I have a 2001 LC100. This vehicle is well-known to this form though I am not. I was lucky enough to become the owner of the LC that is well-detailed in this historical thread: The Road to a 100 and 2001 build thread
At the moment the Center Differential (CD) will not disengage. The CD and VSC OFF amber lights on the dashboard are ON, as would be expected with the CD locked. When I push the button, I can hear the relay buzz behind the glove box, and I can hear the CD actuator working under the car. These sounds occur reliably when the button is pressed IN to LOCK, and when the button is pressed AGAIN (out) to UNLOCK. Whatever happens with the button, the CD and VSC OFF lights remain ON.
I am 100% sure that the CD is locked, and it is not a problem with the light staying on. I know this because the FRONT driveshaft is removed from the vehicle and I am still able to drive. If the CD was not locked, the vehicle would not move.
To support full problem solving, you should probably have the backstory explaining why I have the front driveshaft removed.
Over the weekend, the wife, dogs, and I went on a Sunday Drive up the 395 to Independence for some hiking and picnicking. I figured if I brought all the food, water, and gas we needed, and didn't stop at any local businesses, we would endanger the locals, and could get a little sanity. It was a beautiful day and a nice drive on 15 miles or so of dirt. My wife doesn't have much dirt driving confidence (despite her skill) so she drove the way out. Often when this is going on, I manage the transmission and traction control so she can focus on the dirt road. In one particularly nasty stream bed I hit the CD button and the CD and VSC OFF lights came on, as usual. I don't remember if the VSC TRAC came on at that time. I left this on since we were on dirt. About 8 miles later, when we left the dirt, I hit the CD button and nothing happened. At this time I noticed that the VSC TRAC amber light was ON.
We verified that the CD was indeed locked by doing a tight turn and feeling the tires chirp and leave black marks on the road. We did some backing up and turning but no success. We decided to coast a few miles downhill in NEUTRAL to Lone Pine so we could get signal and evaluate our options.
At this point we followed the normal advice, lots of backing up, going forward, and turning. No success. We figured maybe we needed dirt, so we did 6 miles on highway at 40 MPH to get to some dirt and drove around a bit, doing doughnuts and figure eights both forward and in reverse. No success.
It was getting dark, so we made some dinner and camped out. The canned food I keep in the rig and the RTT paid off. We woke to a beautiful sunrise on Mt Whitney, made coffee, and then drove a bit more. CD still locked. At this point we did listen for the RELAY. We could hear the light buzz of the RELAY but we did not hear the ACTUATOR moving. SO we drove close enough to town to get signal in case we needed a tow truck. We didn't want a tow, to avoid COVID exposure. So I crawled underneath and removed the front driveshaft.
With the front driveshaft removed, and the CD locked, the LC drove like a dream. I will note here that the CD, VSC OFF, and VSC TRAC lights were ON the whole time. We did not dare hit the CD button again for fear it would actually disengage and require reassembly of the driveshaft. We made it home safe and sound Monday AM.
Now, Tuesday PM, I decided I had learned enough from the forums to start looking at the problem, expecting I would be diagnosing electrical issues. But I found the new condition instead. CD still locked, but now the VSC TRAC light stays OFF and I can hear the ACTUATOR working in addition to the RELAY.
As a little more background, I know from last months trip to Baja that a vigorous splashy puddle crossing will cause the VSC TRAC and VSC OFF lights to come on in my rig. This indicates to me that there is some electrical connection issue in this circuit that needs to be addressed, and is a possible cause for the ACTUATOR not working when the VSC TRAC light was ON, and the ACTUATOR working now that the VSC TRAC light is OFF.
But right now, the ACTUATOR is making noise as if it is working.
I have two guesses:
#1: Now that the ACTUATOR is working, I should do a lot of forward/reverse to see if the CD will disengage.
#2: Something is physically broken inside the ACTUATOR, much like in this post: Center Diff Lock Actuator
I would love to hear thoughts on this, and hopefully some simple fix.
At the moment the Center Differential (CD) will not disengage. The CD and VSC OFF amber lights on the dashboard are ON, as would be expected with the CD locked. When I push the button, I can hear the relay buzz behind the glove box, and I can hear the CD actuator working under the car. These sounds occur reliably when the button is pressed IN to LOCK, and when the button is pressed AGAIN (out) to UNLOCK. Whatever happens with the button, the CD and VSC OFF lights remain ON.
I am 100% sure that the CD is locked, and it is not a problem with the light staying on. I know this because the FRONT driveshaft is removed from the vehicle and I am still able to drive. If the CD was not locked, the vehicle would not move.
To support full problem solving, you should probably have the backstory explaining why I have the front driveshaft removed.
Over the weekend, the wife, dogs, and I went on a Sunday Drive up the 395 to Independence for some hiking and picnicking. I figured if I brought all the food, water, and gas we needed, and didn't stop at any local businesses, we would endanger the locals, and could get a little sanity. It was a beautiful day and a nice drive on 15 miles or so of dirt. My wife doesn't have much dirt driving confidence (despite her skill) so she drove the way out. Often when this is going on, I manage the transmission and traction control so she can focus on the dirt road. In one particularly nasty stream bed I hit the CD button and the CD and VSC OFF lights came on, as usual. I don't remember if the VSC TRAC came on at that time. I left this on since we were on dirt. About 8 miles later, when we left the dirt, I hit the CD button and nothing happened. At this time I noticed that the VSC TRAC amber light was ON.
We verified that the CD was indeed locked by doing a tight turn and feeling the tires chirp and leave black marks on the road. We did some backing up and turning but no success. We decided to coast a few miles downhill in NEUTRAL to Lone Pine so we could get signal and evaluate our options.
At this point we followed the normal advice, lots of backing up, going forward, and turning. No success. We figured maybe we needed dirt, so we did 6 miles on highway at 40 MPH to get to some dirt and drove around a bit, doing doughnuts and figure eights both forward and in reverse. No success.
It was getting dark, so we made some dinner and camped out. The canned food I keep in the rig and the RTT paid off. We woke to a beautiful sunrise on Mt Whitney, made coffee, and then drove a bit more. CD still locked. At this point we did listen for the RELAY. We could hear the light buzz of the RELAY but we did not hear the ACTUATOR moving. SO we drove close enough to town to get signal in case we needed a tow truck. We didn't want a tow, to avoid COVID exposure. So I crawled underneath and removed the front driveshaft.
With the front driveshaft removed, and the CD locked, the LC drove like a dream. I will note here that the CD, VSC OFF, and VSC TRAC lights were ON the whole time. We did not dare hit the CD button again for fear it would actually disengage and require reassembly of the driveshaft. We made it home safe and sound Monday AM.
Now, Tuesday PM, I decided I had learned enough from the forums to start looking at the problem, expecting I would be diagnosing electrical issues. But I found the new condition instead. CD still locked, but now the VSC TRAC light stays OFF and I can hear the ACTUATOR working in addition to the RELAY.
As a little more background, I know from last months trip to Baja that a vigorous splashy puddle crossing will cause the VSC TRAC and VSC OFF lights to come on in my rig. This indicates to me that there is some electrical connection issue in this circuit that needs to be addressed, and is a possible cause for the ACTUATOR not working when the VSC TRAC light was ON, and the ACTUATOR working now that the VSC TRAC light is OFF.
But right now, the ACTUATOR is making noise as if it is working.
I have two guesses:
#1: Now that the ACTUATOR is working, I should do a lot of forward/reverse to see if the CD will disengage.
#2: Something is physically broken inside the ACTUATOR, much like in this post: Center Diff Lock Actuator
I would love to hear thoughts on this, and hopefully some simple fix.