4x4 light flashes

[Red_101au]

I recently bought a 1999 Challenger and am having a problem with the 4x4 engage light on the dash.
When in 4 wheel drive the light lights up and stays lit as it should
however when I place it back in 2 wheel drive..... the light continually flash.
I am curious as to how to disengage this.

With my Pajero, after I disengage the 4x4 and return to 2 wheel drive it is required to travel a certain distance in reverse to disengage and switch off the light on the dash.


I have tried this with the Challenger, but it does not work, so I assume there is a different method to switch it off.
I appreciate any assistance in this matter



Bob

[my.paj]

It could be just slow as it may not have been used in the past, keep trying it on a dirt road it, could just be a lazy diff actuator

[Red_101au]

thanks for the response my.paj

I have taken her off road and bounced shit out of her etc, no change yet.

Last Friday I took her on her first real trip on the highway to Adelaide... roughly 250kms away and noticed some other strange stuff.

It felt as if the rear wheels were locking sporadically.... kind of like the wheels were skipping while driving
almost as if they were locking up occasionally for the smallest fraction of time which caused a shudder through the car.

My immediate impression was the diff may be stuffed, then I though perhaps the diff-lock has not fully dis-engaged and may be catching at times.

When I am turning right I also feel what feels like the tire skipping and sometimes even a squeal from it.... at first I put that down to possibly limited slip diff.

I have since climbed under her to see if there is any suggestion, a tag or something stating LSD... there is not.

I read on the forum somewhere that the LSD was an optional feature... so still have no idea what I am dealing with here.

On a couple of occasions I would go to take off or be starting up a hill and there was no kick-back and what felt like no power at all going to the wheels until I would manually select a lower gear....
possibly a worn trans as well.

Oh the joys of cars

[Sam Pato]

The flashing 4wd lights are a very common problem - there are a number of sensors around the car that tell the system when its in 4wd or not. Usually an erroneous reading from one of these -
often linked to the one on the front diff (or the actuator system that engages the front diff). Lots of people disable it and install freewheel hubs as a permanent fix.

Loads of stuff on the internet about it. Some particularly usefull stuff on the old 4wdAction challenger forum which I think is now defunct but can still be accessed.

I'f I was you I'd start with the front diff and go from there - check that the sensor is working first. Then see if the actuator is engaging.

Cheers


Sam

[countman88]

I had similar about 5 yrs ago on my 2003 auto. I was in Sydney for a wedding and didn't have time to look around for good deal, paid about $600 for the actuators to be replaced. Fixed the problem. 5 yrs later it won't go into 4wdLow, a different problem, will be $200-300 to fix that if I bother. Otherwise, love my Challenger.

Cheers

[Red_101au]

Thanks all for your comments

Still no joy on solving this problem...
it is definitely locking the front diff when I select 4x4 and it is disengaging when I change back to 2wd
so I have come to the conclusion that it is not the front end..

What I am thinking now is the gearbox sensor may be faulty.
every now and then usually when I first start the car I get a clicking sound while driving and it seems to come from the gearbox/ transfer case area..... I am thinking it is almost like teeth of a gear sprocket not meshed but not quite unmeshed if that makes any sense...
like the the teeth may just be rubbing across the tips of each other...

just a hunch at this stage...

I have found the actuator diaphragm thingy on the front diff and that seems to work fine...

At this stage I am thinking the most likely culprit is the sensor on the side of the gearbox...
and possibly the transfer case not quite disengaging properly.

I do not know enough about these to come to any conclusive decision.

[Sam Pato]

The flashing light is an error light which means that for a given transfer lever position one of the sensors isn't returning the right signal. From memory there are 3 sensors on the gearbox end and one on the front diff end. The gearbox ones are difficult to get to and if that's the issue you may prefer to disable the easy select (and the 4wd light) and just go with some hubs (cheaper).

First off - have you checked the sensor on the front diff? It looks like a big bolt with two wires sticking out of it. They sometimes become sticky and that can be the source of the error and its an easy fix if it is - so best rule it out first. I can't remember if its open or closed circuit but essentially you can disconnect it and short out with a bit of wire and see if the flashing light goes away. It will only go away in one of the positions (i.e stop flashing in 2wd or go solid in 4wd) and then flash/error in the other - try both shorted and open.

Sounds like you've already checked the front actuator. I'm not sure what you did but the best/easiest way to test it is to pull back the rubber boot and then lie under the car and watch it go in and out as the 4wd is engaged it should move about an inch either way. On my PA the actuator was rusted inside and the actuator rod was only moving about 1/4 inch so it all sounded good (moved both ways) but wasn't actually doing the job. Hence the error.

As I understand it the transfer lever is fully mechanical so it should engage regardless of sensors etc. If you are struggling to engage then you likely have another very common problem which is the bush at the base of the lever has broken. You can get a pattern bush on eBay and although the job is a PITA most home mechanics can tackle it (but a press helps). If it feels sloppy and you struggle to get low range this will fix it. If its on its way it'll likely collapse completely shortly so best deal with it before you get stuck somewhere with no 4wd.

Hope this helps

Cheers


Sam

[Hatto]

I don't know much about Challengers but just a couple of quick, simple and cheap things to check.
What about different size tyres? Are all 4 worn evenly and of the same make and size? I've heard that slight differences in tyre diameter can cause the ASC to activate randomly and especially when cornering.
This wouldn't however explain the "tyre skipping" or locking as you described it unless the challenger ASC and traction control is different to the Pajero.
Could it just be diff wind up? Is the rear diff lock (if you have one) definitely disengaged? If it's just wind up, jack up one or both rear wheels. Chock the front reply well though as I've heard that when wind up is released it can lurch off a jack just as the wheel is about to come off the ground.