Flashing Center Diff Lock Light 200 Series (4 Viewers)

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new observation this morning. I don’t get to drive the car much as its my wife’s daily.

Cold morning, no excessive dew or moisture. Relatively dry for us here this morning.

CDL light flashing.

Idled in driveway for about 5 mins and shut off and turned back on, CDL still flashing.

Drive 1/4 mile to end of street, turned engine off and on, still have flashing CDL

Drove 20 mins on normal commute. Parked and turned engine off and back on, CDL light is now off.
 
Clickws said:
new observation this morning. I don’t get to drive the car much as its my wife’s daily.

Cold morning, no excessive dew or moisture. Relatively dry for us here this morning.

CDL light flashing.

Idled in driveway for about 5 mins and shut off and turned back on, CDL still flashing.

Drive 1/4 mile to end of street, turned engine off and on, still have flashing CDL

Drove 20 mins on normal commute. Parked and turned engine off and back on, CDL light is now off.
Click to expand...
Pretty typical in my experience. Seems like you have to warm up the drivetrain for several minutes (not just idle) before turning off and back on works
 
linuxgod said:
Pretty typical in my experience. Seems like you have to warm up the drivetrain for several minutes (not just idle) before turning off and back on works
Click to expand...
Yeah my previous LX570 would not shift into or out of 4L (even when new) until the drivetrain was fully warmed up. Made it painful in the winter when I needed 4L to get out of the driveway in the morning but 4H immediately afterward to drive on the road.
 
isthatalexus said:
You are doing and investigating all the right things. Taking the disassemble and recondition plunge on the actuator box is a great way to build a closer emotional bond to the truck, which is important.

Regarding...

This is discussed and theorized about, but nobody on this forum has arms long and narrow enough to find out. It is a mystery. There are portals.

(maybe from a MUD dream I remember someone mentioning the terminus of the breather, but cannot find post now, nor is my FSM ISO mounting properly, so v difficult to look up. If you figure it out and document, you will here carve in stone your legacy for all time.)
Click to expand...
Engine bay below the brake booster.
 
New observation this morning. Got to drive it again, only cause wife is sick and I am taking kids to school.

Rained overnight. Temps outside were 55-60 degrees.

I used my remote start to crank and allow to warm up. Engine idled in driveway for allotted 10 min run time and cut off on its own.

Approximately 30-45 mins later when I got in the car to go, I cranked and there was NOT a flashing CDL.

Moisture may not be the issue. Temp related still seems most plausible.
 
Clickws said:
New observation this morning. Got to drive it again, only cause wife is sick and I am taking kids to school.

Rained overnight. Temps outside were 55-60 degrees.

I used my remote start to crank and allow to warm up. Engine idled in driveway for allotted 10 min run time and cut off on its own.

Approximately 30-45 mins later when I got in the car to go, I cranked and there was NOT a flashing CDL.

Moisture may not be the issue. Temp related still seems most plausible.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure that everyone on the forum who has this issue has the same symptoms or behavior, but I definitely find mine frequently gets triggered when the temps drop into the mid 40s. I can go from March or April until August in Chicago without an issue, but the first night I camp in Colorado where the temps are 45F overnight it'll light up in the morning. Also seems to happen more often when fall hits here in Oct/Nov in Chicago and we get some mornings in the 40s.

Note that the above is much more typical for me, but it can happen when it's warmer or it's MUCH colder too. Normally I deal with it a few times per year and after engaging once or twice it'll stop for months... except when at the LCDC where every morning the damn light comes on no matter how much I exercise it.

Maybe air pressure can also have something to do with the frequency?
 
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I just read this whole thread. Very valuable information here. I have a 2014 LC with 150k miles. I can't recall if I ever used the CDL or the 4lo modes. Ever. CDL light has begun flashing and after commute and restarting engine, it disappeared. I wanted to "exercise" the CDL so I pressed the button and the CDL flashing came back. CDL did not engage. I'm afraid to test out the 4lo setting because I don't want to get stuck there. Any advice welcome!
 
I have posted this elsewhere, but for what its worth, when I bought my truck there was one item in the history other than scheduled maintenance, and that was the PO complaining that the CDL was flashing occasionally. The service notes chalked it up to user error.

A few weeks after we bought the truck, I experienced this issue. CDL flashing, not able to go to 4lo, etc.

