Thread: Diff lock not engaging

After cdl present, not sure whether late or early matters as much as how the box was treated....rebuilding a later one with shot diff and gears is way more expensive than rebuilding earlier well maintained one..😊. Not sure if electrical connectors could be issue...two over one depending on year of your rig. My preference is to keep them consistent where possible...build date of car and components.

Originally Posted by PhilipA

No the dash light goes on as the selector shaft goes forward. It is on a ramp on the selector shaft and it is the fork that is spring loaded ie the shaft can be forward but the CDL not engaged. If you want to engage before an obstacle always a good idea to zig zag a couple of times so that the front and rear shafts differ in speed..

The CDL is not necessarily engaged when the dash light is on. You have to wait for the clunk.

Similarly it is not always disengaged when the light is off. You should drive with a couple of wheels on a loose surface particularly if you have turned corners on a hard surface.

Used to be a real problem on LT95 but not so much on LT230.
Regards PhilipA
On my old 74 FJ40 I had to reverse 100metres once to disengage 4WD and I still broke the selector knob off.

Is the Disco version different from the Defender?

The way mine behaves, I am convinced that the light indicates that the mechanism has completed engagement. About a decade ago someone on this forum wrote, "The light is always right", meaning that if the light is on it is engaged and if it off it is disengaged.

I have never heard mine go clunk no matter what speed I am doing when I engage the CDL.

In our 1995 D1 there were a few times when I moved the lever to disengage, but the light stayed on, until I stopped and reversed, and the cdl disengaged and the light went off.
Not sure if it is different in a D2. This is also yet to happen in our 2009 Defender. Did they change how it works?

The way mine behaves, I am convinced that the light indicates that the mechanism has completed engagement

You are correct . Mea Culpa , my memory is bad.

Here is a photo of the mechanism and it is clear that the light is triggered by the selector fork in the photo. I still think my switch is on the actual shaft , but there you go.
11.jpg
You will see the spring loading on the selector and in this case the switch sitting on the selector. The link below also has shots of the actual dog clutch.
For a great explanation of the LT230 look at the link
LT230: The best ever transfer box? | Auto Express
Regards PhilipA
BTW that is unlocked as the bolt is turned the shaft is moved forwards and the switch rides up the slope.

When you have two sensors (the second sits where the detent use to be and deeper than the first) the one closest to the diff I'm pretty sure engages the shaft. So Phillip, you might be right, there may be a version that's only activate by the shaft.

Whilst we've sorted the sensor issue I'm not sure MtVista is any closer sorting out his..😀😀.

I'm curious if you (MtVista) have tried engaging on the move? Once you engage it in neutral can you then shift it into gear?

Originally Posted by Mort2

When you have two sensors (the second sits where the detent use to be and deeper than the first) the one closest to the diff I'm pretty sure engages the shaft. So Phillip, you might be right, there may be a version that's only activate by the shaft.

Whilst we've sorted the sensor issue I'm not sure MtVista is any closer sorting out his..😀😀.

I'm curious if you (MtVista) have tried engaging on the move? Once you engage it in neutral can you then shift it into gear?

I have read everones comments and apprecite the knowledge out there. The solution was so simple in the end that I am somewhat embarrassed to respond.
When I pulled the shifter arrangement apart, by disconnecting the diff lock lever from the central shaft, i found that the moveable centre section is sealed by an o-ring which acts against a bush of some material type. It was resistance of this o-ring against the bush which caused the apparent seizure. A little clean-up and a liberal application of grease around the inner bore of the bush and o-ring worked wonders and it works again like it should.
Just in case there is ever a need to access this area again from above, I used nut inserts instead of rivets to secure the transmision cover plate.
Thanks again everyone

Well done...not sure you should be embarrassed. No-one pointed that out....at the rate we were going it might have lead you to drop the case on our suggestions....oops...