06 SE, what is that noise?

[MorrisK64]

Finally got some snow to go play in, with some ice under the snow so I take my 4R out to the street in 2H mode first and attempt to take on the hill in front of my house that I seen other 2 wheel drives struggling with. I couldn't do it in 2 wheel mode so I flipped the switch over to 4H. The lights on the dash started flashing, I'm assuming it does that until all 4 are locked in right? I attempted to give it gas while blinking and the truck seemed powerless, I couldn't get up the hill and was quite embarrased, neighbors were watching me "show off". I had to back down a little ways until the light stopped flashhing and then went up with no problems. I guess I need to plan ahead when I need 4WD because it seems to not engage as soon as you hit the switch. Lesson learned. Now that noise, I like to spin my wheels in the snow and have a little fun like a lot of you do, when I do it in 4H, there is this ticking noise that sounds like it is coming from under the dash somewhere, it is not the engine ticking. Is this normal, what is it? Kinda sounds like the blinker ticking sound but faster only when the wheels are spinning. I could live with it, but it just bugs me.

 

[Tucson T4R]

The noise is your ATRAC system controling wheel spin. It activates each individual wheel brake based on which wheels are spinning. Without the center dif locked, you may also find the engine power will be cut back if you are spinning too much.

To really kick it out and play you will need to be on very slippery ice/snow with the center dif locked, the computer will still try to control your traction but at least it won't back off your power when you want to play. :biggrin2: Don't lock the center dif unless you are on a splipery surface though. That would cause excessive bind up in the drive train.

Your right, when engaging the 4X4 you do need to relax a few seconds until the lights indicate the system has engaged.