My front drive shaft is removed and the only way I can get the rear wheels to move is when I'm locked in 4h or 4l. When in 4Auto High or 4Auto Low, only the front driveshaft spins.

Further the dash light/ding doesn't come on when I shift into 4h or 4l locked.

Vehicle Info: 2004 Disco with a newly installed lift, 4.11 diffs w/front Truetrac/rear Detroit, and new brake rotors/pads/ss lines all around.

Without the front driveshaft, I took it off the jack stands and went for a short low speed drive around the block and the only way I could move was if I was locked in 4H or 4L.

Is this normal?

Steve

 

The center differential is just that, a differential, and an open one at that. Operates the same as the front and rear differential. If you have one tire in the air with an open differential, what happens?

Hence the need for a lock

 

Thank you! That's reassuring...I was hoping that was the case but it seemed to good to be true. Ordered the new drive shaft last Friday....was hoping it would be here by now.

Any thoughts on the dash light and ding? Neither worked when I lock it in 4h or 4l.

 

Got me on that one. Mine usually takes a second to come on but always gets to it eventually. Believe there's a switch on the diff that tells the computer when it's locked or not, I'd start there.

 

There is. Everything down there get's cooked by the cats and tranny heat and you name it. Plastic gets brittle, contacts go bad




There is also a fuse that energizes that switch and that could be blown.