AlabamaDan Posted December 8, 2018 Share Posted December 8, 2018 My 4x4 dummy light came on. The one on the left side of the instrument panel. What's that mean? Everything has been working perfectly. Last week I took it out for a little light trail riding with no problems. Today I was driving down an old driveway that someone had just dumped LOTS of gravel on and as I was backing up I slowly and barely spun a tire in 2WD. So I flipped it to auto after coming to a stop. Now this 4x4 light is on and I'm nervous. Help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onespiritbrain Posted December 9, 2018 Share Posted December 9, 2018 There is some kind of way to check transmission codes. I’m away from my laptop so I can’t look at my FSM. What year is yours? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlabamaDan Posted December 9, 2018 Author Share Posted December 9, 2018 1998 QX4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onespiritbrain Posted December 9, 2018 Share Posted December 9, 2018 I pulled this from another forum:1. Start engine and warm it up to normal engine operation temperature.2. Turn ignition switch to 'OFF' position.3. Set power shift switch to 'AUTO' ( For early models)4. Set overdrive switch to 'ON'5. Move selector lever to to 'P' position6. Turn ignition switch to 'ON'7. Shift indicator lamp should come on for about 2 seconds.(if it doesn't more inspections is needed and code can't be retrieve)8. Turn ignition switch to 'ACC' position9. Move selector lever to 'D'10. Set overdrive switch to 'OFF'11. Turn ignition switch to 'ON' position (Do not start engine)12. Wait more that 2 seconds after ignition switch 'ON'13. Move selector lever to '2' position.14. Set overdrive switch to 'ON' position.15. Move selector lever to '1' position.16. Set overdrive switch to 'OFF'17. Depress accelerator pedal fully and release it.18. Check power shift indicator lamp. The lamp will begin to flash ON and OFF ( "OD OFF" lamp for 1996-2004). Refer to the attaches figures to diagnose the code.**Judments 11 and 12 ( 'Figure #011' and 'Figure #012' ) are for 2000-2004 models. t1=2.5 seconds, t2=2.0, t3,t4=1.0,I’ll have to get the judgments from my FSM when I get back to my laptop Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slartibartfast Posted December 9, 2018 Share Posted December 9, 2018 That's probably for transmission diagnostics. There's a different procedure to read codes from the transfer case. That starts on TF-62 of the '03 manual (Trouble Diagnosis Without Consult-II). Should be similar in the '98 manual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlabamaDan Posted December 9, 2018 Author Share Posted December 9, 2018 Well, I drove it around today to lunch, around the lake spillway, and to pick up and tree and back home. The light never came back on. It must have self healed? Ironically, just doing the things I did today were almost the steps on that list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onespiritbrain Posted December 10, 2018 Share Posted December 10, 2018 Interesting. After I first put this transmission in I had almost the exact same thing happen to me. I hit a big pothole as I was coming to a stop sign and the transmission downshifted (separate issue with the TPS— thank you Slart!) then the 4WD light flashed several times and went out. This is purely a guess, but I wonder if there is a normal condition produced at low speeds and with loss of traction that the tcase finds fault with. I know it has the capability to sense certain types of traction loss and sends power where it needs to go accordingly when in auto mode so maybe it’s possible that the tcase senses a certain traction loss condition and is signaling that 4WD should be engaged?? Anyway hopefully it’s benign and never happens again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlabamaDan Posted December 10, 2018 Author Share Posted December 10, 2018 I think it's important to state that I never had any issues driving... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.Sans Posted December 10, 2018 Share Posted December 10, 2018 Usually blinks slowly when difference in tire rotation is large. Shifting and driving in 2WD should solve that. Never encountered a permanent 4WD light. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlabamaDan Posted December 11, 2018 Author Share Posted December 11, 2018 It came on today at lunch when I was running errands. I turned the car off and back on, no more light. So odd. I wonder if the wheel spin and little bit of dirt - maybe it engaged and somehow bound up a little and it needs to spin again to straighten out. (I know next to nothing about how the 4WD system works, but I think I read something about this.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slartibartfast Posted December 11, 2018 Share Posted December 11, 2018 The manual transfers have trouble disengaging if they're torque bound, but the ATX14A uses clutches for 4x engagement, so it shouldn't have that problem. Again, I'd go through the diagnostics in the FSM and see if you can get any answers out of it that way. Might not hurt to check the fluid level/condition while you're at it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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