I have a 2004 Disco with the locking center diff. Where should the shifter for the transfer case be while just doing normal driving? My shifter movers left and right (locked and un-locked) but the light for locking the differential does not illuminate on the dash. I can not get the shifter to go forward or back in either the lock side or un-lock side. Is there a locked and un-locked neutral on the shifter?? Is it okay to drive in the un-locked neutral position? I few weeks ago I removed the front drive shaft to put in new greaseable U-joints and while it was out I moved the shifter to the left and drove sparingly. The whole time it drove fine, but the light for being locked was never on. Does this mean I did not lock it? Is that even possible?

These might be silly questions but I do not have the owners manual for the vehicle and am super confused.

On another note I have read that I may have a bad solenoid that is blocking the shifter to go to hi-low, is this a common problem?

Any help is appreciated.

 

i think the 04 has a solenoid on the shifter to prevent you from putting it in low range if your not in neutral the older discos had it on the transfer case

but yes when you shift the lever to the left regardless if it’s in low or high range the light should come on. Sometimes there is a 5 min delay for the light to appear or disappear

these lights are all activated by switches on top or to the side of the transfer case itself
checked to see if any wires are broken or disconnected down there

 

Also the manual is available online, It is called RAVE. RAVE is actually the Workshop Manual, but the same place you can get RAVE also has the actual Owners Manual for download. Both manuals should have a good description of the CDL.

Here is one of the locations i found with a 30 second search...

https://discoii.wordpress.com/resources/

 

It sounds like some of the actual shifter mechanisms may be seized or broken. I believe that it's not uncommon for the lock cable on the 2004 model to seize and stop working.
You also shouldn't drive on hard pavement with the transfer case locked.
There's no neutral position (on either the Hi/Lo or locked/unlocked axes) that will allow the vehicle to move.

 

@Sundevil Assuming yours is a left hand drive the shift lever positions are:

Normal should be to the right and rear. That is High range no lock
HI CDL engaged rear left - Snow or slick mud only, generally conditions where you need 50% power split to both axles - slow speeds
Low Lever to the right and all the way up
Low locked All the way up and left

One more note sometimes the Hi / low transition can be tough to engage.

Engine running :

• put your disco in neutral
• Try to move the hi/lo lever up - it takes a firm push
• If that fails put the disco into reverse for a couple of seconds back to neutral and try again

If you succeed do not drive anywhere just move the lever through the positions, it should move freely after a short time

 

I’ve driven D1/D2’s that were never shifted out of 4Hi for their entire lives. The CDL light & N light wouldn’t have immediately light up. It took a while of actually using the TC in locked CDL mode & 4Lo for them to start working.

On an OEM 04 CDL linkage the lever will sit off to the right = unlocked CDL, and far back for 4Hi. If it won’t shift out of 4Hi inspect the interlock solenoid on the 4Hi/N/4Lo linkage.

 

Thanks for the responses.

So does the vehicle sit in 4 hi normally? Or does it sit in neutral on the transfer case? I know the cable moves the locking nipple over, so could that mean it's locking but not lighting up the dash?

Also, is there a neutral? or is it just un-locked hi/low and locked hi/low?

I have the RAVE manual, in fact I have printed out and put many sections in binders. I thought that was more a of shop manual and not as much a user manual. I will go review the transfer case section.

Thanks for the help.

 

@Sundevil Normal is 4 hi these are full time 4 wheel drives. There is a neutral between Hi and low but it functions as neutral in a transmission you are not going anywhere.

User manual on Google drive

User Manual PDF