tbmiller87 Posted October 9, 2015 Share Posted October 9, 2015 A couple of months back, I installed Warn Manual Locking hubs on the 97 QX4. I noticed that if I drive over 50-60 mph for over 10-15 minutes then my 4wd light would start to flash. I then got my wife to back up the QX4 while I looked under it. The cv axels are spinning even though the hubs are unlocked and the QX4 is in 2wd. Does anyone know why this is happening? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NovaPath Posted October 9, 2015 Share Posted October 9, 2015 Forgive me as I'm not sure if the 97 has the "auto" 4wd feature or not. Do you turn a dial or shift the lever? If it is the dial the manual hubs are not recommended due to this issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbmiller87 Posted October 9, 2015 Author Share Posted October 9, 2015 You can turn the dial to select auto or lock. There is a lever to select High, N, or Low. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NovaPath Posted October 10, 2015 Share Posted October 10, 2015 Yeah, manual hubs are not recommended for that transfer case for that exact reason. I think it has something to do with needing to turn the wheels for internal lubrication, mine is the manual transfer case so I only read very briefly on it. There is tons of info though if you search for it. Good Luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingman Posted October 10, 2015 Share Posted October 10, 2015 I believe that was debunked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
01Pathmaker Posted October 10, 2015 Share Posted October 10, 2015 You can turn the dial to select auto or lock. There is a lever to select High, N, or Low.Ok, so it sounds like there is no real true 2wd selection? If you just have a selector for auto/lock and a separate selector for high/neutral/low, then it sounds like it's an awd system. I am not terribly familiar with the available systems on the qx4, but if this in fact the case then locking hubs are not a good idea. Basically with the hubs unlocked in auto or lock, the driveshaft and cv's will be turning. Since I don't know much about your particular system I can't say whether or not any damage would be caused, but I think your mpg increase would be minimal and obviously you won't see any benefit of less wear on front drivetrain parts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingman Posted October 10, 2015 Share Posted October 10, 2015 All Mode selector Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted October 10, 2015 Share Posted October 10, 2015 I believe that was debunked. Yes, I believe you are correct. I do recall that the selector nob must be left in 2wd, not auto when you have manual hubs, unless you have them locked, which puts you back like haveing the drive flanges. Call me old fashioned, but just give me a shifter... B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingman Posted October 10, 2015 Share Posted October 10, 2015 I have to wonder though, for street driving, what difference 2wd or auto would make. Seems to me auto would default to 2wd until it's necessary to engage the front. At that point with the hubs unlocked it wouldn't do any good anyways. Just theorizing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted October 10, 2015 Share Posted October 10, 2015 As a purely speculative exercise: 2wd would mean only rear wheel drive, don't even think about it. Auto would mean think about if we need 2wd and 4wd. That indicates a brain which needs input, so sensors. Since the R50 comes stock with drive flanges, the CVs are always spinning; installing manual hubs and unlocking negates that. I'm assuming that the sensors are in the CVs/differentials (if they were at the wheels, none of this would matter). The only way the Auto function could work is by reading a certain mount of differential wheel spin, perhaps for a certain amount of time or percentage, when it then shifts the transfer case and engages the front drive train. If my model is correct driving down the road in Auto with the manual hubs unlocked would confuse the hell out of the computer, especially when it engages the front drive train and the differential wheel spin is still 0:whatever ratio. You can turn the dial to select auto or lock. There is a lever to select High, N, or Low. Could you post a picture of this configuration? I don't think I've heard of a knob and a lever system. It could be that with only Auto or Lock available, manual hubs are pointless/detrimental, and I'm beginning to suspect that the 4x4 light flashing is signaling a system error or fault code. I'm going to try to dig up a Q FSM, I'm curious now... B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted October 10, 2015 Share Posted October 10, 2015 Well, that was easy... http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/QX4/1997_QX4/ Look at TF It looks like the front sensor is in the diff on the drivers side, and there is a wait detection switch. There is a 2wd setting on the selector knob. Self diagnosis: the 4x4 warning lamp will indicate the malfunction by number of flickers (TF-22) Way to much stuff to repeat, but the good news is that the troubleshooting and diagnosis section seems quite well documented. The first thing I would do is to jack up the front of the vehicle and spin the front wheels to see if the CVs spin, testing if the hubs are free or locked. From there I would do the diagnosis steps... B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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