This morning's weather was snowy slushy and rainy. I wanted to try out 4H, 4L and Diff lock on my Nismo so I had perfect weather! I started in 4H and went out to the street and stopped. I engaged 4L and drove about 30 yards. I couldn't tell a thing good or bad. After stopping, I engaged Diff lock and drove slowly for 20 yards. Again, no feedback either bad or good. Back to 4H and off I went. But I went nowhere as my right rear tire was spinning. I went to 4L and then to Diff lock. Nothing. I had no more go power than a Pinto with 13 in. tires. My dash was a mess. The Diff lock icon stayed on even though the switch was off and 4H selected. Moving through 2H, 4H, 3L changed nothing. ABS light was on also which is due to Diff lock being engaged. The Slip icon went on and off between 4H and 4L. The drivetrain icon showed solid black for rear tires and blinking icons for transfer case and front wheels.
I called the local Nissan dealer on the phone and they were of no help. After multiple restarts of the engine, the system reverted to normal and I regained Nismo traction. My suspicion is that I encountered a hidden "safe mode" software feature that shut me down to prevent damage to the truck.
My diff lock flashes for a few seconds before it engages, so it's not instantaneous engagement. But I'm not too sure how useful the ABLS is. I took a corner in a parking garage and as I did so the tires squawked and the SLIP light flashed, but why did they squawk while the ABLS was supposedly engaged? It should have sent power to the other wheel (outside wheel). Maybe it's just slow to react.
You should back out of 4lo. Check the owners manual. Atleast on my '06 Frontier and my buddy's '06 Tital that is the suggested mode. Also this has been the same on my 4wd Tahoe as well.
I engaged 4L and drove about 30 yards. I couldn't tell a thing good or bad.
You should definately feel a difference between 4H and 4L. Shift points are much higher. The truck changes how it responds to pedal input as well. It accelerates much more slowely...Its a completley different experiance. Plus you would be in 4th gear at like 4000RPM at 30MPH(think it locks out 5th). You would know.
You probably never went into nuertral shifting into 4L from 4H. This never engaged the 4L and introduced an error. The truck kept going in 4H. And then when you tried to engage the locker, it realized you werent really in 4l (even though the switch was in 4L position) so it didnt engage, and flashed its light at you.
I too, have been frazzled by nissan 4wd drive systems in the past. As long as you do it in order, your good. But until I actually read the manual, I got that sequence wrong sometimes, and it would sit and indicators would flash and not engage and I would be like "uh...what?"
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2005 Nissan Frontier
Aztec Red, KC, 2x4, 6-Speed, Roll Up windows, ALLOYS! aFe Stage II Intake, Helper Spring Mod.
15.759s @ 87.36MPH
2005 Nissan Xterra
Canteen Green, SE, 4x4, Auto.
Last edited by inyourface1650 : Jan 24th, 2006 at 12:31 AM.
There should have been a profound difference between 4H and 4L and I felt none. So I probably went too fast and never engaged 4L. Lesson learned is that one must follow the protocol exactly when shifting between 4H, 4L, and Diff lock.
Like mentioned before you must be in neutral to go to and from 4lo, and it for for low speed low traction situations, you'll KNOW when you are in 4 lo, also 4Hi and 4lo should only be used in low traction situations using them on dry pavement(not saying you did) is bad for the driveline components and will cause premature wear. I have confused my pathfinders system a few times, the electronic systems arent quite as reliable as the old school manual levers but consumers like fancy buttons instead of levers.
to be honest with ya, the elctronic systems are no different from the old manual systems - instead of moving a lever, your flippin a switch... any 4wd vehicle i have drive you have always had to be in neutral to shift into 4lo...
anyways, lesson learned - to reiterate -
for 4hi, make sure your under 50mph, you can engauge that on the fly...
for 4lo:
1) come to a complete stop
2) transmission to neutral
3) switch to 4lo - you should hear the clunk of it moving the transfer case gears
4) back to drive
5) flip locker switch - the ABS and slip light will come on and stay on - just the way it is since the abs and vdc and abls are all disabled when in 4lo with the locker enguaged. (vehicle is in full locked 4wd anyways, so they are unnecessary)
6) drive away
to disengage:
1) stop
2) neutral on the trans
3) dif lock off
4) move to 4 hi or 2wd
5) trans to drive, take off slowly, listen for the disengage before you go, sometime in the cold the systems are slow to move everything... i notice it sometimes takes some decelleration to get 4wd to disengage...
Linear Mode
