Problems with new 4x4 engagement

Hello everyone,

I'm considering a new 4x4 van but I've heard some of the new owners say that the 4x4 is difficult to engage and you have to slow way down or stop to engage it. I'm wondering what new 4x4 owners have to say about this as well as any other issues with the 4x4 option.

Thanks,

withtheflow said:

Hello everyone,

I'm considering a new 4x4 van but I've heard some of the new owners say that the 4x4 is difficult to engage and you have to slow way down or stop to engage it. I'm wondering what new 4x4 owners have to say about this as well as any other issues with the 4x4 option.

Thanks,

Click to expand...

That's interesting. Of course, the 4x4 is only new to the US market,...it has seen billions of miles of use in Europe. Perhaps one has to think like a European to engage it properly.

You need to slow down to something like 10km/h or 6mph

Welcome to the 70's. "Traditional" 4x4 requires zero to very slow speed to engage. Simple but tough/reliable and nothing like the AWD/electronic diff lock capabilities of a modern system. I miss hub/wheel locks... they looked cool but you had to plan engagement. The side effect of passive/active 4x4 system is decent fuel economy. Had a AWD Toyota Sienna for a short amount of time and could not get better than 12MPG.

Shift on the fly is not reliable in my opinion.
Daimler has a long history of 4wd drivetrains. Look at the unimog.
I think they know what they are doing.

The 4wd system is very different to the old military jeep system. The transfer case changes mode completely. The planitary gears change the torque split to optimize the traction but still allow the stability control to function. to re arrange the gears you must have no drive that is why you need to be in neutral. Its a very good system and has been working very well in my fleet of 4x4's for many years. Unlike the old crude system you can turn without skidding a wheel. Eric.

I was surprised when I got mine that it was such a set up, as I have not seen that in years. But I agree with the the posts that suggest it's a superior system for true off-roading. I've already begun to think ahead as to when I need to stop and engage it, and it's not too bad. I'm not sure why they put an off-road 4x4 system on a vehicle and then don't offer decent tires as an option.

CheckMax said:

Shift on the fly is not reliable in my opinion.
Daimler has a long history of 4wd drivetrains. Look at the unimog.
I think they know what they are doing.

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CheckMax
Sorry I will have to take issue with that!
Quote:-
Shift on the fly is not reliable in my opinion.

Steyr designed a very good, in fact excellent "shift on the fly" system with additional lock up of all axles!

The 710/712 Pinzgauer emerged in the 1970's with the system by pulling a dashboard lever about 6 inches long! One for 4wd, one for rear axle(s) cross diff lock and one for front axle cross diff lock. (Although I might add it had be around a lot longer with the Tatra.)

Mostly delivered to Military forces, & NGO's these systems have proved to be excellent in both use, reliability and long term durability.

The Unimog by contrast had originally a very crude set up by levers and rods. I refer in this case to the 1960's versions of the 404, then adapted to pneumatic operation of the 406 and it only became more "Pingauerized" (to an extent) by the late 1970's with the introduction of the U Series.

Of course today Landrover does it all quietly. Still soldiering on with it done all electronically! (By control of a twist rotate select knob on the centre console by the shifter.)

In the end its all down to cost and spec's to meet the market requirements.

Dennis
'

lindenengineering said:

Steyr designed a very good, in fact excellent "shift on the fly" system with additional lock up of all axles!
'

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I believe Steyr helped develop Daimler's 4matic system.

You're referring to shifting from 2wd to 4wd at say 50mph? That's what I consider shift on the fly.

FWIW Dept:

Manual sez: "All wheel drive can only be engaged or disengaged if: the vehicle is running [and] the vehicle is stationary"

and similar for low range

El J

Took delivery of 4x4 october 2014. 4x4 engagement has been a real pain in the arse. Stop the vehicle, put gearbox in neutral, press the 4x4 button, led blinks......sometimes it engages sometimes it don't. The car is at the dealer at the moment, they cannot find any problems. All they did was hook a laptop and done a diagnostic check. Engagement is a hit and miss affair at the moment, more misses than hits. I believe that if you press the button once it should engage first time everytime. The car has done 17,000km at the moment. Although i do not use 4x4 very often.. Every opertunity i get to engage 4x4 i check the operation with the same results. Any feedback on this topic would be much appreciated.

You do have to be stopped to engage 4x4. We haven't had any issues engaging ours, but we've only used it 4 or 5 times.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

I'm a bit embarrassed to write this post but I will write anyway. I found out why I was having the problem engaging 4x4 in two ways, one was from this site and the other is by reading the manual that came with the car...ha ha. When I picked up the car in 2014, the sales manager showed me how to engage 4x4, stop car, neutral, press button bingo, in 4x4 all good, so I thought. When I first tried it all good, then every now and it wouldn't engage, I thought it was getting worst. When you read the manual is says the car needs to be in neutral and moving less than 10km per hour with the wheels straight (not going around bend) hit button once all good. Once in 4x4, to engage low range, obviously you need to be in 4x4 first, stop car, select neutral, press low range button beautiful all good, gearbox has to be neutral. I tried about a dozen times since picking the car up, engages first time every time. It still sounds tricky but if you know what to do there shouldn't be any problems. I really love the car, it goes well and drives great.

withtheflow said:

Hello everyone,

I'm considering a new 4x4 van but I've heard some of the new owners say that the 4x4 is difficult to engage and you have to slow way down or stop to engage it. I'm wondering what new 4x4 owners have to say about this as well as any other issues with the 4x4 option.

Thanks,

Click to expand...

hope my last 2 posts help

When in drive I come to a stop, press the button, shift between neutral, reverse and drive with foot off the brake. Works every time.

zither99 said:

When in drive I come to a stop, press the button, shift between neutral, reverse and drive with foot off the brake. Works every time.

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It says something like that in the manual, will give it a go, thanks zither99

MARSBAR said:

It says something like that in the manual, will give it a go, thanks zither99

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I have another thread here as I am having problems with mine. Mine only has 1200 miles on it and I am convinced it is because of heat.

If I start the truck cold I can engage and disengage 4x4 initially.
When I take it down the street and it heats up I can't engage or if I previously engaged 4x4 I can't disengage until I park the truck
go inside and wait 1-2 hrs until it cools down.
Once it warms up if I try pressing the 4x4 button it flashes quickly 3 times and the manual tells you to go through the gears which I did. No luck.

I can't find any service manuals for the 2016 4x4 so I can't even look on what to possibly check.

It's odd the manual states you need to be stationary because their is an MB video that shows it rolling slowly and then the button is pressed.

In my opinion why did this have to be electronic engagement and why didn't they just give us a simple lever

From my 2011 manual.