Trouble with auto hubs/4WD system

Ah okaayy that makes sense, probably better to bite the bullet and spend £106 on MH than faffing about fault finding just to find that MH is the answer anyway!

Just have to get wet getting out to flip the switch!

Massive thanks for your help guys, I didn't realise the hubs 'activated' the drive through the front wheels in that way.

The problems you are getting look the same as I had, hubs not engaging, 4wd light flashing & no 4wd. First thing to try would be to remove the auto hubs put your finger inside each give it a wiggle & pull to manually engage them then carefully refit them & try you 4wd on mud, if it works you have a vacuum fault. Simply fit manual hubs & problem solved (p.s. light will still flash)


Dan

Under the car on the drivers side where the trailing arm bolts to tue body pull off both pipes start it up and put ya finger ouver tue end of the pipe and get some one to select 4x4 and see if you get a suction on the pipe if you dont test componets in engine bay if you do remove the hubs and see if there free it could also have a front wheel beaing seal gone i may hage repeated what other people have said but this is how id do it if you have a vacuum pump it would be easyer to test

Might also be worth putting some Instant Gaskit seal on the vacumm hub surface where it mates with the wheel hub.

When I took mine off to do the wheel bearing there was a little bit of corrosion so I pasted some on to make it fully water tight.

samsamsam wrote: Ah okaayy that makes sense, probably better to bite the bullet and spend £106 on MH than faffing about fault finding just to find that MH is the answer anyway!

Just have to get wet getting out to flip the switch!

Massive thanks for your help guys, I didn't realise the hubs 'activated' the drive through the front wheels in that way.

Hi you've only got one problem, your hubs aren't locking, 4wd is a mechanical action of the transfer lever , if you've still got low range then you' ll still have 4wd ie drive to the front axle as well as the back when you select 4h or 4l. You can manually lock the auto hubs as someone has suggested by taking them off and pulling the sliding collar towards you, they'll "pop" as they go into place, be careful you don't push the collar back when re fitting. Then loop the robber pipes where they leave the vacuum servo or at the point they go from chassis to the trailing arm. You'll always then get the. Flashing light but you'll know they are actually locked. I did mine a couple of months ago when they let me down. I stripped all the vac pipes off at the weekend and put rubber pipe loops on at rack hub to keep the water and muck out.
If you do go for manual hubs you don't need to get out in the rain to lock them, if it's snowing or you're going off road lock them before you drive out of your garage. Then unlock them when you get home.

So this is how the Jimny spent the evening...





I took the hubs off and found they were absolutely full of brown stinky water and general muck so I cleaned them and pulled the sliding collar into place. Once refitted I jacked all four wheels off the ground and they were spinning once again with 4WD engaged, so I felt I'd had a small success as at least I now know what is going on!

I check all of the pipes and bits I could find under the truck but couldn't find anything amis so once I've got some spare cash I'll get a set of manual hubs.

If you do go for manual hubs you don't need to get out in the rain to lock them, if it's snowing or you're going off road lock them before you drive out of your garage. Then unlock them when you get home.

Will they be okay locked in for a few miles on the road between lanes etc? I'm worried about scrubbing my tyres etc?

Thanks all for your really helpful advice - if it wasn't for ya'll I'd be none the wiser and in possession of a hefty garage bill!