Accidentally hit the center differential lock button while driving ~30mph

R

running_away

New member
2003 SR5

Just wanted to know if I messed anything up. it was pretty dark and I went to turn off the AC 115 power and accidentally hit the center differential lock button.

At first I didn't even know I hit it but when I pulled into my driveway I knew something was different. Turning into it felt different. I only drove about 1 mile with the button depressed "on" but no lights came on.

Once I pulled into my driveway the VSC OFF light came on (Which I read is supposed to happen).

so I sat in my driveway and I hit the CDL button to turn it off and the dashboard light for it started to blink. I didn't want to break anything so I just turned the car off.

Did I break something? I'm more of an old school muscle car/sports car type so I know very little about these new systems and sensors. As long as I didn't break anything...
 
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It should be fine. The issue with the CDL is that both front and rear axles turn at the same speed, which they are not suppose to while turning. You risk binding the drivetrain and breaking something if your traction is too good to let the rear wheels slip a bit. Driving straight should be harmless. You probably felt the back end hopping a bit when you turned into the driveway. It probably isn't a big deal, just know not to use it on hard dry surfaces where the wheels can't slip. If you broke something you'd probably know it.
 
Will_4R said:
It should be fine. The issue with the CDL is that both front and rear axles turn at the same speed, which they are not suppose to while turning. You risk binding the drivetrain and breaking something if your traction is too good to let the rear wheels slip a bit. Driving straight should be harmless. You probably felt the back end hopping a bit when you turned into the driveway. It probably isn't a big deal, just know not to use it on hard dry surfaces where the wheels can't slip. If you broke something you'd probably know it.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the quick reply
 
running_away said:
2003 SR5
Just wanted to know if I messed anything up.
Click to expand...

Like Will said, no worries. There could be a long-term wear issue if you did it a lot, but you wouldn't break anything a long as you weren't really aggressive with the throttle and steering or something.

running_away said:
2003 SR5
so I sat in my driveway and I hit the CDL button to turn it off and the dashboard light for it started to blink. I didn't want to break anything so I just turned the car off.
Click to expand...

Sounds like you may not have gotten it unlocked then. Don't worry about the blinking light. That just lets you know whether the operation is complete or not. If it starts blinking when you start it up again it hasn't unlocked yet. There may be a little bind pressure left that will make it harder to unlock but it's no big deal. Just back straight a short ways out of the driveway and see if that does it. If not, pull forward again. You can move the steering wheel very slightly from side to side, put it in neutral...stuff like that. Rinse, lather, repeat. It may clunk rather audibly when it completes. That's not a big deal either.
 
JB. said:
Like Will said, no worries. There could be a long-term wear issue if you did it a lot, but you wouldn't break anything a long as you weren't really aggressive with the throttle and steering or something.
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cool, I was driving slow, made about two turns before my driveway


JB. said:
Sounds like you may not have gotten it unlocked then. Don't worry about the blinking light. That just lets you know whether the operation is complete or not. If it starts blinking when you start it up again it hasn't unlocked yet. There may be a little bind pressure left that will make it harder to unlock but it's no big deal. Just back straight a short ways out of the driveway and see if that does it. If not, pull forward again. You can move the steering wheel very slightly from side to side, put it in neutral...stuff like that. Rinse, lather, repeat. It may clunk rather audibly when it completes. That's not a big deal either.
Click to expand...

Yeah, as soon as I started to back out of my driveway all the lights went off and everything felt normal

thanks again :)
 
I'm just curious, did they change how the CDL selector works for the 4th gen runners? Mine is an 02 (3rd gen) and the CDL is not accessible or responds unless you are in low4. My selector button is to the left of the steering wheel and when you push it while in low4, the VSC OFF light comes on - or are you referring to the button on the side of the 4wd shifter? If so, I thought that merely took it from 2wd to 4wd.
 
manhunter said:
I'm just curious, did they change how the CDL selector works for the 4th gen runners? Mine is an 02 (3rd gen) and the CDL is not accessible or responds unless you are in low4. My selector button is to the left of the steering wheel and when you push it while in low4, the VSC OFF light comes on - or are you referring to the button on the side of the 4wd shifter? If so, I thought that merely took it from 2wd to 4wd.
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The CDL works in 4hi as well as 4lo. CDL button is left of steeling column, multi-mode 4wd twist-knob (2hi-4hi-4lo) is right of steering column. Nothing on the shifter anymore.
 
Will_4R said:
The CDL works in 4hi as well as 4lo. CDL button is left of steeling column, multi-mode 4wd twist-knob (2hi-4hi-4lo) is right of steering column. Nothing on the shifter anymore.
Click to expand...

Are referring to how it is on the 4th gen 4runner vs. 3rd gen.?
 
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