Diff lock engaging then disengaging

[JHBMY13_110]

Defender 2013 110 2.2
Just did a weekend away in the Southern Flinders, travelling over gravel roads, some steepish ascents with loose rock and gravel. In this situation I thought the diff lock engaged would improve traction and the ability to get over the loose material easier.

I noticed that when I engage the diff lock the lever doesn’t feel like it full locks into position (in H4)

The light on the dash indicates the diff lock is engaged. However after a while the lever migrated back to the disengaged position and the light goes out!

I noticed this only was an issue when it was in H4 with diff lock engaged. When I had it in L4 with diff lock engaged it stayed in fine. Reoccurring only when I took it out of L4 and back to H4.

I have questioned this with my local dealer and they have reported that diff lock seems to be operating fine, however I’m not certain this is true!

Has this happened to anyone else? Any ideas on what is causing this? What did you do to fix the problem?

[PhilipA]

I can give you a general idea based on a D2 Difflock which AFAIK is the same.

The difflock is operated by a linkage that moves a selector shaft . There is a ramp on the shaft that the diff lock switch rides up to show the light and a detent spring with a ball on the end that locks the shaft in place when the diff lock is engaged.

The switch could be over adjusted and engage some way up the ramp and prevent the shaft from fully engaging the detent ball. To check this you could loosen off the switch so that it still comes on but doesn't prevent the detent ball from engaging.

The linkages could be out of adjustment and not pushing the rod far enough to engage the detent .You could see where the linkage pushes the shaft to , then disconnect the linkage and turn the spigot with a spanner and see whether it goes further.

When you do these things remember that the diff lock is a very coarse dog clutch , and the selector rod has a spring on it that will push the dog clutch into engagement with a bit of rotation to line up the dogs. So when doing this you should have a front wheel in the air to turn the front shaft a bit until you hear the dogs fall in.
Regards Philip A
Another possibility is that the detent ball and spring are under adjusted and not placing enough pressure onto the selector shaft to hold it in place. You should be able to tell this if you back off the light switch and feel if the shaft locks into the detent.

[Mulgabill]

Had same issue - very annoying crossing the madigan line in the Simpson running between dunes and having to constantly re engage the CDL. Several trips to dealer to no avail - “ no fault found”. A couple of $k later in and out of dealership and finally after advice from an aftermarket specialist ( Ritters in melb) had the dealer install an adjusting grub screw in the back of the transfer case - apparently landrover in all their wisdom didn’t put one this model rather filled the spaces with a plastic plug. No problems since - was just out of warranty and no relief from landrover.