4x4 control

Wolfz23 · 11-19-2005, 12:15 AM

I have a serious issue with my truck.. and Im looking for some help here..

Brand new.. my 4wd worked as follows:

turn it on.. it went on.. turn it off it went off. (im like 90% sure it worked this way)

After SEVERL issues I had with my truck.. I noticed that my 4wd does not disengage until after I turn (either way) or reverse for 10 feet.

What happens is.. It engages fine.. to shut it off.. I turn the dial to 2wd.. adn the light in the dash just flashes and keeps flashing.. I drove 35 miles (straight) and it flashed the whole time.

I can feel in the pedal that it does not dis-engage

so my question is.. to eveyone.. Does your 4wd turn off immediately when you click it from 4wd to 2wd? or do you have to make a turn.

I have tested it at 0 mph 20mph 60 mph.. all same results. light flashes. stays engaged.

Now.. the lovely dealer said... "theres a problem with the switch" and replaced it.. put 0 miles on the truck.. (nice test drive huh) and .. same problem.

i took it back agian. different tech worked on it. said switch on transfer case as bad. they swapped it.. again.. put ZERO miles on the truck... (nice test drive huh) and same result... however this time they told me that.. that is the normal operation , it will flash until it dis-engages. DUH.

so i asked them why its not dis-engaging. and thye said it is.. that none of them will disengage until you turn or reverse...

so im asking here of many of you can test it and post results.

(upon an oil change and a 3rd tech working on it.. he said my 4wd controller is bad and has ordered me a new one... not installed yet)

test (for those that would liek to help) is easy do as follows

TEST:

start in 2wd.. drive...
click to 4wd (high) drive a few hundred yards.
click back to 2wd..

pay attention to 2wd/4wd indicator light onthe dash.. as well as the feel of the pedal.

1) does the light switch from 4wd ---> 2wd or flash..
2) do you notice a differnet feel in the gas pedal when swithing from 4wd-->2wd.

Please help

Thank you for yor time.

Matt

standingtall · 11-19-2005, 12:22 AM

I've had the same thing happen in my truck, I just figured it was normal.

Cptnmatt · 11-19-2005, 12:38 AM

Mine doesn't disengauge under power, If I let off the gas for a moment and coast it disenguages easily, try that.

Matt

mjw357 · 11-19-2005, 05:48 AM

Disengages easiest rolling in a straight line, no gas. Accelerating or turning must bind something and keep it from releasing. The dealer is steering you in the wrong direction, telling you that you have to turn to make it disengage.
I used mine some last winter. After I got out of the driveway and turned onto the main raod (dry), turned it to 2WD and just let off the gas for a second, comes right out.

This is 4HI. 4LO operation is completely different.

vector6 · 11-19-2005, 05:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cptnmatt

Mine doesn't disengauge under power, If I let off the gas for a moment and coast it disenguages easily, try that.

Matt

Ditto... same here... right in and right out...

bestatchess · 11-19-2005, 05:59 AM

Smooth and sweet here also.

**Helinut1970** · 11-19-2005, 07:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wolfz23

After SEVERL issues I had with my truck.. I noticed that my 4wd does not disengage until after I turn (either way) or reverse for 10 feet.

Matt

Every 4x4 I have owned states you have to reverse to go back into 2wd. But after reading my Titan manual again. I found that this is not required. I have always reversed to get back in 2wd with the Titan and it works everytime. I have also found that I cant get it into 4lo with out first putting it in Park then shifting to 4lo and then putting it in Neutural. Then it goes into 4lo but if I do it like the manual says in just neutural then it will not engage 4lo until I go to P and then N. I would say just reverse everytime you go back to 2wd just to be on the safe side. If you dont it sounds like a warranty test case to me.

2Titans · 11-19-2005, 07:10 AM

I had that happen going from 4WD LO to 4WD HI then to 2WD. But never from just 4WD HI to 2WD. Do you have the locking rear? I have the locking rear and I used that a couple times, thinking that might be part of it. Personally, I would never just rely on that flashing light- you should be able to hear the clicks when it engages or disengages. I know from my past 4WD experience,every 4WD system binds up here and there-nothing is ever fully "automatic." We had an Xterra that always had to be put into reverse to make the little green 4WD light go out. Never had a problem though.

leeroy300 · 11-19-2005, 08:48 AM

the owners manual addresses this issue

**helomech** · 11-19-2005, 09:08 AM

i can swith mine back and forth from two wheel drive to four wheel drive and it will switch within a few seconds. you should not have to anything except be below i think 60 mph.

**HudsonValleyTitan** · 11-19-2005, 05:23 PM

Backing up is only needed to disengage the front hubs. Titans hubs are always engaged so it's not needed. But as others have said, to disengage, just do it while going straight and on a flat surface. It won't come out of 4 Wheel Drive while the parts are under torque so....let off the gas a second and it should come right out. I've also had abnormal episodes where it took a bit longer for soem reason but.....only once or twice.

TOK · 11-19-2005, 06:35 PM

They're repaving the street down at the bottom of my section, so I tried switching mine on and off a few times to see how it acted. As others have said, it engages immediately. It disengages quickly if I'm off the throttle.

I've never engaged the 4 wheel drive in my vehicles at speed, even though the last couple have had shift on the fly.

PapaRhino · 11-19-2005, 07:00 PM

switches fine here

Clancy · 11-19-2005, 07:13 PM

Every 4x4 I've ever owned would balk a little if the driveline was 'bound-up' when I tried to put it back to 2 wheel drive. Driving/turning on hard surfaces usually causes the binding.

Wolfz problem sounds a little more serious, but do expect some reluctance if you just made a turn on a hard surface...

Steamguy · 11-20-2005, 09:37 AM

What's above is correct. The Nissan Shift-on-the-Fly system (I forget exactly what they call it - "Shift-on-the-fly" used to be trademarked by Jeep) uses an axle that's 'live' all the time. It costs a bit in gas mileage but it's generally more reliable in the long run.

What's happening inside is there are straight-cut gears that have to mesh and unmesh without a load. The gearset is built so that it will pretty much go right into 4WD, even in a turn, without hesitation. Once in, however, the gears are 'loaded' and so are held in-mesh by the external loads. (Some systems use a set of splines.) So even with the smallest of loads, they will want to stay engaged.

The trick is to unload the geartrain so that it will disengage. This can be hard to do on dry pavement. (And of course you've found that out!) And it should really be done ASAP as soon as you hit the dry pavement, since the 4WD system loads can get really high without any tires slipping to relieve those loads.

What folks forget is that the 'stickier' your tires, the harder it is to unload the 4WD drivetrain so that it will disengage. For instance, my wife's Pathfinder is a real bear to get to disengage because I bought the safest (stickiest) tires for it.

The thing to do is to shift the 4WD to 2HI, then if it doesn't unlock, shift the trans to neutral while you're rolling at any speed under about 40. (I know the book says up to 50, but hey, I'm an old mechanic and like a margin of safety.) If it doesn't unlock right away, steer gently JUST A LITTLE BIT from side to side, and that should unlock it. By this, I mean just take the steering wheel a little bit off center, so that you begin to drift one way or another within your lane.

Also be aware that the drivetrain is still new and with some use all the parts will 'get a little more freindly with one another' and it should shift in and out a lot more smoothly. But keep in mind that it will still disengage reluctantly if you have sticky or high-traction tires.

Hope this helps.