4 wheel drive
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Driver School Candidate
Joined: Dec 2015
Posts: 5
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From: indiana
4 wheel drive
Sorry to post a dumb question. I just got my beautiful green 08 GX 2 days ago and playing around with it etc. Now Im fiddling with the 4 wheel drive lever. The manual is not clear on wheter the engine is supposed to be running or not. Its making an awful grinding noise when I move the lever. Is this normal? l watched a youtube and he's got it running while switching- no grind. Thanks for any response
Lead Lap
Joined: Feb 2014
Posts: 3,654
Likes: 818
From: NC
You want to come to a stop, put the transmission lever in neutral, and then shift range. You will always have some amount of grinding because the transfer case does not have synchros. It is OK to lock the center differential while you are in motion (see warning below).
Check the service records if you have them. You want to do a 4x4 service about every 30k miles, which consists of new fluid in the front and rear differentials, new fluid in the transfer case, and greasing the zerk fittings on the front & rear prop shafts (that go from the transfer case to the differentials). The front axle has CV joints, the rear is a solid axle. More than likely, the previous owner did not do any of this...
Two things you do NOT want to do.
1) Don't drive on a high-friction surface (like a road) with the center differential locked. You will break something expensive when the driveline binds and you'll be stranded.
2) Don't park the GX with the transfer case in Neutral. It will roll away unless you set the handbrake, because the transfer case is after the transmission (which is where the parking pawl is.) There is a red light on the dash warning you of this, but the bulb might be burned out or the neutral switch in the transfer case might have gone bad.
Chip H.
Check the service records if you have them. You want to do a 4x4 service about every 30k miles, which consists of new fluid in the front and rear differentials, new fluid in the transfer case, and greasing the zerk fittings on the front & rear prop shafts (that go from the transfer case to the differentials). The front axle has CV joints, the rear is a solid axle. More than likely, the previous owner did not do any of this...
Two things you do NOT want to do.
1) Don't drive on a high-friction surface (like a road) with the center differential locked. You will break something expensive when the driveline binds and you'll be stranded.
2) Don't park the GX with the transfer case in Neutral. It will roll away unless you set the handbrake, because the transfer case is after the transmission (which is where the parking pawl is.) There is a red light on the dash warning you of this, but the bulb might be burned out or the neutral switch in the transfer case might have gone bad.
Chip H.
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