Alright, I'm very new to the Land Rover community and I just recently bought a Discovery SE7. It's been working great but I was definitely curious about the CDL, something about the looming voice of the guy at Discount Tire telling me to "Watch out for using your Four Wheel Drive".

So I started figuring out how the CDL works, but my car starts up and I hear a loud beep which I assumed was the gas (because it's almost empty) but I parked the car again to discover I can't pull the keys out anymore.

HELP... please.

 

push the lever all the way up into park, the cable for the shifter lossens over time. you can pop the plate in the top of your shifter off and tighten the nut to get the slack out. tell the discount tire guy that your truck is all time four wheel drive and he doesn't know what hes talking about. read the owners manual on how and when to use the cdl. if you don't have one, google "land rover rave manual" and download it, it is a pdf shop manual which also includes the owners manual.

 

That beep was your neutral warning for the transfer case, when you shift the transfer case into neutral a buzzer goes off to warn you that you are not in gear and even putting the transmission in park the truck will roll away.
With the transfer case in neutral you cannot remove the key.
The guy at Discount Tire does not know his head from is butt.
The truck is full time four wheel drive.
Yes you need to use the CDL once a month to keep it from seizing up.
But DO NOT drive it on dry roads with the CDL locked.
There is a light on the dash that comes on when the CDL is locked.

 

How do I actually use the CDL system? I keep looking through the Rave and online for instructions, but everytime I use it, the car jerks but doesn't move, or I lock it and I see the drive train light on my dash illuminate but I'm not sure what I'm doing at all.

I'm a n00b with this vehicle and I want to figure it out to make the best of it. Any step by step would be much appreciated.

(By fluke, I figured that I had the CDL in the neutral position. I'm afraid of ruining my transfer case when messing with it.)

 

If you are not sure, then stop driving it until you read the owners manual. It explains as well as any of us can.

 

Quickly, there is NO NEUTRAL for the CDL. You can have it in between locked and unlocked (not fully engaged). Far right is unlocked.. Move it to the far left (toward driver's seat) it should lock (engage) if the linkages fully rotate the lower pivot mechanism.

You can see the guts of it if you click on the link in my signature for some photo albums. Or go to Rovers North and click on their drivetrain to see an exploded view that identifies all the pieces and shows their prices as well.

DO NOT ENGAGE ON DRY PAVEMENT. Find some mud, wet grass, snow or whatever loose stuff you got nearby and see what it does. Don't wait until it is stuck or spinning the wheels to engage. CDL is side to side only.

Same shifter does HIGH/LOW for theT?C when in Neutral only.

 

when you open rave the first screen is the vehicle selection, click discovery, then the next screen at the bottom of the list is "owners manual NAS". If it helps the transfer case lever is one lever that controls two different functions of the t/c. left and right control the cdl, and up and down switch between high, neutral and low.

 

Up and down is actually fore and aft as it does not move up or down (in the vertical plane). No matter how hard you push down or pull up, it should not move either up or down. Forward yes, aft yes.

 

I stand corrected, splitting hairs aren't we? did you get the keys out at least?

 

Yes there is a neutral position on the transfer case, that is what you use when you need to tow the truck on all fours.
The transfer case shifter is a standard "H" pattern.

lo-locked lo-unlocked
neutral
hi-locked hi-unlocked

Normal driving you use hi-unlocked.
Locked means that both the front and read driveshafts are locked together mechanically inside the transfer case.
When locked equal power goes to both driveshafts, this increases traction but reduces your turning radius.
If you try and turn a tight corner on dry pavement with it locked in either hi or lo you can destroy your transfer case.
You will not hurt anything by using the transfer case shifter.
On a flat surface put the transmission in neutral, then move the t-case shifter forward to lo, you may have to push it kinda hard.
Put the transmission back into drive and move forward a few yards.
You will have lots of power.
Then stop and put the transmission back into neutral and then move the t-case shifter to the left (towards the driver).
Again you may have to push it hard.
A light on the dash should come on, it looks like a drive train.
Again shift back into drive and move a few yards.
Then stop, back into neutral, move the t-case shifter back, light stays on and you are now in hi-locked.
Then back towards the passenger is hi-unlocked.