Thread: Hitting the Beach

Probably the best investment on a pre-facelift D2 is getting the CDL hooked up.

Depending on when your D2 was built it may or may not have the CDL internals fitted to the transfer case. From around April 2001 through to the introduction of the facelifted D2a in mid-2002 the transfer case did not have the centre diff lock internals fitted which complicates matters somewhat.

You can check from under the vehicle to see if there is a spigot in the middle of a round plate attached to the case by three bolts. It's on the top of the transfer case, almost directly behind the front output shaft. If you have a look at steps 16 and 18 on this site you can see the spigot you are looking for: www.discovery2.co.uk/Factory Diff Lock

If you don't have the spigot you can either buy a used TC with the internals or add the internals to the existing box. As you have a fairly low KM vehicle it would be wise to consider ordering a CDL update kit from Ashcroft in the UK: Ashcroft Transmissions - CDL Update Kit

From that point on it's reasonably straight forward. I'd highly recommend the modified CDL levers made by forum member .50 They are very close in design to the original D2a lever and have the advantage of maintaining the sealed back design of the original, whereas the Ashcroft levers have an open frame and rely on a rubber boot for weather/dust sealing. See this page for more information: www.discovery2.co.uk / D2 CDL levers..... THE BEST!! FWIW I have no affiliation, just a satisfied user.

The final step - which some might consider a waste of time - is upgrading the SLABS ECU to a version originally fitted to the D2a's. These revisions have additional programming that has been designed to accommodate the locked CDL, plus improvements to the ABS programming. You also get "cosmetic" niceties such as chimes to indicate the CDL has engaged or disengaged.

At current exchange rates the .50 Lever will cost you around $500 plus shipping if you don't send back an exchange lever.

A D2a SLABS ECU will cost in the vicinity of $150-200 if you shop around. Australian wreckers seem to think anything of a D2 is worth $$$ so it's worth looking around or try UK/US sellers on ebay. If you do buy from eBay don't trust the listing or photo's - ask the seller to verify the part number on the item they are going to send you. The SRD500070 part is the pick as it was the final revision fitted to the 2004MY, SRD000150 which was fitted to the 2003MY is also fine but may lack some minor refinements of the later version.

cheers
Paul

Originally Posted by OffTrack

Probably the best investment on a pre-facelift D2 is getting the CDL hooked up.

Depending on when your D2 was built it may or may not have the CDL internals fitted to the transfer case. From around April 2001 through to the introduction of the facelifted D2a in mid-2002 the transfer case did not have the centre diff lock internals fitted which complicates matters somewhat.

You can check from under the vehicle to see if there is a spigot in the middle of a round plate attached to the case by three bolts. It's on the top of the transfer case, almost directly behind the front output shaft. If you have a look at steps 16 and 18 on this site you can see the spigot you are looking for: www.discovery2.co.uk/Factory Diff Lock

If you don't have the spigot you can either buy a used TC with the internals or add the internals to the existing box. As you have a fairly low KM vehicle it would be wise to consider ordering a CDL update kit from Ashcroft in the UK: Ashcroft Transmissions - CDL Update Kit

From that point on it's reasonably straight forward. I'd highly recommend the modified CDL levers made by forum member .50 They are very close in design to the original D2a lever and have the advantage of maintaining the sealed back design of the original, whereas the Ashcroft levers have an open frame and rely on a rubber boot for weather/dust sealing. See this page for more information: www.discovery2.co.uk / D2 CDL levers..... THE BEST!! FWIW I have no affiliation, just a satisfied user.

The final step - which some might consider a waste of time - is upgrading the SLABS ECU to a version originally fitted to the D2a's. These revisions have additional programming that has been designed to accommodate the locked CDL, plus improvements to the ABS programming. You also get "cosmetic" niceties such as chimes to indicate the CDL has engaged or disengaged.

At current exchange rates the .50 Lever will cost you around $500 plus shipping if you don't send back an exchange lever.

A D2a SLABS ECU will cost in the vicinity of $150-200 if you shop around. Australian wreckers seem to think anything of a D2 is worth $$$ so it's worth looking around or try UK/US sellers on ebay. If you do buy from eBay don't trust the listing or photo's - ask the seller to verify the part number on the item they are going to send you. The SRD500070 part is the pick as it was the final revision fitted to the 2004MY, SRD000150 which was fitted to the 2003MY is also fine but may lack some minor refinements of the later version.

cheers
Paul

I am also going to replace my electric CDL with one from Derek. He has a new batch due in 2-3 weeks but doesn't recommend returning levers now as he is taxed too much by customs and our postage cost. That means it is actually cheaper for both parties for him to buy it new from the UK for £25 and add that to the total cost. Postage to Australia is £35.

