VDJ79 Low-range issue; troubleshooting advice needed (1 Viewer)

[kavandje]

Hello, all! It's been a minute!

Anyway. New-to-me South African / Namibian version, 2017 VDJ79. Basically stock.

I'm having a hard time shifting into 4L.

2H to 4H is easy enough (though not as easy as on my old HZJ79), but 4H to 4L seems basically impossible. I've managed to get it onto 4L once, and that was needlessly hard. Now the shift lever won't even budge when I try to lift it up from 4H into the "upper level" for N or 4L. That can't be right.

Goodness knows I'm not new to Land Cruisers, so clearly either I'm missing something, or there's something wrong. Any troubleshooting advice? Am I missing something here? Is there some arcane procedure with the post-2008-facelift Transfer-cases? Thanks for any/all advice!

 

[JuanJ]

Hello,

I may be stating the obvious here. Please bear with me.

As you have already noticed, shifting from H4 to N or L4 requires a push, which sometimes must be a bit (just a bit) harder than the manual says.

It is possible that the connecting rods need lubrication. This mechanism is often overlooked during maintenance. Get close to the transfer case lever control rods, spray some WD-40 and let it penetrate. Then try shifting the lever.

Take the chance to clean the ground connection that is close to the transfer case.





Juan

 

[ALX4X4]

Or if in ex hire vehicle they may have locked low range out. Have a look for bolts or something restricting the movement of the transfer lever/linkages.
Happened to us in Aus we soon had it disconnected stuff them and went wheeling

 

[locklaw]

If it has had a clutch done before, check to see that the linkage rod's nut for the transfer actuation is tightened properly and inserted correctly into the taper of the range selector lever on the side of the transfer case -

 

[kavandje]

Oof. Looks like I'm going to have to crawl around underneath, huh? All righty then.

I guess I'll have to lift it now... The stock ride height and my, um, "cold weather energy reserves" are not close friends....

And yes, it is an ex rental vehicle, but it does not appear that 4L was locked out; as I said: I managed to get it into L4 once, and it was difficult. Now it won't engage 4L at all.

I've also seen a video of an Aussie chap who had a similar problem in a 76, who also couldn't lift the shift lever to get it into the N and 4L level; it looks like he had to pull the top of the transfer case to get to the shift mechanism, where he found a bunch of things corroded and stuck. So I guess that's on the checklist.