I've done a search on google but can't find an answer to this particular problem.
I have an 89 3.5 efi Range Rover.
The High / Low ratio selector is very stiff to operate, is there a way to grease or free this?.
I also have a potentially more serious problem.
With a lot of pressure (on the lever) I am able to select the diff lock position, and the orange light comes on (not always immediatley, occasionally i have to drive a few metres).
When i want to disengage the diff lock, the orange light does not go out immediatley.
The last time i tried this, i had to drive 3 or 4 miles before the light went out.
Its quite obvious from the way the RR drives that the diff lock is still engaged.
With regards to the stiffness of the lever, I think it might be down to lack of use, but don't know if you can lubricate it.
But re the diff lock, it sounds right that it takes a few secs for the light to come on,you have to wait till it engages, and to the light going off, try reversing for about two mts or so, till the diff lock comes out.
the difflock light can take time to go off , i think it runs on a vacuum from engine to actuate it . if you deselect the difflock a minute or so before coming off the dirt it will probably put the light out before or just as you drive onto road .
sometimes i have had the light stay on for quite a while , ie minutes , but i think the actual difflock is disengaged but the diaphragm may not have moved far enough to switch the light off .
to lubricate all the linkages just get some diesel in one of those trigger squirty bottles and get under the rangie and spray a jet of the fluid at all the linkages, do this a few times and it will be much more free to operate . i think you can lift up the rubber shroud around the gearsticks and also spray fluid in from that way .
WD40 is a bit thin to use, but diesel is great as a freeing off fluid and thin oil lube .
the high/low range lever can require a little effort to engage or disengage but only because its a short leverl and you dont want the handbrake on whilst engaging the lever or it tends to not allow that little bit of freeplay on the prop you need when it jumps into range .
You don't have to go back in the same direction you came from :-)
I don't use the diflock much, so maybe mine is more reluctant than some to disengage. (It does say you need to reverse in the manual, just not how far!)
Quite simply use it more frequently! Try engaging and disengaging it several times each time you use the vehicle. Make sure that the lever travels far enough to actually engage something, if you see what I mean. Ignore the warning lights, more on that later. The movement should free up with use.
At this point it might help to explain that the 'system' has two parts - an external linkage directly connected to the lever and a dog clutch which is directly linked to the warning light. There is a compression spring between the two parts which allows them to move independantly.
In most cases the external linkage seizes through lack of use. If exercising it as above fails to provide relief, get underneath and lubricate the linkage with diesel, WD40 or similar. Try to get the lubricant to the shaft which passes into the front output housing underneath the rotating lever. Repeat the exercising.
This is the result of a lack of understanding of what is happening underneath. It has nothing to do with the selection part of the system but with the dog clutch part. The dog clutch is unaffected by infrequency of use.
The dog clutch has a sliding part and a fixed part. The sliding part is moved by the selector lever but there is a compression spring between the two. This means that the lever can be pushed fully into a selected position compressing the spring but the sliding member need not move unless it is free to do so.
The illuminated warning light effectively indicates that the sliding member is in the locked diff position. The illumination state will not change until the sliding member moves and from the previous paragraph this need not be when the lever is moved.
All this part of the system is obviously working as your light goes on and off and you have observed that driving on hard surfaces with the diff lock engaged is 'different'. The good news, then, is that there's nothing wrong inside!
For the dog clutch to engage i.e. actually apply the differential lock, teeth on the fixed and sliding members need to mate and this will not happen if the teeth are butting up to each other. Some relative movement between the teeth is required to allow a tooth in one part to line up with a 'hole' in the other part. It actually requires the teeth to move relative to each other so sitting stationary does not help - actual road wheel rotation is needed to provide relative rotation between the front and rear propshafts. When the tooth and 'hole' are lined up the sliding member is free to engage with the fixed member under the force of the compressed spring.
Once engaged, torque in the driveline (either wind-up or driving torque) will keep this dog clutch engaged through forces on the teeth. These forces must be reduced (to near zero) to allow the dog clutch teeth to be separated - again by a compressed spring. This explains the delay or refusal to disengage. It is perfectly normal behaviour. Nothing is wrong.
To accomplish disengement do not drive steadily - this maintains the torque that you do not want. Sequential acceleration and deceleration will often bring about disengagement.
If that fails: Either Drive in reverse, possibly turning the steering one way as you do so. You're relying here on free play in the driveline, tyre deflections and differing rotational speeds between the front and rear propshafts. Or Allow a road wheel to slip in relation to the other three. Try driving on the grass verge (better if soft and wet) or drive sharply off a kerb or over a sharp bump. You're trying to get any one wheel to lose traction momentarily.
If you are absolutely stuck and wish to release the diff lock whilst at home, jack up a wheel which will 'kick' a bit when contact with the ground is lost. The handbrake should be released for this operation so take appropriate precautions (obviously not using the wheel brakes either) against the vehicle moving.
Prevention is better than cure - avoid driving on hard surfaces with the diff lock engaged. That way you'll avoid the wind-up which is the cause of your problem!
On or around 1 Jan 2006 04:40:32 -0800, "m0bcg" enlightened us thusly:
doesn't that depend on which transmission? some of the diff locks were vacuum operated, some mechanical, ISTR.
anyway, either stop and reverse for a few yards, or drive one side of the vehicle onto the grass verge, if there is one, or other loose surface - the small amount of slip created will let the lock come loose. It won't come out of difflock if the diff is under load.
The four speed LT95 box (101 and RRC to about 1986?) had a vacuum actuator.
The vacuum actuator introduced a further potential delay on top of the issues which also affect the mechanically operated ones. I never found it a problem.
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