differential lock light came on unexpectedly (1 Viewer)

[eliotkim]

I have a 1996 FZJ80. While I was driving the car today on the way home I noticed that one of the differential lock lights came on. I didn't turn the locker dial and nothing was done to the car recently that would create this scenario. The car is driving normal in the "D" gear so nothing feels wrong.

Any idea why this light would come on without any doing of my own? Might I have hit or pushed something I am not aware of? Is this a sign of bigger problems? I tried doing a search first but didn't really find anything similar to this. Sorry if I am not being specific enough. It's the locker light on the farthest right side of the instrument panel.

Thanks in advance.

 

[bajaphile]

Maybe someone else will know the exact issue, but if it were me, I'd check the diff lock indicator switch on the axle. Sounds like it is your front diff light coming on. There is a step by step procedure for testing the system in the FSM if you have one. (Starts on page SA-101)

 

[LINUS]

I'd grease the socket to indicator connection & the other end up on the firewall (other end of that harness).

While you're down there doing that you may find a loose connection - if not you're onto checking the indicator & possibly the harness you greased.

Prob the indicator but sometimes the harness gets tweaked or wears from random road debris.

 

[eliotkim]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I'll try them out tomorrow morning. Appreciate the advice.

 

[Rifleman]

Not sure if this is the cause of your front locker problem or not. My truck is a 94, but I'll tell you what i found in my front locker harness when i was having problems. Where the locker harness loops around the frame, and goes down pass the exhaust pipe in route to the axle. The heat from the exhaust pipes caused the wire insulation on some of the wires to dry out, crack, and then fall completely off. This allowed those wires to short against each other until they finally broke in two. Since your truck is a 96, i seem to remember that it's harness routes a little differently, but it still might be worth a look.

 

[eliotkim]

Woke up this morning and started the car and noticed that the light was off now. I guess I can assume that this might happen again so I'll take a look at the wiring harnesses and the connectors. There isn't really any danger of driving the car like normal though since the locker itself isn't really engaged, right? Thanks.

 

[RoaringFork]

Sounds like a wire/switch problem... you would know if a locker was engaged.

 

[eliotkim]

Thanks for the tips and suggestions. Such an awesome community here. I'm kinda a newbie with this FZJ80 so I've been on the message boards soaking in all the knowledge here. Happy holidays.