Today I wanted to see if I could use a 10 mm wrench and manually lock the CDL on my 2000 Disco II. I felt for the three bolt heads in a triangle pattern then for one in the center of the three to lock the CDL. I had my hand on the transfer case housing directly above where the front prop shaft connects to the transfer case. I felt the three bolts but there is no middle bolt head to turn so I can have 4 wheel drive when needed? I'm lost could someone have put a different CDL in?

 

First off, Discoveries are ALL-WHEEL drive, so locking the CDL does not make a 4 wheel drive per se. Locking the CDL forces the same amount of engine power to each axle. It just gives you more traction in situations where you need it.

If you have a 2000, the nipple should be there. It is possible that someone switched the t-case out with one that didn't have a CDL, but I think that is a much less likely scenario. I would try to take a picture of the top of your transfer case with your phone or something so that you can know for sure whether something is up there or not. But if you felt around pretty good and didn't feel anything, it probably isn't there...

 

I was only going to use it in bad situations. Does it help at all to have it on? I;m going to try right now to take a picture. my phone doesn't have a flash so I will see if it will still work.

 

You should not have it on all the time in normal driving situations. But yes it does help tremendously if you are in a situation that calls for more traction. Generally the number that is thrown out there is 50% more traction with the CDL engaged.

 

ok here is the picture

 

That is a nice "cover plate" where the CDL nipple used to be, like mine had. I found out it did have the CDL originally, and had been swapped out at some point under warranty with the later spec. non-CDL, since the D2 really had no CDL from a user perspective as sold.

This does not match what really happens, but has helped my simple mind to understand the CDL better. On a D2 all 4 wheels are driven, unlike most 2WD vehicles where only the front or rear wheels are driven by the engine and the others go along for the ride. With the need to turn corners, the differential allows the inside wheel to turn slower than the outside wheel in a turn, so the outside wheel can go around the bigger arc/circle if you will. Not like a wagon where the wheel is fixed to a solid axle and both wheels have to spin a the same speed as the axle. (This is just simple explanation here, may not make all CDL/4x4 gurus happy). So when any wheel spins, that wheel spins very fast, so the other 3 wheels will stop to wait on it like it is going around the outside of the circle, so you go nowhere, so basically you have 1 wheel drive in my thinking.

What the CDL locking does for you, is separates the front and rear wheels (yea I know it does not really do that), so the only wheel that will wait on a spinning wheel is the one on the same axle, so you now have front and rear independent wheel drive, (yea, not a real term, but you get the idea). When you add "lockers" you then make the axle solid when the locker is activated, like a wagon, and the left and right turn the same and do not wait on each other at all. When you have "lockers" front and rear, you now truly have 4 wheel drive. OK guys, jump in and fix the explanation as needed. But this does help me, so I thought it may help someone else.

 

from the picture do i not have the head bolt to lock the CDL?

 

While the video may be from 1937, nothing has changed regarding how a differential works.

The same concept applies to the D2 center differential. The only difference is that instead of sending power differently to the wheels, it is sending power to the axles... once the power is to the axles the axle differentials take over.

 

Correct, no nipple/head bolt to lock the CDL, there is no CDL hiding under that cover plate.

 

I shared this video on the Rovers North Facebook page a while back, IMO everyone should watch it.