cdl lever moves but does not engage

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disco1

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Serg, you correct,
4. Engage diff lock.
5. Jack one of the front wheels off the ground.......etc.
 
D

discomike

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The easiest way to tell is to go to low range and tri and do tight circles on your street with your window down, if it is working you will hear the tires twisting on the cement.
Mike J.
 

ColeCam

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It is a 98 Discovery I
I have not had a chance to do circles in low range locked...I did try it last night (before reading the last few replies) in locked high. The lever is working I found out because from below I can see the shaft move back and forth next to the case. Maybe it is locking.... I just cant tell even the slightest difference between locked and unlocked. I was curious if the RPMs were slightly different when locked vs. unlocked. Maybe I am just too used to driving old manual hubbed beater 4x4s.
 

ColeCam

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but restating it.. there is no cdl light coming on... however I still have one more thought.... from below, (this will make no sense to anyone who hasn't looked at the trans case recently) at the bottom of the shaft that goes to the case there is a small pivot, that pivot does bump a small bolt that comes up from below, each time it is pivoted toward the lock position it does bump this small bolt head. It should be going over this bolt head without touching I assume, but it may be used as a stop (unlikely)so I will see what I can do with that as well... however from below there is maybe 3" of room to reach up there. I will post results.
 
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discomike

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You really will not feel any difference, nothing changes with thew truck except locking power to both the front and rear diffs. Go drive it around and circles, you'll feel and hear it slightly. If you feel it then you need to address the warning light problem which could just be a stuck or failed switch.
Mike J.
 

ColeCam

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Hello all..
It is working, the light is on, etc.

One of three things... first I cleaned off the bolt head that was bumping the pivot, I slightly bent the shaft that goes to the case to accentuate the pivot rotation, and I shifted it into locked at about 25 mph, as opposed to standing still or at a crawl. One of these things woke it up apparently because now it works everytime with the light. I actually can feel a difference now... there is still ice/snow on the roads here and locked definitely is an improvement. Thanks to all for your ideas, the site Joey mentioned really helped me know where to look.
 

tommy33

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Mine's a 97, no light comes on in either high or low. I pulled the console and went underneath and cleaned everything with solvent spray. It is definitely frozen but is it possible for the shifter to frozen on the locked side and the lock be disengaged?
 

ColeCam

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Tommy
Typically when the CDL freezes it is because it has not been used for months or maybe even years, I doubt that your CDL has been left in locked for that long.... Try this. Put your vehicle in high unlocked and while driving about 25 mph shift it into high locked. That is what seemed to kick my light back on besides working on it from below.
 

tommy33

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I can't get it to shift over to the high side but I did notide the bolt head underneath which appears to block the shifter rod and I thought the same thing. That could be blocking it.

But I drove off when I bought it in November with the shifter in high lock. I didn't know to test it because it ran fine and looked great. I just assumed that where the shifter was was where it should be. After putting 1000 miles on it highway and city, I saw in the owners manual that you should never leave the cdl in lock for normal driving. My heart sank and I began testing to see if it was locked up in the unlocked position.
 

ColeCam

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Tommy
Look through the site, http://home.twcny.rr.com/eeibooks/r...scodifflock.htm that Joey mentioned.... (it would be the opposite directions, since it is unlocking as opposed to locking but check it out.) if it is just the shifter and not the t-case itself you should be able to unhook the shaft goint to the case and "manually" lock and unlock the case with a 13mm wrench. otherwise I guess it would be a problem in the case. Just asking again.... the lever will not move to the right at all??
 

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