Differential lock by accident

[Mokhan]

Hey everyone, hope you all are doing well. I have a question, I was driving my LX450 the other day and by accident I shifted the lever next to the gear lever into L position. I heard really loud gear rubbing sound for a few seconds then the car stopped running. I stopped, turned off the engine then shifted it to H then it started running again. I am wondering if i did any damage to the car. Please let me know since I am worried. Thanks. Attached is the picture of the lever I shifted.

 

[scottryana]

That is not an accidental diff lock you accidentally put it into low range while driving. It would be like shifting the car from 5th to 1st gear. It is unlikely you actually got the teeth to mesh or did any serious damage but it is really not good for the gears. I would stop the truck, put it in N and then shift back into L and see if you have any unusual noise.

 

[LandLocked93]

Ummm, you shifted that lever while in motion?
And doing so killed the engine, or just the forward motivation?
And by accident??

Yeah, that lever should only be moved when fully stopped and in neutral.
Don't think any damage was done.

But you really should get off road more. lol

edit: after seeing your floor mats, unfortunately, yes. You should be worried. But hey, everyone makes mistakes, right? But tell you what. I offer $1500 on the barrelhead to get it out of your hair. That should get you into a replacement rig double-fast. It'll be like the mistake was never made to begin with. It's what I do.

 

[Mark W]

You don't know what that lever is? And you don't know what it does? And you own an LX450... why?

Okay, I know I am being harsh and sounding pretty snarky. But seriously... why?

Mark...

 

[Mokhan]

It was an accident because someone with me pulled it while asking me what it does

That is not an accidental diff lock you accidentally put it into low range while driving. It would be like shifting the car from 5th to 1st gear. It is unlikely you actually got the teeth to mesh or did any serious damage but it is really not good for the gears. I would stop the truck, put it in N and then shift back into L and see if you have any unusual noise.

Thanks! It was actually someone on the passenger seat who asked me what that lever is for willing pulling it into L. I heard the gears rub on each other then I quickly shifted to nutral then put it back in H. It drives fine now but just got me really worried.

 

[Mokhan]

You don't know what that lever is? And you don't know what it does? And you own an LX450... why?

Okay, I know I am being harsh and sounding pretty snarky. But seriously... why?

Mark...

Loll. I got my truck last week and already doing damage to it!

 

[SpenserAK]

Don’t let that person back in your 80 until you have a sit-down with them about touching your shaft while driving.

You say it was a passenger, but that’s a lot of “I did it” in your initial post, and that thing takes intent to shift, unlike bumping the wiper lever or pressing a button… is there something you need to get off your chest?

 

[LandLocked93]

It was an accident because someone with me pulled it while asking me what it does

You ride with hell spawn.

 

[Mark W]

Okay, first rule of driving a Cruiser (or a Lexus... or ANYTHING). No one... I say again, no one. As in no one... I repeat ****ING NO ONE! ever touches the vehicle controls while the vehicle is under power except the DRIVER!. If someone had done that to my truck, they almost certainly would have had bruises before the truck even came to a stop. And it is doubtful they would have ever been allowed in the front seat again.

Mark...

 

[SpenserAK]

Okay, first rule of driving a Cruiser (or a Lexus... or ANYTHING). No one... I say again, no one. As in no one... I repeat f***ING NO ONE! ever touches the vehicle controls while the vehicle is under power except the DRIVER!. If someone had done that to my truck, they almost certainly would have had bruises before the truck even came to a stop. And it is doubtful they would have ever been allowed in the front seat again.

Mark...

For real. Outside of their own window switch (and even then), it’s driver in control.

Being on land is one thing, but if someone pulled a move like that on my boat..........

 

[LandLocked93]

Okay, first rule of driving a Cruiser (or a Lexus... or ANYTHING). No one... I say again, no one. As in no one... I repeat f***ING NO ONE! ever touches the vehicle controls while the vehicle is under power except the DRIVER!. If someone had done that to my truck, they almost certainly would have had bruises before the truck even came to a stop. And it is doubtful they would have ever been allowed in the front seat again.

Mark...

Bruises hell...

...my insurance company would have a hard time covering passenger amputation and prosthetics as a result.

 

[Mokhan]

So should I be worried? It was my 13 year old annoying nephew so I can't blame him either. He always acts like this. Anyways. Should I change fluid in transfer case? Thanks.

 

[SpenserAK]

It is unlikely you actually got the teeth to mesh or did any serious damage but it is really not good for the gears. I would stop the truck, put it in N and then shift back into L and see if you have any unusual noise.

^ This is where I would start. If it seems fine when you do it correctly, probably no worries. You could change it either way as it’s cheap & easy, small potential to find any metal shavings from this, but if it hasn’t been serviced anyway, go for it.

