Flashing 4WD Light Confusion

Several days ago I helped a friend convert his 2016 Jimny to manual hubs. His system developed a vacuum leak and I convinced him that it might make more sense to go to manual hubs. After installing the hubs we shorted the vacuum switch circuit at the connector and plugged/capped the vacuum system. We began to drive to an area where we could test the system to insure everything was working correctly. About a minute out, the 4WD lights began flashing. Going back to his garage, I took a cursory look to insure there weren’t any obvious problems with wiring connections. We then did a test to see if the transfer case was engaging.

The source of my confusion:
1. Usually (but not always) when the car is first started, the 4WD lights aren’t flashing and take anywhere from 10 – 15 seconds to a couple of minutes before they do.
2. If the lights aren’t flashing, pressing the 4WD-H button will give a steady 4WD light and pressing the 4WD-L button will add a steady 4WD-L light. The cycle can be reversed by pressing the 4WD-H button, causing the 4WD-L light to turn off and then pressing the 2WD button, turning the 4WD light off.
3. If the 4WD lights are on as outlined in item 2, they will still begin flashing within a couple of minutes.
4. The 4WD lights have no bearing on whether the transfer can engage. Doing the ‘one wheel lifted’ test, the transfer will engage or disengage after pushing the buttons whether the lights are steady or flashing.

The manuals I have access to don’t cover the newer model Jimnys. Anyone with ideas on how to get these lights working properly?

Thanks
Bob

I swapped to manual because one of my solenoid valve bodies died. I left the electric connections alone and just did the vacuum lines. It therefore thinks it is intact and doing it's thing quite happily. It gets the expected results and doesn't mind. Try reconnecting the electric parts?

There are positional limit switches inside the transfer box.

My 4L switch failed and I got much the same symptoms.

There is a sequence that the lights flash in, the speed of the flashing will tell you where the failure is.....

I cannot post the info on the forum (copyright) but if you PM your email address, I will forward the mail to you.

What I understand from a quick refresh, it will be that one of the switches is not giving the "made" signal, £58+ vat to replace.

sniper

Thanks Lambert. Going back to have the full electronics operate as if standard would be a good place to start. I will reconnect the vacuum switch and simply cap the vacuum lines at the hubs. That would be a simple test.

Sniper: Thanks for the response. According to the manuals for vehicles up to (I think) 2006, the limit switch would be the prime candidate based on flashing intervals. I'm simply not sure with the newer models. There is no longer a 4WD control module and a transfer control module. Both have been combined into what is called a 4WD shift control module. It certainly wouldn't surprise me if the diagnostics would still apply but I was thrown off by some of the details I described. A few questions for you:

Did your lights begin flashing even if you didn't attempt to put it in 4WD?
Was there a delay when you first started your car before the flashing began?
When you began having flashing lights were you still able to engage 4WD?

Thanks again to you both.

My bad, didn't know of the control upgrade..... if the box is the same? would they not use its outputs in a similar manner?

Try looking at the switch changes on both 4H and 4L with a multimeter, see if the outputs are the same. It might identify a faulty switch which would confirm the above..

Good luck.

sniper

Don't feel bad Sniper. I didn't either until I contorted myself enough to reach under the dash in an attempt to check some of the circuits through the connector pins.:woohoo:

What used to be E74 (4WD controller) and E147 and E148 (transfer controller) are now one connector. With none of the wire colors matching the manual, I'm now lost on that part of the diagnostics.

I'll try a little more trouble shooting and keep the forum posted.