Help - Vacuum tube disconnected

Hi all.

First day with my 2008 Jimny. As I pulled away, the green 4WD light flashed on the dashboard. I disregarded it. I proceeded to drive for about 3 hours and only now have I realised the trouble I could be in. This is my first car and I’m very worried I have destroyed the inside on my first day. The vacuum tube appears to have disconnected from the bronze stick it sits on. I tried inserting it back on and doing the reverse trick to disengage 4WD but no change.

What do I do from here? I am not mechanically minded, I just don’t want to destory my car within hours of having it. You’re very welcome to call me stupid.

That is the vacuum take off from the engine, not just on the 4WD.

Do you still have a flashing green light or is it on solid? Flashing usually means the 4WD is not engaged, but the way to tell is to jack the front wheel and see if it turns by hand, if it does then it isn’t engaged, repeat for the other side.

That at least stops you doing any damage whilst you get is sorted out as it is now in 2WD.

Can you take it back to where you bought it to get it fixed?

Robin

I would say you need to some vac hose and replace the piece in the picture. make it a little longer than that's fitted
For now you could wrap some tape round the brass part to make hose fit tighter or put a tie wrap round the hose to hold it on 

Still flashing. I'll have a look at lifting it tomorrow.

Unfortunately I can't take it back to get it fixed, but I have some friends who are much smarter than me and can likely help.

Nobody has said it yet, but: if you had actually been in 4WD for three hours on dry pavement, you would not be wondering if something had been damaged.  Your ears would have told you about 3 minutes in.  

If reconnecting the vacuum line didn't extinguish the blinking 4WD indicator, then something else is likely amiss further down the circuit.  So more diagnostic work is needed.  But it is not likely that you broke anything yourself on the drive home, so ease up on yourself.  

And one last point, in the world of cars very few models have cheaper parts than Gen3 Jimnys.  Even heavy stuff like an axle or a transfer case can be had, used, for buttons.  You could buy that convertible that Ian just posted, sell the top, and have a whole running, driving spare car for the price of a nice dinner.  

And there are several Gen3 experts here who are happy to offer valuable expertise for nothing more than a thank-you.  

All in all, you are in good shape.  Welcome to the Jimny club.  You'll be back on the road in no time.  

I've just lifted the car and I've checked, it is definitely in 4Wd. It didn't sound 'off' while I was driving... either I am dumb or very lucky, though I'm feeling it is probably the former. Thank you for the advice though.

Just a thought does it have vac hubs or manual hubs fitted 

Archie15 wrote:

I've just lifted the car and I've checked, it is definitely in 4Wd. It didn't sound 'off' while I was driving... either I am dumb or very lucky, though I'm feeling it is probably the former. Thank you for the advice though.


 

How do you know that it is in 4WD?

The test is to jack up only one front wheel and try to rotate it, if it only moves a few degrees in each direction then it is in 4WD.

If there is a bit of resistance but it turns, and the front propshaft is rotating then the hubs are in 4WD- double check by letting it down and trying to turn the front propshaft, if it won't turn now then the hubs are in 4wd but not the transfer.

(for completeness, if the front wheel will rotate, but if you try and rotate the front propshaft it wont turn, then the transfer is in 4WD but not the hubs. Do take precautions if you crawl underneath when it is jacked up, but it can't fall very far with the wheel still on)

I'd reconnect that hose, run the engine at idle for a couple of minutes to build some vacuum in the tank and then try jabbing the 4WD & 2WD buttons a couple of times to try and get it to reset itself.

 

Yep, definitely in 4wd. I'll try and reattach the hose and run the engine again, as I have tried this before but it didn't seem to make a difference. Is it possible that the hose might have inhaled some dust/dirt and blocked?

Vac hubs I believe, would I be able to tell the difference by looking at them?

The vac hubs are painted black, the manual hubs have a rotary switch on them to engage/disengage the front wheels.

If you have a flashing 4WD light it usually means you didn’t obtain a vacuum and therefore it’s not in 4WD.

Did you try the tests mentioned before, jack a wheel and see if it turns, repeat for the other and then try to turn the drive shaft to the front wheels?

It’s possible you have locked front hubs, but the transfer case is in 2WD.

You might want to have a look at the wiki if you haven’t already

www.bigjimny.com/mediawiki/index.php/4WD...-_emergency_measures

www.bigjimny.com/mediawiki/index.php/4WD...ion_system_operation

Robin

DrRobin wrote:

It’s possible you have locked front hubs, but the transfer case is in 2WD.

 

Crucial distinction which might have not been clear from the above discussion.  Thanks for highlighting this