 

[LandLocked93]

So should I be worried? It was my 13 year old annoying nephew so I can't blame him either. He always acts like this. Anyways. Should I change fluid in transfer case? Thanks.

Ahh context. Good teaching moment I hope.
Yes change it...for to begin maintenance interval cycles under your stewardship.

 

[Mark W]

So should I be worried? It was my 13 year old annoying nephew so I can't blame him either. He always acts like this. Anyways. Should I change fluid in transfer case? Thanks.

If you said that it was a 5 year old, I might cut them some slack. But, at 13... And "He "always acts like that." Unless he has some type of non-standard developmental challenges... Strap that little monster in the back seat in cuffs if you ever let him in the rig again and and have a long talk with his parents about... Parenting..

Anyway, it is almost certain that the only thing that happened is that high range was disengaged and the teeth/splines on the dog clutch might have ground off a couple of thousandths against the teeth/splines on the low range gear. Irritating and awful sounding, but no real damage done.

Why would you change fluid? If there was damage done, that would not fix anything. *Maybe*, *possibly* a careful inspection of the fluid *might* reveal a chipped piece. And *maybe* you could determine where it came from. And "possibly* that might tell you that you have a problem at some point down the road. *maybe*. *Possibly*.

But it can not hurt anything and since you just got the rig, it is never a bad idea to check all the fluid levels and take a look at the magnetic drain plugs to see how much metal dust has collected on them.

Transfer cases get their gears ground once in a while. It happens. Usually not at road speed but it happens. No big deal.

BTW, the "lever next to the gear lever" is the "Transfer Case shifter".

The "L position" is for Low Range and the "H position" is for High range.

It's an on road/off road 4wheel drive truck kinda thing.

You "car stopped running" because it was shifted into the "N position". "N" is for Neutral (Transfer case Neutral).

Actually, it did not stop "running" until you turned the engine off. It just stopped powered movement down the road because the transfer case was in Neutral. This disconnects the power from the transmission to the driveshafts.

Mark...

 

[Mokhan]

^ This is where I would start. If it seems fine when you do it correctly, probably no worries, but change it either way as it’s cheap & easy

Thanks, it is shifting

If you said that it was a 5 year old, I might cut them some slack. But, at 13... And "He "always acts like that." Unless he has some type of non-standard developmental challenges... Strap that little monster in the back seat in cuffs if you ever let him in the rig again and and have a long talk with his parents about... Parenting..

Anyway, it is almost certain that the only thing that happened is that high range was disengaged and the teeth/splines on the dog clutch might have ground off a couple of thousandths against the teeth/splines on the low range gear. Irritating and awful sounding, but no real damage done.

Why would you change fluid? If there was damage done, that would not fix anything. *Maybe*, *possibly* a careful inspection of the fluid *might* reveal a chipped piece. And *maybe* you could determine where it came from. And "possibly* that might tell you that you have a problem at some point down the road. *maybe*. *Possibly*.

But it can not hurt anything and since you just got the rig, it is never a bad idea to check all the fluid levels and take a look at the magnetic drain plugs to see how much metal dust has collected on them.

Transfer cases get their gears ground once in a while. It happens. Usually not at road speed but it happens. No big deal.

BTW, the "lever next to the gear lever" is the "Transfer Case shifter".

The "L position" is for Low Range and the "H position" is for High range.

It's an on road/off road 4wheel drive truck kinda thing.

You "car stopped running" because it was shifted into the "N position". "N" is for Neutral (Transfer case Neutral).

Actually, it did not stop "running" until you turned the engine off. It just stopped powered movement down the road because the transfer case was in Neutral. This disconnects the power from the transmission to the driveshafts.

Mark...

Thanks dude! He is only sitting in the back from now on!!! Also I put the car in neutral and tried to change the transfer case shifter to low range and no problems so I think I am ok!

 

[Nekkit]

no one died...
if it works keep using it, if not, throw it and buy used one ..

thats it. No problem at all...is just a car, metal.

To your little nephiew just explain what is what and show how car works...kids are kids!

 

[2000cruiser]

 

[lp2k]

It was an accident because someone with me pulled it while asking me what it does

Thanks! It was actually someone on the passenger seat who asked me what that lever is for willing pulling it into L. I heard the gears rub on each other then I quickly shifted to nutral then put it back in H. It drives fine now but just got me really worried.

I give explicit instructions to anyone who boards my rig to not touch anything, except the door handle.

 

[retrofive]

Hey look at the bright side, you don't have the H-L sticky syndrome Seriously, mine took some effort to shift into low, not like some that literally have to 2 hand it in.