feeling pretty good about the Montero all day Saturday. We ran a bunch of errands and I'm starting to like this beast. So, Sunday its nasty and raining outside and I figure I will try out the 4wd system just for grins. Car is running, transmission is in park and I engage 4WD Hi. The top two Green lights are now on (the lower two green lights, I find are burned out).

Cool..

So, now I put it back in 2wd and the top 2 indicator lights start blinking. So I shift in and out of 4wd and can't get it to dis-engage and go back to 2wd. I even try backing up in the driveway several times, but no luck.

Lights are still blinking...

Now, normally I would crawl under the truck and investigate the issue, but I just had neck surgery 4 weeks ago and I've not recovered enough to stress my neck to try and diagnose the issue. At this point, I'm okay with calling a tow truck and having it delivered to the nearest 4wd offroad shop. My question is with the 4wd not dis-engaging, are we going to have an issue with axle windup (putting stress on the drivetrain on dry payment) maneuvering the vehicle around to get it on the tow truck? If so, is there a quick way to dis-engage the 4wd system manually?

Thanks! :ylsmoke:

 

[plh]

Assume you are not in 4HiLock? What year truck?

 

[haolepinoy]

If you're in 4H (not 4HLC or 4LLC) you do not have to worry about any kind of differential binding on hard surfaces. 4H is essentially AWD.

As far as the 4wd disengaging...just drive around a little bit. I don't have my user manual in front of me, but I think I remember reading that you actually have to be moving in order for it to disengage (I may be mistaken on that...but you can verify by reading your user manual).

 

[DanielDD]

I only tried 4H only. The Montero is a 2000 Endeavor. I'll try driving it around and maybe backing up some more. Last thing I want to do is damage the drivetrain.

 

[Michael Brown]

The blinking lights can be anything from a bad solenoid or vacuum line to just having different brand tires at the corners. The system has a check for each wheel speed before disengaging the center differential. Having different tires can cause these numbers to not always align for it to begin disengagement. There is also a check switch in the front axle to confirm engagement of the free-wheel clutch system. This is controlled by vacuum lines to a diaphragm actuator.

This link should have enough information for you to diagnose it. You can also search for Pajero 4wd lights.
http://4wd.blogeasy.com/article.view.run?articleID=318776#tabs-1

If you have 2H-4H-4Hlc-4Llc then 4H is AWD as mentioned above and will not damage the system on paved roads. Also try letting the car roll some in D or R to help align things to get out of 4H.

 

[DanielDD]

Thanks for the help Michael. FYI, all the tires are the same, so this rules that particular concern out for the moment. I did see that link a few days ago and investigated it, but as I mentioned earlier, I am not quite well enough to go poking my head under the vehicle at this juncture. Good to know I'm not going to tear anything up with the it no dis-engaging out of 4HI.

 

[jeep-N-montero]

My money is on the transfer case lever, the ball inside has likely disintegrated and is causing the lever to not maintain proper alignment, this is a well known issue with the 97-00 models and is easily remedied by swapping in the 94-96 LS or SR case lever. I will keep my eyes out for another lever but do not have one currently to offer.

 

[DanielDD]

My money is on the transfer case lever, the ball inside has likely disintegrated and is causing the lever to not maintain proper alignment, this is a well known issue with the 97-00 models and is easily remedied by swapping in the 94-96 LS or SR case lever. I will keep my eyes out for another lever but do not have one currently to offer.

Is there anyway to quickly identify whether this is the problem or not? I would be interested in determining whether this is the culprit or not as it wouldn't require me to crawl under the vehicle.

 

[jeep-N-montero]

Is there anyway to quickly identify whether this is the problem or not? I would be interested in determining whether this is the culprit or not as it wouldn't require me to crawl under the vehicle.

It does not require you to crawl under the vehicle, you do however need to remove the center console to access the lever and un-bolt it. If you hop onto google and use the search words "Montero case lever" it will pull up 3 or 4 links on here with how-to's.

 

[DanielDD]

It does not require you to crawl under the vehicle, you do however need to remove the center console to access the lever and un-bolt it. If you hop onto google and use the search words "Montero case lever" it will pull up 3 or 4 links on here with how-to's.

Yeah, that ain't gonna happen anytime soon. Requires removing front seats and contorting myself around the console. Can't stress my neck at this point in time. As long as I can drive it with the lights blinking and not cause any driveline issues, than I'm good for the time being. I have the vehicle scheduled to get the hood and roof repainted and then it is off to the shop for new tires and alignment.

 

[jeep-N-montero]

Yeah, that ain't gonna happen anytime soon. Requires removing front seats and contorting myself around the console. Can't stress my neck at this point in time. As long as I can drive it with the lights blinking and not cause any driveline issues, than I'm good for the time being. I have the vehicle scheduled to get the hood and roof repainted and then it is off to the shop for new tires and alignment.

I didn't remove my seats when I swapped mine. And while it will not really "hurt" anything, you definitely want to get it fixed before putting new tires on, driving in 4wd on dry pavement will provide more friction between the front tires and ground when turning.

 

[Swank Force One]

It's probably disengaging and it's just the sensors not working properly and leaving your lights on. Mine come on by themselves on occasion if it's particularly wet/muggy outside.

 

[DanielDD]

It's probably disengaging and it's just the sensors not working properly and leaving your lights on. Mine come on by themselves on occasion if it's particularly wet/muggy outside.

Any way to verify this? Such as lifting the front end off the ground and seeing if the front wheels rotate independent of each other and the driveshaft is not turning???

 

[plh]

Any way to verify this? Such as lifting the front end off the ground and seeing if the front wheels rotate independent of each other and the driveshaft is not turning???

Yes. If disengaged, the drive shaft won't spin. CV shafts will spin, Drive shaft back to the transfer case won't spin.

 

[DanielDD]

Yes. If disengaged, the drive shaft won't spin. CV shafts will spin, Drive shaft back to the transfer case won't spin.

Thank you!