Good afternoon gents.

After replacing my broken trnasfer case with a donor from a 50k mile truck I took her for her first run on her new suspension to get new tires mounted.

Everything was better than ever, then on my way back from the 2 mile trek through LA traffic I heard what would normally be the 3-amigo chime, but this time it was followed by the diff lock dash light.

I did a bit of searching, there was talk of reversing 50ft, turning your tire then going forward, which would disengage it... NO luck.

I inspected the sensor on top of the t-case (Still have the center dismantled, don't want to re-revit anything until she's 100%).

Any insight? The cable is nice and tight, the wires look good. Everything is connected on the t-case. I'm stumped.

This truck will be sold, and want to assure the next owner has zero issues.

After driving her today, I really wish I didn't find the 2003 D2 that I have to replace her with.

Any help would be great!

Thanks,
Ian

 

Did you confirm that it was actually locked and not just a sensor issue? Did you move the shift lever from Locked to Unlocked, did it sound/feel normal?

 

I did. Disengaged it and reengaged it and everything looked and felt normal.

Going to give it another go tomorrow, may replace the engagement sensor with the older one and see if that makes a difference.

Also going to prop up the one of the front wheels to see if it's actually engaged. The drive felt great, when the light came on I was luckily half a block and a straight shot into my driveway.

I'll keep you posted, and look here for any other advice.

I've already found some good pointers here:
Fixing a Land Rover Discovery Stuck Differential Lock or Transfer Case

 

Just got this all cleared up. Hardest thing is that without riveting the base plate you can't get full pull on the lever.

I gave a good look at my cable mount and noticed the original threading had some shine to it, so it needed to be seated further.

Had to hack up a 24mm wrench to go over the cable.

To fix:

The baseplate of the shifter will need to be removed, but if you've replaced your transfer case this is a needed step anyway.
- Loosen the nut in the back, notice where there is shine in the picture below
- Tighten the nut closest the engine
- Keep testing until the CDL light goes off on the dash


- Transfer case cable on top of transfer case

- 24mm open ended wrench

- Tighten both nuts

Hope this helps someone in the future.

 

Quick Update:

The above fix got me into Hi and Lo, which was also an issue.

Below fixes the CDL light on the dash, so you can seat the lever appropriately...

I had to re-adjust the diff lock cable above the front driveshaft and test/retest that it was seating properly.
(Uses the same open ended 24mm)

Now Hi/Lo and Diff lock/Un Lock work properly and turn the CDL light on and off..

Whew!

Now I can put everything together.... hope I helped one person

 

Thanks for this one. I hope I won’t need it when I finally get around to mine. But if i do...