Here is his actual email if it helps.

"Am working on a batch at the moment which should be done in two or three weeks. I'll be in touch. Postage to Australia is £35.00. It has now proved more cost effective NOT to return your old lever, ( due to postage costs and import tax by my greedy governments customs ), but insted pay £25.00 for me to buy a replacement lever in the UK.

Cheers."

I've got the mechanism so i'll definitely be installing the lever for the CDL (should have said i was going to do this anyway).

Reading Step 20 of the install instructions I became a bit confused about the SLABS ECU stuff. If I didn't upgrade this as suggested and kept the old one in and cut the blue/black wires like instructed do I lose ABS, TC and downhill functionality? or does this only occur when the CDL is engaged?

Grog

Mate you know what you are doing, but as above the CDL helps especially towing in deep soft stuff which I have done a fair bit of. I assume you meant 245?. The higher the profile the better - wide is not best, but long when aired down is.

Mate even without CDL they are good on sand. With CDL and a set of 31 inch tyres, preferably 245/75/16 they are just an absolute sand weapon.

Cheers

PS. I wouldnt bother with a winch for sand - your recovery gear including maxtrax or similiar and a roof rack to put them on would be money better spent.

Originally Posted by Grogomax

I've got the mechanism so i'll definitely be installing the lever for the CDL (should have said i was going to do this anyway).

Reading Step 20 of the install instructions I became a bit confused about the SLABS ECU stuff. If I didn't upgrade this as suggested and kept the old one in and cut the blue/black wires like instructed do I lose ABS, TC and downhill functionality? or does this only occur when the CDL is engaged?

Grog

The prefacelift D2's had a SLABS ECU that was programmed to treat a locked CDL as an "error" state. Basically the only reason it would happen was if a mechanic had locked the diff to do work on the car and had forgotten to disengage.

If the car is started with the CDL locked with the early ECU's the ETC is completely disabled, and ABS, EBD and HDC operate with reduced effectiveness to protect the TC.

If you lock the CDL with the engine running the SLABS ECU behaves as if the CDL was unlocked. The designers clearly thought that as there was no mechanism to lock the CDL from inside the cabin this wasn't going to occur.

By cutting the wire as per the tutorial you are preventing the SLABS ECU from detecting that the CDL has been locked. This means that the ECU will always behave as if the CDL is unlocked.

The problem lies in that the ECU continues to operate on the basis that slip from any wheel is sufficient to halt progress due to the effect of the open centre diff. With the CDL locked, torque is distributed 50:50 to front and rear axles so losing traction on a single wheel//axle is not going to impede progress. This means that when you lock the Centre Diff the "wire cut" ETC over reacts to wheel slippage and intervenes more than is actually necessary.

With the wire cut, the locked centre diff can also cause the ETC or ABS to activate in certain conditions where it shouldn't. As an example, I recently had the diff lock switch fail on my TC and I'd locked the CDL while changing the springs. I'd forgotten to unlock the CDL and when turning while reversing out of the drive the front wheels scrubbed due to transmission windup and triggered the ETC. This happens because with an open centre diff any wheel slip is treated as loss of traction. With the D2a ECU's this kind of locked diff tyre scrubbing does not trigger the ETC or ABS.

not sure if that will help...

cheers
Paul

That wire cut mod is great. Let it react more...it means more traction because unlike a lot of brands the power is not cut when ETC cuts in - best of both worlds because you can control power and drive to the wheel on each axle that has most traction. If you want to see how more aggressive is actually better see the D3/4 that allows almost nil wheel spin before applying brakes...

Cheers

Cheers

Tyres are definitely 235/70's - checked the specs in the handbook and these are recommended. guess the previous owner stuck to spec. Never the less, I'll upgrade (245/75's) when I'm due for new tyres - maybe 40K.

I get the picture on the ECU now - sounds like a no brainer to cut or upgrade once I install the CDL lever.

I always ran with a winch mainly because I have a sand anchor and have used it a few times but I never had maxtrax (used hessian bags or a pile of rope) so will go with these to start.