Trouble getting rear diff to lock in OR

Had some pretty good snow in my neck of the woods here late last week.

I wanted to experiment with crawl control and the locking rear diff.

Crawl control worked good.

I tried locking the rear diff and out of about a dozen tries, I could only get it in one time.

Yes I had it in 4 low and I tried moving forward and backward small amounts.


On the positive side, I was impressed how well it went in and out of 4 low. Best of any 4x4 I have ever owned.

Anyone else play with the locker yet or have issues getting it to lock?

 

Yeah of you just start driving slowly and make a turn or something (or are stuck) it will ingage after a bit of motion. Theoretically the more you use it the better it will be.

 

I have had this same issue and can't get it to lock at all. I will try the side to side thing.

 

When in 4 low, shift to neutral, engage diff lock, then shift to drive.

 

Unless that's a new engagement process for the 3rd gen.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/e-locker-indicator-light.404293/
Reading material

 

Yeah. It's 4lo, then go neutral, then hit the rear lock. Then, if the thing doesn't initiate while you are stationary (just blinking light but no solid), try turning the wheels hard left or right. If that doesn't work, put it in drive and go forward a bit. I engaged the rear locker in front of my house the first time, just to make sure it worked. Ended up rolling almost a third of a block before it engaged. Since then, it's been a lot easier.

 

I have a 1st and 2nd gen tacoma Offroad. Both manual transmission. When in 4 low, transmission in neutral, press clutch pedal down, press diff lock button, shift to 1st or 2nd gear, and you know what? Diff lock engages.

 

*applause*

 

Thanks Guys.

I was following the manual and trying to get it to engage in Neutral.

I was moving it short distances back and forth then putting it back in Neutral.

I will try the steering wheel back and forth while rolling forward in drive.

 

Just wanted to say thanks again, and thanks for the links, lot of good reading.

I suck for not using the search function and starting a new thread.

The moving the steering wheel back and forth did the trick for the most part.

Still didn't go in every time, but had a much better success rate.

One thing I did notice, is when mine didn't go in, it stayed flashing until I shut the engine off.

Pressing the elocker button and even taking it out of 4-wheel drive and it was still flashing.

Shutting off the engine and re-starting and it finally stopped flashing.

I saw other reports of the same behavior in the linked thread.

I'm going to keep playing with it from time to time...would like to make sure it's going work if/when I might need it.

 

I have had the flashing but not shutting off thing a couple times. First time I shut the truck off and that resolved it. Second time I ended up doing the idle/coast for a little bit and that fixed it.