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Shifting from 4hi to 2hi

Posted: Tue Dec 10, 2013 6:49 am
by skinny2
I've been having more and more trouble getting my PF to come out of 4wd. It has been slow to shift back to 2hi since I bought it but nothing really problematic at first. It used to be you had to slow down a bit or coast. Then last year you pretty much had to come to a complete stop. Now this year it is picky about shifting back even after stopping. This morning it took three tries of flipping the switch and it finally came out after taking a sharp turn. I don't think it's switch related because the dash shows the 4x4 lights blinking in the dash so it seems to know it's supposed to be doing something. I'm guessing something in the hubs or the actuator in the transaxle?

I know I've seen others complaining about this in the past and I was curious if anyone knew what the problematic part is?

Posted: Tue Dec 10, 2013 7:39 am
by NmexMAX
Mine has a hard time going back to 2H from 4L. Usually just takes a little bit of reverse momentum and then it's fine.

I hardly use 4H. Usually just Auto if I'm going to do that.

Re: Shifting from 4hi to 2hi

Posted: Tue Dec 10, 2013 9:11 am
by NVSteve
skinny2 wrote:
I know I've seen others complaining about this in the past and I was curious if anyone knew what the problematic part is?
I don't think there is a problematic part. I use 4hi quite a bit, especially in the winter. When switching from 4hi to 2hi, the front wheels on the 4x4 indicator will blink until I make a turn. In other words, if I decide to switch out of 4hi on the freeway, it won't be until I exit the freeway and make a turn that the indicator will actually show a solid 2hi. Mine's been like that since day one, and I know it's normal because we had a thread discussing it at one time.

Posted: Wed Jan 08, 2014 1:20 pm
by DreamerzCC
My Xterra doesn't have that problem. Of course it doesn't have an AUTO feature. I can shift into 4HI at up to 61 mph and can shift back to 2HI without having to make any turn. When switching from 4HI to 2HI the indicator will blink twice and be back in 2HI. 4LO has to be stopped and in neutral but I suppose that is the same as the Pathy. I wonder what would cause that issue on the Pathfinder or why it would be any different?

Re: Shifting from 4hi to 2hi

Posted: Wed Jan 08, 2014 4:31 pm
by oreogaborio
skinny2 wrote:I've been having more and more trouble getting my PF to come out of 4wd. It has been slow to shift back to 2hi since I bought it but nothing really problematic at first. It used to be you had to slow down a bit or coast. Then last year you pretty much had to come to a complete stop. Now this year it is picky about shifting back even after stopping. This morning it took three tries of flipping the switch and it finally came out after taking a sharp turn. I don't think it's switch related because the dash shows the 4x4 lights blinking in the dash so it seems to know it's supposed to be doing something. I'm guessing something in the hubs or the actuator in the transaxle?

I know I've seen others complaining about this in the past and I was curious if anyone knew what the problematic part is?
Is it any more responsive if you're on a loose surface like snow/ice or sand?

I've heard some people say that if you're having issues going from 4hi to 2hi that it may be a U-joint issue.

How many miles on your u-joints?
Any humming/vibration on accel/decel?

Posted: Wed Jan 08, 2014 9:22 pm
by skinny2
Well it's been behaving more like usual the last few times. Kind of forgot about this thread! U-joints are original, everything at 105k. Runs as smooth as new all around.

Posted: Thu Jan 16, 2014 2:42 pm
by alien_bug
Same problem here. I disagree with it being normal to turn , slow down or back up to get it to go from 4hi to 2hi. My 05 PF had no problem going in and out of 4hi at speeds up to 60mph until recently. Now, I have to slow down and turn or hit a bump while turned.

So, if there are more ideas what this could be I'd really appreciate it!!!

Posted: Thu Jan 16, 2014 7:25 pm
by ShipFixer
Turns will keep it from shifting back. I don't hit the switch till the wheels are straight on dry pavement.

IIRC the ABS sensors need to detect as little difference in speed at the wheels as possible. Or that's what it seems like.

Usually when people complain here about trying to get out of 4WD it's because they didn't have the wheels straight and that fixes the he problem...

Re: Shifting from 4hi to 2hi

Posted: Tue Jan 21, 2014 10:52 am
by FLiPMaRC
NVSteve wrote:
skinny2 wrote:
I know I've seen others complaining about this in the past and I was curious if anyone knew what the problematic part is?
I don't think there is a problematic part. I use 4hi quite a bit, especially in the winter. When switching from 4hi to 2hi, the front wheels on the 4x4 indicator will blink until I make a turn. In other words, if I decide to switch out of 4hi on the freeway, it won't be until I exit the freeway and make a turn that the indicator will actually show a solid 2hi. Mine's been like that since day one, and I know it's normal because we had a thread discussing it at one time.
Mine behaves exactly the same way. I have a 2012 with 20K miles. I was switching in and out of 4WD numerous times over the weekend.