80 series center diff lock

When you press the Centre Diff Lock button on your dashboard the orange 4x4 light should come on.
Sounds like a faulty switch to me

Hi Tim
Hi
Is this cruiser a new addition to the family??? or has the problem just occurred??
Ive pulled appart my ctr diff lock a few times, and hey are a fairly complicated circuit...the light on the dash comes on when the diff lock has actually engaged...there is a switch that needs to be made in the transfer for the light to appear...because you press the button and nothing, but pull the lever and something, tells me there is a problem with your switch...you see...there is another (third) switch that is activated when you pull the lever...same principal as the dash switch ....it turns on the diff lock motor....so the switch on the low range stick is turning the difflock motor on till it makes the light switch, but the dash switch isnt turning on the difflock motor....
Now, all cruisers with ABS dont have the dask switch, all constants without abs have the switch, if yours is an 92-95 model, i have a spare switch for you to try if you want. If yours is a later model, they are about $130 from Toyota....but i have it on good authority that a Rav4 has thesame switch as later than 95 cruisers, so have a look round the wreckers...for both.
Andrew

Faulty switch Tim. In low range, the centre diff lock is activated automatically by a switch on the transfer case, and this is working hence the light in the dash. Therefore it's not a blown globe, so must be the centre diff lock switch.

BTW you can modify the system so it doesn't automatically lock centre diff in low range. This is handy for reversing trailers/caravans/boats/etc on hard surfaces where you don't want the centre diff locked but could use low range.

Cheers
John
Oodnadatta

As Eric mentioned before- the lock takes a while for it to kick in if it doesnt get used often. Try sawing the wheels left and right wilst moving slowly, or pop it in reverse for a bit to encourage it- When buying my 80 i tried one that took the best part of 5 mins for the lock to come on, and I eventually left the 4by with the owner waiting for it to come back out of locked!

Might also pay to check if it is locked without the light coming on- Try a handbrakie on gravel or sand. If the front wheel tracks show skids youre locked.