Centre Diff Lock Not Engaging

[GeorgeSA Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close GeorgeSA]

I hope someone has an easy solution - when I try to engage the centre diff lock, the dash light keeps flashing. I have tried engaging it in P, D, N and High and Low range. When I disengage, the light turns off as it should.

Does anyone have any ideas as to what might be going on??

Thanks in advance!

It's a 2004 VX Auto 4.0 V6....

[mkh Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close mkh]

Re: Centre Diff Lock Not Engaging

Is it the actual Diff not engaging or is it just the light not coming on properly? Are you trying to lock the diff while stationary or while driving?
If stationary it may not always engage immediately without a bit of movement.

[GeorgeSA Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close GeorgeSA]

Re: Centre Diff Lock Not Engaging

Thanks mkh,

Not exactly sure.... The light just keeps flashing and there's no physical indication that the diff has engaged (although I'm not exactly sure what physical evidence there might be). I've tried engaging whilst moving and stationary. I have a feeling it hasn't been used for a while (or ever) - perhaps it has "seized"??

Incidentally, the VSC OFF light doesn't come on either.....

[Schaffer Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Schaffer]

Re: Centre Diff Lock Not Engaging

If you engage your centre diff and then slowly turn as hard as you can then you will hear and fell the wheel splipage of the two front wheels needing to rotate at different speeds but locked together. If you don't get this then your centre diff is not in.

[GeorgeSA Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close GeorgeSA]

Re: Centre Diff Lock Not Engaging

If you engage your centre diff and then slowly turn as hard as you can then you will hear and fell the wheel splipage of the two front wheels needing to rotate at different speeds but locked together. If you don't get this then your centre diff is not in.

Thanks Schaffer - having just tested it, the centre diff lock is indeed engaging - I can definitely feel the slippage you talk about and the slippage stops after I disengage the centre diff lock.

Seems to be an electrical problem? The centre diff lock light starts flashing as soon as I press the button. It doesn't stop flashing even though the diff lock is engaged. When I re-press the button, the light continues to flash until I go into reverse to get the diff lock to disengage (I understand that this is normal). As soon as it disengages, it stops flashing. The VSC OFF light doesn't come on at all, which, according to the manual, it should when the centre diff lock is engaged. Perhaps there's loose wiring somewhere?

Thanks for the help!

[pjorek Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close pjorek]

Re: Centre Diff Lock Not Engaging

If you engage your centre diff and then slowly turn as hard as you can then you will hear and fell the wheel splipage of the two front wheels needing to rotate at different speeds but locked together. If you don't get this then your centre diff is not in.

Thanks Schaffer - having just tested it, the centre diff lock is indeed engaging - I can definitely feel the slippage you talk about and the slippage stops after I disengage the centre diff lock.

Seems to be an electrical problem? The centre diff lock light starts flashing as soon as I press the button. It doesn't stop flashing even though the diff lock is engaged. When I re-press the button, the light continues to flash until I go into reverse to get the diff lock to disengage (I understand that this is normal). As soon as it disengages, it stops flashing. The VSC OFF light doesn't come on at all, which, according to the manual, it should when the centre diff lock is engaged. Perhaps there's loose wiring somewhere?

Thanks for the help!

i could swear i read a thread about the same problem and indeed ended up being some dodgy wiring near the centre diff...search this site and you might find it

[mjrandom Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close mjrandom]

Re: Centre Diff Lock Not Engaging

You might find this is useful. There are other threads too...

viewtopic.php?f=16&t=5256

[GeorgeSA Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close GeorgeSA]

Re: Centre Diff Lock Not Engaging

Thanks for all the help everyone - I've looked through that topic and it is very helpful - I'm sure my problem is explained in there somewhere! However, being neither a mechanic nor an auto-electrician, I'm going to take all this info to an auto-electrician friend of mine in a couple of weeks and get him to sort it out! In the meantime, I'm going to rely on the fact that the light is flashing to know that the centre diff is locked!

(I'm assuming that the fact that the light doesn't stop flashing doesn't also mean that using the centre diff lock might be causing other problems elsewhere....?)