New Member . . . Can Anyone Help? Diff Lock Info

[goslowcool]

hi i am new to this site as well, this is my first post. My name is Mike I am from Scotland. Just now I am living in Edinburgh. I recently bought a disco 300 tdi. reg1997, with 114,000 miles on the clock. I put it through an mot and full service, it needed some work done to a steering arm ball joint? Unfortunately the cam belt snapped on the motorway just as i was slowing to a junction. Its in for repair now. However, i love the car and i want to take it to Africa. I am currently interested in learning all about the diff lock, how it works and how to use it. I would not say no to any advice on this . cheers

 

[MarsRover]

Obviously not in the correct forum, but I copied it here in hopes someone might be able to point him in the right direction . . .

 

[nwoods]

Diff lock on a 1997 Disco, would be the Center Differential Lock I think. Using it is pretty straightforward. What it does it is split the power between the front and rear wheels, otherwise it typically goes mostly to just the rear wheels even though its full time four wheel drive.

You would want to engage the CDL up (or down) steep inclines on loose or slippery surfaces, when trying to make progress through particularly loose or slippery surfaces (gravel, sand, mud, wet grass, etc), when you are navigating your way through rocks and boulders, or when you are in deeply rutted or wallowed out conditions where you might get "cross-axeled" where one front wheel loses contact with the ground at the same time the opposite rear wheel also loses contact with the ground.

This is to say, that in most challenging conditions where 4WD is necessary, you will probably want to engage your CDL. Really the only exceptions to engaging CDL are when you need to travel above crawling speeds (such as running away from a charging Rhino!), or are high traction surfaces such as tarmac/pavement.

 

[alzerom]

I have found this little blurb about the different 4 wheel drive types to be interesting. http://rubicon-trail.com/4WD101/4WD-AWD-autoAWD.html
Have fun on the trip, don't overload. David

 

[antichrist]

Google RAVE Land Rover and download the manual. It included the owners handbook which will give you full details.
Also, this forum will have a lot more people in your neck of the woods:
http://forum.landrovernet.com/forum.php