we just got our first decent amount of snow in northeast ohio, I have checked to make sure all wheels are spinning (jacked it up and all 4 wheels spin) but when i was going to pull a vehicle out i locked the CDL and only 1 wheel had wheel spin. After doing research i learned this was normal if the CDL was unlocked.. but it wasnt. Where do i begin to fix the problem? when i lock the CDL i can feel it click in the handle, but no light and no 50/50 distro.

 

What year truck, how many miles on it and did the CDL indicator light on the instrument cluster light up when you tried to engage it?

 

its a 99 disco I, 82,000 miles.. The CDL light does not come on

 

anyone have any ideas where i can start?

 

Have you tried shifting through the complete circle both ways? Just to make sure it is moving right....

 

when i had all 4 wheels up.. i used high and low with it locked and unlocked, all 4 wheels spun. but still no light

 

You would have to put the hand brake on or something to try and stop either the front or the back wheels from rotating to see if the diff was locked or not. Kinda dangerous if you don't know what you're doing! I'm not recomending that to anyone. (Disclaimer: all "stunts" you see here are performed by qualified professionals on a closed course!)

I usually just drive in a tight circle at slow speed with the window down and listen to the tires and feel the drivetrain resistance to see if it's actually engaged or not.

 

when i lock it, it feels NOTHING like my jeep does in 4wd, when i turn in circles in both of them.. im sure its not locking.. where can i start to figure out why?

 

It may take a few tries to get it to engage if it's not been used in a while. I know mine has been like that before. That's why I engage mine once a month or so to keep it free. Try rolling backwards/forwards a little when you engage it? Being as you're in a place where they put salt on the roads the linkage maybe rusty. I've never looked at mine so I can't tell you when to start to free it up.

 

Lets not use the jeep comparison as to how it feels. Are you saying that when turning in tight circles on a hard surface, there is no lurching feeling coming thru the steering wheel?
It is not at all unusual to not have the CDL light come on if it hasn't been used in quite a while, the indicator light switch sticks from lack of use.
Have you crawled under the truck and made sure the linkage is moving the CDL nipple/linkage?
The other possibility would be that someone forced the linkage an bent it which would then not allow the linkage to move far enough to engage the CDL.