Lavacious Diff-lock lever

[miktdish]

A few days ago i noticed that my diff-lock lever wouldn't move to the left. Even standing on the passenger side and pulling wouldn't make it move.
I'll look at that later I thought ...

Yesterday I got stuck in a boggy part of a field (another story) and noticed that both the front and rear wheel were spinning whilst i rested on the chassis.

So the diff-lock is ON !
Yet the light is off ?

I took off the gear lever rubbers and pulled the shaped foam pad out of the way to see that the lever wont go to the left because the vertical level is already up against the high/low activator...

Any clues on what to do gratefully accepted.

 

[jamesmartin]

light often doesnt work as switches are poor (prc2911),strip linkage and lever assembly .reassemble with new plastic bushes ,and adjust on pivot eye bolt ,check function by jacking one front wheel up and turning it ,lever needs to go further than engagement point as diff selector is spring operated

 

[miktdish]

I bought a new switch (which I haven't fitted yet).

Is the spring trying to locate the diff-lock and the level stops it - would this explain why its 'on' ?

 

[jamesmartin]

no lever operates a spring to put it in or out of lock so when lever is pushed for selection the actual selector will only move when splines are aligned ,try a 13mm spanner on actuatator shaft where linkage joins t/box clockwise into lock anti clockwise for out ,check with one front wheel jacked up

 

[miktdish]

So I removed the tunnel to expose the linkage etc. I still couldn't move the selector lever from side to side but Hi/Low operation was fine.

In the end I resorted to a light tap on the end on the shaft, coupled with some heaving on the lever the shaft finally freed up.

Not sure why it was stuck, I think possibly the other end was corroded slightly . Anyway after it moved I piled on loads of grease and was happy to see/feel that it was good and loose.

 

[jamesmartin]

it seizes where steel shaft passes through aluminum cap on passenger side ,the two metals dont mix in damp atmosphere

 

[miktdish]

Next I cleaned up the linkage spraying it with 'cold galv'. The spring clips on the bottom are a bit floppy however with some washers and a bit of grease it all went back together fine.

Now I could see how moving the lever from side to side rotated the diff selector.

Adjusting the eye-bolt (sounded so easy when jamesmartin said it) took a while so that the lever allowed the selector to drop into the right position. To far in and the diff lock stay on, to far out and it doesn't quite catch the "on" state...

I've ordered some new plastic bushes as there is a little to much 'flex' but with a wheel in the air I was able to flop in and out of diff-lock with very little effort on the stick.

 

[miktdish]

Next problem was to get the indicator light working. I removed the switch and with a multi-meter found it wasn't working. Shorting the wires lit the indicator so that was OK.

I got the new switch out to find it was different - a quick call to 4X4 and he confirmed that I had a later Puma transfer box (identified by the addition of a second switch used for the Hi/Low gear).... so I swapped them over

Jobs a good'un.

The lever slides between diff-lock on and off smoothly and repetitively, the lamp works, what more could a bloke want ...... a handfull of N0 14 stainless self tappers would be good and a load of A4 penny washers, some more soundproofing, a new set of rubber mats, new front doors, a can of Arles/Windjammer blue that matched the original paint, more hours in the day, and last but not least another cup of tea

 

[miktdish]

it seizes where steel shaft passes through aluminum cap on passenger side ,the two metals dont mix in damp atmosphere

Yup. It's so much smoother now, so different, I can't imagine why I didn't realise it was seizing up .

Cheers for your advise etc

 

[jamesmartin]

good piccys ill have to nick them sometimes to explain ,plus its good when people do stuff as you just have ,often better than explanation

 

[Discodad]

I found this thread whilst looking for an explanation on my own diff lock issues.
My diff lock light comes on when lever is pushed into place and goes off when taken out of diff lock.

But the diff is not actually locking?
I have tested this by engaging diff lock, jacking up one wheel and then engaging drive. Result only the wheel off the ground rotates

Any ideas?
Landy in question is a Disco 300tdi auto.

 

[jamesmartin]

jack one front wheel up ,and adsjust diff lock linkage (eye bolt screwed into cast gear box casing )so that it goes into lock further then check it comes out, sometimes you might need to rotate wheel to get it to engage and release as well as checking

 

[miktdish]

Sounds like you have a problem but most likely it's nothing to serious, just an adjustment needed. The indicator lamp is activated by a small plunger/switch on the transfer box. When the lock is on the plunger is lifted by a lever in the box itself. It could be that the switch is not allowing the lever to lift far enough to engage the diff-lock.
To test for this remove the switch and try again. If this doesn't work then the lock can be engaged (manually) by pushing the lever over (with the help of a 13mm spanner). This is another problem area in that the lever isn't going far enough to fully engage the lock - you need to follow Jame's advice if this is the case.

I don't know how you'd get at it all on a Disco, on the defenders it's easy with the gear tunnel removed and difficult (but not impossible) by reaching up from underneath.