Difflock warning light turned itself on

[James NZ]

Hi guys,

I'm 600 kms away from home on a 4wd trip and all was going well until last night. We had finished driving a track with numerous water crossings when the red difflock light flickered and then came on permanently. After a bit the amber traction control and abs lights lit up as well. As I don't have a lever to engage the diff lock I'm wondering how this could be. I guessed that perhaps the water crossings had shorted a plug, so I left it to dry out overnight. I turned the ignition on this morning and the lights are still on.

What I'm wondering is, as I haven't actually physically engaged the diff lock am I good to drive it home. or any where for that matter?

Thanks for any help. Cheers, JamesNZ

 

Sorry. I should have said the car is a D2 V8 auto. And also yesterday the shift lever went "limp". I usually drive the auto as a manual off road, shifting gears myself. I shifted into 1st to go downhill and when I went to shift into 2nd 3rd etc the shifter was very floppy. Managed to engage "D" and left it in that gear until we got to the hut. I checked the lever out and there is definitely some play in its movement.

Also I've just hooked up the Nannocom and got a P0705 Position Switch Monitoring fault. Which I've cleared hoping the dash lights would go out, they didn't. So is a P0705 to do with my shift lever.

If any one can offer any ideas I'd be grateful, I really want to complete my holiday. Thanks

[dave88sw]

I can't think the car could have slipped into difflock.  Although you don't have the linkage to activate it, a lot of boxes still had the lock fitted just without the link to activate it, however, to activate it requires a turn of a spigot that sticks out the top of the box, it's highly unlikely it could have slipped in.

Regarding the sloppy gear selector, there's very little to the shifter that's inside the car, it just pushes and pulls on a cable.  It's possible the bracket on the side of the box that holds the outer cable sleeve has worked loose or it could be the shifter arm on the side of the box has come loose on it's spigot.

The position switch monitoring fault will almost certainly be the XYZ switch on the side of the box. If it gets wet it will play up. You'd normally find the "M" and "s" lights flash on the dash when it has a current fault with the switch but turning the ignition off and back on again will normally clear it.  My experience is that the reverse track of the switch fails first as it has quite a high load on it with the reverse lights being fed off it.  Thus it puts the m and s lights on every time you shift through reverse.  To avoid it you can switch off and restart in neutral, shifting straight to drive.

[James NZ]

Thanks for the reply Dave. My car does have the difflock internals, but as I have no shift lever this has not been engaged. Unless it magically did it all by itself. Regarding the shifter and P0705 fault, I was really just putting that out there to make sure the two problems weren't connected to the diff warning light.

I've crawled under the disco to check for broken/loose wires but cant see anything obvious. I also jacked the front right tyre off the ground and gave it a spin. The drive shaft spins freely so I've decided that eliminates a true diff lock situation and its an electrical problem. I'm going to cut my losses and go home. If I get home tonight, and its a 7:15 hr drive at 100kph, then I'll have Monday/Tuesday to sort it before going back to work.

BTW, I won't be driving home at 100kph. Might just take it leisurely.

Any other input about the diff lock light coming on would be appreciated. Any hints on where to look for faults. After this incident I think I'll have to load Rave onto my tablet.

Thanks, James NZ

[sierrafery]

Most probably one wire of the diff-lock switch is touching earth or the water caused a short on that switch's wiring... this triggers the warning and the ABS +TC warnings are related cos they are supposed to come on together with the diff-lock on pre-facelift modells...so i doubt it's mechanically stuck but there's some problem at the switch... download RAVE ASAP cos if it's not that you'll need it...the diff'lock switch is not far from the spigot on the same a side of the transfer case s bit toward rear... analise the wiring there and if it's well plugged unplug both connectors and see if the warning goes out this way and if it is you need a new switch. if no joy we'll speak then but have RAVE for that

[James NZ]

Hi Sierrafery

Thanks for your reply and excellent photo. Firstly I do have Rave on my home PC, just not on my tablet - yet! I drove home yesterday and the diff lock light eventually went out on its own accord, after driving approximately 100 odd k's. The traction control and abs lights took a bit longer to go out, and then came back on. Starting back on my journey again after having stopped for lunch, all of the lights went out and stayed out. The weather down south had been damp, foggy and raining so I think it took the long drive home for the things to dry out. I think I'll replace the warning light switch as it may not be sealing correctly. Most of my trips involve some river crossings so its probably not a bad idea. I'll be checking the loom as well.

Cheers, James NZ 

[qwakers]

stick a bit of dielectric grease in the connectors. cheap and stops water ingress and more importantly keeps corrosion at bay.

[Ally V8]

To help the WXYZ switches live longer I have taken to cutting the reverse lamp wiring in the LH A pillar.I then fit a small relay to drive the reverse lamps,piggybacking the feed from the blower motor with a fuse inline. Takes nearly all the current draw off the WXYZ,you can then use reverse without wrecking an expensive component. Done several,including my own car and no problems so far.