I did the warm up and restart thing and it worked. It happened again at some point and this time I did the warm up and restart. It fixed the light but I went immediately to a gravel lot and put it 4lo and engaged CDL and drove it around the lot for a few minutes.

That was in 2019 and I don't think I have had this issue since. I do use 4lo quite a bit, but I rarely engage CDL.
 
Any tips on how to disengage a CDL that won’t unlock? Thanks to this thread I’ve been successfully exercising the CDL periodically over the past several years with zero issues (including in temps well below freezing). Until today.

When I tried to do the same this morning (~35 degrees F). I immediately got the flashing CDL and VSC off, but the CDL is physically engaged. I tried all the warm up/turn off the car tricks, but the CDL stays engaged no matter what. I am occasionally able to get the light to stop flashing, but the light stays on (and CDL remains engaged).

I am hoping that warmer temps in the next few days and perhaps a longer drive will solve this, but odd that it worked fine all winter until now. And how bad is it to drive around town with the center diff locked anyway??
 
I just want to share that I found the guts to activate the 4Lo and locked the CDL. It worked. Drove at low speed for a minute and was able to unlock and go back to 4Hi with no problems. The blinking CDL indicator has not come back since. Been only 2 days.
 
D n
canyonrider said:
Any tips on how to disengage a CDL that won’t unlock? Thanks to this thread I’ve been successfully exercising the CDL periodically over the past several years with zero issues (including in temps well below freezing). Until today.

When I tried to do the same this morning (~35 degrees F). I immediately got the flashing CDL and VSC off, but the CDL is physically engaged. I tried all the warm up/turn off the car tricks, but the CDL stays engaged no matter what. I am occasionally able to get the light to stop flashing, but the light stays on (and CDL remains engaged).

I am hoping that warmer temps in the next few days and perhaps a longer drive will solve this, but odd that it worked fine all winter until now. And how bad is it to drive around town with the center diff locked anyway??
Click to expand...

Do not drive anywhere but straight ahead with CDL on while on pavement. Any turning and you will hurt it. I've been elbow deep in the actuator, but when the issue first appeared, a battery pull got CDL to disengage once started after reconnecting. That got me home, the rest is surgery and cursing. This may not work if you have a different issue, but it's a good place to start.
 
update

Went a few weeks flash free CDL until I took the car on a short drive on gravel road over this past weekend where I engaged and disengaged. Silly, Silly me, I hit the diff lock button while still in “D” instead of coming to full stop and putting it in “N” first. It ultimately engaged and worked fine but the engage was a little more abrupt/poppy than I would have liked.

The next morning I had the flashing CDL on again. It was a cooler morning but was not overly abnormal for the last few weeks where light was not flashing. Morning after that, no flashing CDL and since (3 day streak).

These things is finicky. User error might be a foot on this instance.
 
Clickws said:
update

Went a few weeks flash free CDL until I took the car on a short drive on gravel road over this past weekend where I engaged and disengaged. Silly, Silly me, I hit the diff lock button while still in “D” instead of coming to full stop and putting it in “N” first. It ultimately engaged and worked fine but the engage was a little more abrupt/poppy than I would have liked.

The next morning I had the flashing CDL on again. It was a cooler morning but was not overly abnormal for the last few weeks where light was not flashing. Morning after that, no flashing CDL and since (3 day streak).

These things is finicky. User error might be a foot on this instance.
Click to expand...

CDL is selectable on the fly so you did nothing wrong there. Probably preferred as it's more likely to align and switch.

It's the transfer case selection that requires coming to a stop and putting into N.

It actually switches solidly when used regularly. Don't be afraid to actuate it as I think we know what happens when not engaging the mechanism regularly.
 
Clickws said:
update

Went a few weeks flash free CDL until I took the car on a short drive on gravel road over this past weekend where I engaged and disengaged. Silly, Silly me, I hit the diff lock button while still in “D” instead of coming to full stop and putting it in “N” first. It ultimately engaged and worked fine but the engage was a little more abrupt/poppy than I would have liked.

The next morning I had the flashing CDL on again. It was a cooler morning but was not overly abnormal for the last few weeks where light was not flashing. Morning after that, no flashing CDL and since (3 day streak).

These things is finicky. User error might be a foot on this instance.
Click to expand...
CDL can be engaged up to 60 mph, there's no need to stop
 
@linuxgod did replacement of actuator fix the intermittent flashing center diff.

We are in Chicago land. It rained and cooler last night and got the flashing center Diff. This first time ever.
 
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