Grinding when shifting into 4L or 4H when in Neutral vs Park (1 Viewer)

[CameraCruiser]

is this normal....

But, I am still on my search for the perfect 100 for me (and I now know, probably not), but I found a Southern California '98 with 250K miles with zero rust, factory rear locker (more of that in a second), clean interior, all electronics work, body is straight - but driver side fenders clear coat is oxidized a bit, serial number everywhere they should be, 25 years of CarFax and Toyota service records, no accidents, and the antenna still works and radio fades left to right/front to back, without blown speakers. For an agreed on $11,000. So that is seemingly good in today's market.

My issue is that I tried to test the rear locker (really just to see if I could here it click in, and the rear diff light stop blinking red). While in Park, I shifted I shifted to 4 Lo with no issue, and could row from Lo to high without issue. While in 4 Lo, I turned on the rear locker knob, but I never heard the locker, and the the diff light kept blinking (odds are this LC was never went anywhere other than the mall) so I engaged the center diff button which lit and I drove forward and backward about 25 feet, but I was on pavement, so I didn't want to do any turns. The diff light kept blinking, so I gave up on that experiment and shifted back to neutral and shifted to 4 high. I heard and felt light grinding (I don't know the name of the gears in the transfer case, but it stopped and I was able to engage 4 high. I repeated this while in neutral (from 4 lo to high) and could again feel the gears engage. I then repeated this in park and it was back to normal (no noise or issue from high to lo).

So the question:
1. Is this normal based on doing what I did in my test?
2. Should I be worried?
3. I've read multiple things about the stock '98 and '99 rear diffs that have not been used. Everything from drive around and make figure 8s until it unlocks, to it might be a worn cable, to "Gee. get a real Air Locker, and while your at it, at a year 2000 or newer with ATRAC and then get an Air Locker." Which, I would probably do if I could find one as rust free as this one. But this would limit my search to 2000 model year, because I owned a 2003 with a failed factory Nav/head unit, and is something I am afraid of, and paying for again - since it will always be low res, and lower tech.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

Sounds normal.

 

[Ayune]

With the engine off, key in ON position, transfer case in L position, and driver’s window rolled down, you should hear be able to hear the actuator motors for the center & rear diff locks when you actuate the switches. This will let you know the wiring harness & switches & actuators are at least communicating.

To get the rear diff lock to engage the diff’s internal carrier needs to rotate. This doesn’t happen when driving in a straight line (forward or reverse) since the left & right wheels are turning identically. When you drive in a turn (or figure 8) the wheels turn at different rates, the carrier rotates, and the lock eventually engages. The center diff is far less picky about engaging, I’m not sure why.

The grinding when moving the transfer case lever is normal.

 

[CameraCruiser]

With the engine off, key in ON position, transfer case in L position, and driver’s window rolled down, you should hear be able to hear the actuator motors for the center & rear diff locks when you actuate the switches. This will let you know the wiring harness & switches & actuators are at least communicating.

To get the rear diff lock to engage the diff’s internal carrier needs to rotate. This doesn’t happen when driving in a straight line (forward or reverse) since the left & right wheels are turning identically. When you drive in a turn (or figure 8) the wheels turn at different rates, the carrier rotates, and the lock eventually engages. The center diff is far less picky about engaging, I’m not sure why.

The grinding when moving the transfer case lever is normal.

Thank you.

My ‘98 didn’t have a rear locker, and I never remember the light grinding between low and high. But it was years ago. Neither with the ‘03 I also had.

 

[Live to Ski]

other than mileage, sounds like a good find. No rust/documentation trumps mileage issue IMO.

 

[Mike NXP]

Didn't read too close on this one but it's OK to have a little grind when engaging and shouldn't be considered an issue. But if you're like bouncing off the gears and struggling to engage that could be a different story.....A little grind can be avoided, in either park or neutral, by learning how to sort of roll to a smooth flat spot, slowly while going into neutral on the gear shift..... Stop, hold your foot on the brake ( put in park if you'd like but make sure you are still apply the brake so the drivetrain is still relaxed ) then work the transfer case lever for a smoother engagement....dunno if I explained it right but just practice a bit

 

[SteveH]

Most factory e-lockers work fine - find a dirt parking lot and do some slow zig-zags or do circles until it engages. It likely will not engage driving in a straight line.

As for the grinding, when the transfer case is in neutral the transmission shaft is still spinning, so it clashes when you go back to Hi or Lo. This is normal. You can shut off the engine if it's too horrifying. Most of us quickly row the lever from 'hi' to 'low' as needed and don't see this too often.