Almost4x4

sami;28119 wrote:I can see why your confused now. In my old car Land cruiser 100 automatic v8(2002) the transfer case had two position H and L there was no explicit 4H position on the transfer case lever in that specific model. The way you effectively engage 4H is by locking the center differential which was indeed a button. I'm not sure if this was the case in your pathfinder but usually this isn't referred to as a difflock as its more like just engaging 4wd in high range.

Sami, Pathfinder has no electronic gadgets, it's a simple very reliable mechanical construction..., no buttons, just a small joystick next to gear lever marked on the top with possible options, however if used improperly can cause expensive damages.

I don't doubt it chief. Your experience with it proves that it is exactly as you say, and you prove it still every week when you hit sands. :)

Thanks Chief and Sami for your valuable inputs. Surely I need to go back to the manual, as well as do some online research to come back smarter.

BTW chief, to answer your question regarding Jelly Fish, well I am not too sure about all the Jelly fish but surely the Green colored ones are aliens !!

Sami your Land cruiser had full time 4WD so its in 4wd all the time.
Pressing the centre diff lock button locks the centre diff providing equal power to front and rear axels. So 50/50 torque split when the centrre diff is locked.
In a part time system like your JK shifting it to 4H locks the centre diff.

That's absolutely right jehan. I just re-read my previous post and realized I forgot to mention that it was full-time 4wd. I also should've mentioned like you did that there is 4H(which has open center diff and is road friendly) and 4H (locked center diff and 50/50 split front and rear low traction surfaces only ).

This is my understanding for this thread:

1. in all cars there is only one gear, which comes manual or automatic.
2. in 4x4 cars, they have additional part, that transform the movements from the engine to all tiers.
3. to simplify the understanding about this "transformer" please remember the mechanism that exist on the courses bicycle, if you choose the big rear disk, you can drive slowly for a short time, then you need to switch to smaller disks.
4. So the (4L / L4) means Low speed four wheel drive, it is very powerful and only used to get out your car, if you stuck in the sand (or similar), we can't use it for long time or more distance, it will get its parts overheated and damage your car. (even though you can't steer properly)
5. and the (4H / H4) which means high speed with four wheel drive, it is less power than the 4L, but this is the best option to drive your vehicle in the sand.
6. The "Diflock" or the "differential lock" is not available in all cars, you can find it in the Land Cruiser as a "central differential lock". other cars have "rear differential", some "front and rear" like H3, some central and rear like Pajero... but all of them made to assists the driver to perform better in the sand (offroad). from its name, it suppose to lock the four tiers together, but it is not, this button or switch is aiming to lock the distribution of the power among the four tiers equally.
7. The ACS or "Attraction control system" this system will prevent the tiers from spinning, that cause the car slipping, and will take out the extra power giving to the spinning tier and will divert it to other tiers that are not spinning (this system is very good in ice, snow, rain and similar environments). but the whole idea in the desert driving is to maintain the tires spinning for all times, other wise we will get stock at the first hill. here we need to put this system off, but still it is not going completely off, if you want to do so, you have to play in the fuses box (which i don't think it is a good idea to be done by us, maybe a certified garage can do it in a professional way with adding a switch on your dashboard)
8. Last but not least,,, why the manual gear is more powerful than the automatic gear, well there is "The engine" and "The gear" are connected together with something called "clutch" in the manual gear, which will allow all the power in the engine to flow into the gear without any power wastage. but the automatic gear we can notice that the engine and the gear are always engaged together, and the electronics here play a role, where it took the order from the driver's foot when he press the acceleration paddle to increase the speed, then will allow the gear to engage with the engine, and here will notice some wastage of the power.

Sorry for the long reply,,,,
These were my knowledge and understanding about how cars works.
Please feel free to correct me if i were wrong, or to add additional info.
my principle is " Learn,,, un-learn... re-learn "

this should clear the air...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... N6xHc7Nz-E


http://youtu.be/gwJEU7p9U2Q


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1qj8dHTmP4