Differential Stuck, locked

[vilasman]

What I know is...I took the family to brunch yesterday in my 02 hundy. My better half then took a friend of hers to the train station last night a distance of maybe 30-40 miles one way. I get in it this morning the steering feels heavy, I check the tires for flat...check the hand brake and then I look at the dash and the vsc. Light is on and the differential lock light is on. Ok...the differential is looked. Hit the button...I can hear a click under the dash but the light doesn't go off. Still locked. Ask better half and she says car was normal... she was at highway speed coming home.....
Is this going to be expensive?

 

[Ninja Cruiser100]

Place the car in reverse and back up - usually turns mine off and its free!

 

[vilasman]

Will do when I get home. But ponder me this. Can was in the little of street parking that I have between the house and the street. I got in it , it was nose to the garage,and backed out and then backed in...booty to the garage cause I needed to load the back. That was when I realized the diff. Was locked. Not sure if I drove it any after that or just pushed the button. It's not making any strange noises or anything just feels really heavy

 

[Sligex]

Essentially locking the centre-diff on pavement will load your drivetrain, it doesn't take long to damage it through unnecessary stresses.

However, driving in a straight line will not necessarily cause damage, rather, as long as all four wheels are rotating at the same speed, you'll be fine.

What is confusing is the fact that your steering is heavy - it should only be "heavy" when you're moving, and even then, it would just be torque vectoring trying to keep your wheel straight. Is it heavy when you're not moving?

 

[vilasman]

Wife's cruising privileges have been restored.I made sure the dif lock switch was turned off and rolled forward about 50 ft and it unlocked. Thanks mud. Now I need to find a short video on the joys atrac,vsc. And center differentials so.she can understand