Stuck in 4H and 4H Diff Lock

[vansdonk]

So, this Sunday, we decided to make the trip down to Tahuya State Forest and do alittle romping around on the trails. Well, it's the first time out there for us and our 2 friends. 188 miles down there the long way if you don't have a ferry reservation, we didn't. Anyways, we went straight from road to trailhead and I tried to put my truck in 4L and it was stuck. It would go into 4H Diff Lock, no neutral, no 4L, no 4L Diff Lock. We didn't really have a "cool down" period or anything, so I am thinking that I'm getting a pressure lock and if I was to have had a cool down period at the staging area, I wouldn't have had that problem. When we were coming back, we were able to take the ferry, coming off the ferry, 4L, N, 4L DL works just fine. The only other time this happened was 2006 at the dealership sponsered romp. Same thing there, road to trail and no 4L, N, or 4L DL. So we were forced to use one of the RR off the floor to participate in the romp. FUN!!!! Has anyone else had this problem? What has fixed it. I reguarly shift into 4L, ect around here, just not after long drives. Oh, and the older Disco II didn't have a problem at all. That one only has 4H-N-4L no diff lock options.

[Joey4420]

Not sure on the 2004 D2, but on the D1's it is best to be moving at a slow speed less than 5 mph, shift transmission into N then shift transfer case into Low while still moving. Then shift the Transmission into Drive or 1 whatever gear you need.

[vansdonk]

I did that both in foward and in reverse just to see if maybe something would jar. D-N-4L-D and R-N-4L-D/R. Nothing. It works fine now. This was only the second time it has happened in 5 years. So I was thinking some type of pressure lock due to the transfer case being warm/hot from a long drive to the trails and no cool down/staging time before doing runs. Just wondering if anyone else experienced this or if there is somethng seriously wrong with truck.

[Colorado Rover]

My 04 disco like to be moving about 5mph. If I understand correctly, the linkage system is cable driven. Not sure what you mean by pressure lock. Will the shift lever move without engaging diff or 4L. My thought is that the cable/linkage may be slight streched or "long" (not adjusted correctly) and that when the system is warm it magnifies the problem as it expands (lengthens), but when it is cool, the cable/linkage is closer to being the correct length as it contracts.

Let us know what you find out.

[vansdonk]

Now I posted before really getting into the books on this as I have other projects going on with my old Rover, so bear with me. I know to let the truck roll slowly before trying to engage 4L and that the transm has to be in N. Last night I did some more driving scenarios: in the road, went into 4H/4H DL and 4L/4L DL no problems. So I drove to the bottom of the island and back plus some more driving to reach 100 miles on the tach. Would not budge one little bit for 4L/4L DL or N, but would engage 4H DL. On the way to work this morning, went in all just fine. It's only 3.5 miles to work. Now I do know on aircraft flight cables, if the tension is too loose, the control column will still move, but if it is too tight, the column will not move at all. Is this what you are talking about for the length of the cable linkage? I know I'm being a pain and should just have a staging time before hitting the trails, but I'd like to have an idea of what is causing this and possible fix it. Don't want to start pulling stuff apart just yet. It's too cold to drive the MG and old Rover this week. But will have a few weekends after this one to really get in there hands on. Thanks guys.

[bmohan55]

On my 04 it is sometimes reluctant to release the diff-lock (although I've never had problem getting it out of low)
I found that if I turn the wheels lock to lock while driving slow the diff-lock light goes out

[vansdonk]

I'm not having an issue with it coming out of 4H DF. Or with it coming out of 4L or 4L DL. I am having a problem with it going into 4L and 4L DL after driving a while. Will go into 4H DL just fine.

[vansdonk]

Well, around the house this hasn't been an issue this week. We are going out again this weekend to Tahuya for a little romp and I don't know if it will be a problem or not. We will have a night of camping before we do any runs, so I will post next Monday with an update.