Should I be concerned? Rear diff didn’t unlock

[Tpage]

Hey guys, new here and also new to owning a 4wd vehicle. I picked up a 25’ Ranger Raptor about three weeks ago. Last night, my wife and I were in a fast food drive through (not moving) and I was showing her some of the features the truck has. I went into the off road pages and was excitedly explaining that it has lockers and so to show her, I pressed the rear locker button on the screen. Then after a moment, I pressed it again and it appeared to disengage based on the picture on the screen.

After a moment, we moved up further in the drive through line and I was turning around the building(turning left) only to hear a loud pop from the rear end and I experienced what felt like a shove of the truck. I thought maybe I hit a curb or something but then as we turned out of the lot onto the Main Street(turning right) , I heard another pop from the rear. Unsure of what was happening, I decided to continue home and drove about 10 minutes down the street and took another right turn onto the street of our neighborhood. Once again, another loud pop. Then another every time I turned. (Turned maybe 4-5 times total). I then realized during the last turn I heard one of the back tires drag and thought maybe the rear locker was still engaged dispite it showing it was not. I decided to park, I engaged the rear locker in the screen again, waited a sec, then pressed it again. Now everything is fine. It appears to drive fine now but I swear I feel like I can hear a subtle whine from the transfer case that wasn’t there before. Did I screw up big time? Note, I was in 2H the entire time.

I did check the rear diff fluid and it is full.

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[Blue Ridge Raptor]

Mine did that once. Took it a few minutes to disengage. Wherever possible I try to back up a couple feet in a straight line whenever disengaging diff lock or 4WD modes.

 

[Tpage]

Mine did that once. Took it a few minutes to disengage. Wherever possible I try to back up a couple feet in a straight line whenever disengaging diff lock or 4WD modes.

Do you think it may have caused damage considering I made a few turns with it still locked? It was fairly jarring and did not sound good at all.

 

[Blue Ridge Raptor]

Suggest trying to re-engage diff lock and drive a short distance on a loose surface (grass, gravel, dirt) while avoiding any turns. Then disengage and reverse in a straight line until the dash indicator turns off. If you’re on a loose surface like gravel or dirt you can then drive forward and make a gentle, gradual turn to see if there’s any noise or other indication it’s still engaged. If not then just drive and chalk it up to experience. Never drive or turn on asphalt with diff lock engaged.
my two cents

 

[Tpage]

Suggest trying to re-engage diff lock and drive a short distance on a loose surface (grass, gravel, dirt) while avoiding any turns. Then disengage and reverse in a straight line until the dash indicator turns off. If you’re on a loose surface like gravel or dirt you can then drive forward and make a gentle, gradual turn to see if there’s any noise or other indication it’s still engaged. If not then just drive and chalk it up to experience. Never drive or turn on asphalt with diff lock engaged.
my two cents

Do you think it has caused any damage since I did end up turning quite a few times on asphalt with the locker still being engaged? Everything appears to operate fine at the moment. I’ll go find some loose gravel to do what you suggested and validate it will still lock and unlock but now I’m concerned it’s eaten a tooth or something. I don’t know.

 

[donkey]

Lol you’ll be fine but don’t do that again. If you do turn it on on asphalt, drive forward/reverse 10-15 feet at a time while seesawing the wheels. And then make sure it’s unlocked before you drive home

 

[paulhut]

You really really only want to use that stuff on loose ground.

 

[DutchRanger]

Bring it to the dealer, don't tell them any incriminating details, just tell them you heard some weird noises and have them check it out.

 

[Hoss]

Your fine. Had my mine lock up for a week. Bad switch. It would disengage once I got rolling but would re-engage once I slowed down. Changed out the switch and all was good. Worked like a charm when ever I need it.

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