Thread: Cannot disengage CDL. What to do?

Originally Posted by frankdisco

Hi all. I'm a new Discovery 1 owner - M/T V8 with 188k kms on the clock.

Just bought it less than 48 hours ago from a 2nd hand dealership in Adelaide. He said there's no mechanical issues whatsoever, just a few cosmetics to fix.

Anyhow, when I got it I was trying the transfer case to see if it works, I hear the lock kick in when I shifted to 4L and 4H (to the left) but when I try to flick it back to the right, it won't disengage. Is there anything wrong on how I do it? I've read threads here and did what exactly was told - do it in an "L" movement, but to no avail.

I told the Dealership about it and still waiting for his reply.

Did you drive it when it was engaged? On a firm surface, ie not mud or gravel? If so you may have got 4WD lockup. You can generally release that by either reversing while putting pressure on the lever, or raising one of the front wheels off the ground. My D2 would do this if I used 4WD when I had different size tyres front and back.

Worth a try.

As per John's reply, but FYI to you both, if not running identical tyres on each corner, pair the tyres as best as possible then mount the two largest tyres diagonally opposite. This is an old truckies' trick to minimise wind up.