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Suppliers/Dealers or anyone selling with a commercial view in mind CANNOT post here unless responding to a specific request of a member in a "wanted" post.
Suppliers include people "breaking for spares" on a regular basis, when purchasing spares members should ask a supplier what they contribute to the running of the forum particularly if contacted by a Private Message
Suppliers or Members who have contributed to the forum can be identifed by the
What did you do to your jimny today?
27 Aug 2025 14:14 #261753
by Mogsman
Replied by Mogsman on topic What did you do to your jimny today?
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06 Sep 2025 16:38 - 06 Sep 2025 16:49 #261865
by MikeS
Replied by MikeS on topic What did you do to your jimny today?
Finally fixed my 4wd problems.
It all started a couple of years ago when I replaced one of the ABS sensors on my 2014 Jimny. I hadn't noticed that I'd broken one of the T-pieces amongst the pipework connected to the solenoids that were next to the bust sensor connector. A cursory check of the vacuum pipes across the front axle - well it *looked* OK. Cue me raiding these forums on possible causes for the now blinking 4wd light.
In the '4wd Problems' I spotted a post suggesting hitting the actuator with a hammer, and this started off a chain of events.
What I hadn't appreciated was that the actuator motor housing was made of plastic, not metal (well it was caked in stuff that made it look like it was metal). Given that it wasn't the actuator but the motor, I shouldn't have hit it at all, but I did hit it and being plastic it shattered the housing and I now had more than 1 problem...
Replacing the motor was easy enough, albeit an expensive mistake. I hadn't moved the selector shaft, made note of the mark on the cog that slots onto the motor (all important things according to what I read), so I expected I'd soon be back to one problem instead of the two. Pressing the 4wd button proved otherwise. I could hear the motor driving the shaft in, then back out, then in, then out, .... Clearly it was attempting to engage 4wd in the transfer case, then eventually giving up. I suspected the switches on the transfer case but pulling them out and testing with a multimeter discounted that. I sent Jimny to the my local garage where they had it for 2 months before admitting defeat...
Yesterday I removed the actuator which was quite a job. I'd worked out that whilst the actuator seemed to be moving the selector, at no point was the transfer case 4wd high changing state.
The selector shaft cog behind the actuator triangular plate wouldn't come out - it was jammed in place in the teeth of the selector shaft. It eventually came out after several hours of 'persuasion' and the thud/twang from the selector revealed that it was this jammed meshing of the gear and cog that was causing the odd behaviour from the actuator motor. Reassembling and fixing my busted vacuum t-piece, 4wd is restored. I hope this information is useful to someone; I read lots of information about problems with the vacuum system, but nothing covered this particular problem.
What I learned? Don't hit stuff with a hammer; the mark on the face of the removable cog for the selector shaft is utterly irrelevant; don't over tighten the bolts fixing the actuator motor to the transfer box - they snap easily
- and if something breaks on the 4wd again, don't bother taking it to the local garage...
p.s. if you've got a 2014 Jimny and install manual hubs, and you want to stop the 4wd light blinking, shorting the vacuum switch connector under the solenoids is not going to work for you - but you just need to block the line/hose from the locking solenoid (no need to touch the unlocking line/hose).
It all started a couple of years ago when I replaced one of the ABS sensors on my 2014 Jimny. I hadn't noticed that I'd broken one of the T-pieces amongst the pipework connected to the solenoids that were next to the bust sensor connector. A cursory check of the vacuum pipes across the front axle - well it *looked* OK. Cue me raiding these forums on possible causes for the now blinking 4wd light.
In the '4wd Problems' I spotted a post suggesting hitting the actuator with a hammer, and this started off a chain of events.
What I hadn't appreciated was that the actuator motor housing was made of plastic, not metal (well it was caked in stuff that made it look like it was metal). Given that it wasn't the actuator but the motor, I shouldn't have hit it at all, but I did hit it and being plastic it shattered the housing and I now had more than 1 problem...
Replacing the motor was easy enough, albeit an expensive mistake. I hadn't moved the selector shaft, made note of the mark on the cog that slots onto the motor (all important things according to what I read), so I expected I'd soon be back to one problem instead of the two. Pressing the 4wd button proved otherwise. I could hear the motor driving the shaft in, then back out, then in, then out, .... Clearly it was attempting to engage 4wd in the transfer case, then eventually giving up. I suspected the switches on the transfer case but pulling them out and testing with a multimeter discounted that. I sent Jimny to the my local garage where they had it for 2 months before admitting defeat...
Yesterday I removed the actuator which was quite a job. I'd worked out that whilst the actuator seemed to be moving the selector, at no point was the transfer case 4wd high changing state.
The selector shaft cog behind the actuator triangular plate wouldn't come out - it was jammed in place in the teeth of the selector shaft. It eventually came out after several hours of 'persuasion' and the thud/twang from the selector revealed that it was this jammed meshing of the gear and cog that was causing the odd behaviour from the actuator motor. Reassembling and fixing my busted vacuum t-piece, 4wd is restored. I hope this information is useful to someone; I read lots of information about problems with the vacuum system, but nothing covered this particular problem.
What I learned? Don't hit stuff with a hammer; the mark on the face of the removable cog for the selector shaft is utterly irrelevant; don't over tighten the bolts fixing the actuator motor to the transfer box - they snap easily
p.s. if you've got a 2014 Jimny and install manual hubs, and you want to stop the 4wd light blinking, shorting the vacuum switch connector under the solenoids is not going to work for you - but you just need to block the line/hose from the locking solenoid (no need to touch the unlocking line/hose).
Last edit: 06 Sep 2025 16:49 by MikeS.
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