Got a 2.5! Need some help!

[jugganaut]

Flew in to drive back, got a 1999 montero with winter package. Have a 600 trip ahead of me and I'm worried I may have messed up the 4WD. There was some issue getting it to go into 4H, the front wheels on dash kept blinking. I'm not sure what I did, but now there are no lights on the dash indicating 2H or 4H and a tiny puff of smoke came out of the center AC vent. I just want to confirm that I'm in 2H and rear locker is disengaged before I get on the road - will sort all this out when I get home. Fuse checks out ok.

So is there a way to confirm these two things? I'm without tools, but may be able to get to a shop if I need to raise up the vehicle...

 

[off-roader]

Drive forward 10-15'. Stop. Put in Neutral. Put in Reverse. Drive backward 10-15'. Put in Neutral. Put in Drive. Repeat.

Do this a few times and it may clear the light. Typically it happens because the 4wd system has not been cycled regularly so it has a hard time recognizing it's now in 2WD and then turning the light off.

As for the rear locker, that will only be on if you lock the diff via the switch and you will be able to tell by taking a sharp turn at a moderate speed (not trying to power slide it) when one of the rear tires squeals/looses traction.

You can drive in 4H at 50MPH (it's actually higher than that) w/out issues for quite some time. I don't have the owners manual with me but it does indicate the max speed you can go in 4H inside of it.

 

[Evo666]

You don't want to drive it in 4H on the tarmac. Something about it binding up.

 

[off-roader]

Also the reason the rear tires aren't lighting up on your dash is because the bulbs are out. They should be on always.

As for driving on the Tarmac, evo666 may be right. i dont recall. suggest you check ur manual. I'm pretty sure you'll be you should be ok for short distances though...

 

[shov3lbum]

Manual for the montero sport says do not engage/disengage above 100km/h or 60 mph (or to quote the manual "try not to...") and then there is no max speed for it, I just finished driving 4+ hours on the highway through a snowstorm at about 65 -70 mph with 4wd (transfer case engaged) no issue. I've also done this for the past few years I've owned it. No issue whatsoever. (The manual has no limit on speed just a limit on when to engage/disengage)

I can't see why speed would be an issue after engagement, I mean the front axle spins anyways when not being driven and well the transfer case is directly connected to the rear output and just engages to the front axle when needed, like I said above the only issue that could be would be the engagement/disengagement at higher speeds.

 

[jugganaut]

My dumb uncle was trying to break my new car. Anyways, got it to disengage, after driving a few hundred miles today, the rear light came back on, one of the rears is burnt out. But, made it about 600 miles today and also picked up a ARB bull bar for a Sporty that I'll mod to fit. Build thread to come!

 

[off-roader]

NICE... although none of this happened unless you post pics!

 

[jugganaut]

The proof!

 

[off-roader]

Sweet!

 

[jugganaut]

Out at my dads farm today and I got stuck in some mud, switched to 4H and green lights went solid! So I think it just needed to stretch it's legs a bit and now everything seems to work fine...

 

[Sabre]

If it's like my Gen III, you'll find that the lights are a bit fussy for a while...sometimes behaving, sometimes not. The previous owner of mine had never used the system at all! I spent some time cleaning things up a bit down underneath the front end (which helped), but the only thing that really made a difference was regular exercise of the system. Now I just pop it in and out of 4WD every other week or so and it always plays nice.