Hi everyone, earlier today my wife took our 2017 GX shopping and went into a drive thru for food. While she was in line, she had dropped her phone into the footwell area and reached to grab it hitting the center diff lock with her arm in the process. She was in drive when it happened and tried to click it again to turn off the flashing diff light but she said it wouldn’t turn off. She got honked at to move forward and under pressure she said she drove slowly forward and heard 2 clunks/grinds and then one final loud clunk/grind before the diff light stopped flashing and turned off.

When she got home she had told me what had happened and I immediately got to the truck to figure out if anything was possibly damaged. Now I don’t have any loose/bumpy ground near me, but when I tried to activate the locking diff in neutral without moving anywhere I could hear it engage and disengage when I turned it off with the solid diff light in the gauge cluster, so that seemed fine I guess. Then I tried accelerating hard to see if I could hear any weird noises, I didn’t, even at freeway speeds. I tried listening for noise at low speeds but didn’t hear any. The car seemed to drive fine without issue. Is there anything else I can do to diagnose if anything got screwed without dumping the diff fluid checking for shavings?

 

I would say that if she only drove short distance, less than 100m (330ft) it will be fine.
The GX doe not have front and rear lockers so at low speed short distance, they can handle the "load'
If you are not "exercising" the diff lock and 4L actuator, they can sound rough when you use them.

 

Its fine.

 

Agreed - It's fine. I should exercise mine more often

 

... driving with the center differential locked on dry pavement creates what is known as driveline binding if making more than a very mild turn. If traveling in a straight line all wheels (front-versus-rear) are turning at the same rate of rotation so is not an issue ... but when turning with the center differential locked, the front and rear axles are rigidly connected ... meaning the differential now does not compensate for the front-versus-rear turning radius being different when turning ... which as you described is noticeable in sharp, slow-speed turns. This will create drivetrain binding ... a torsional load throughout the transfer case, driveshafts, and differentials which can sometimes exhibit a noticeable tire “hop” or “scrub” sensation when turning. In extreme cases this can pop a u-joint or cv-joint ...

Your situation does not sound like anything to worry about ...

 

Should be fine..
Sometimes it does not turn off immediately.
you need to move the car back and forth for it to turn off...

 

Could've been worse, like when my wife drove from Flagstaff to Phoenix (200 miles) with the diff lock on. She got back and said it was driving funny. Gee I wonder why?

 

^ ... possibly better than "what's the red light with an oil can symbol that's been on constantly for the last 2-days?"

 

WOW, yes agreed...