Please bear with me....

[Waypher]

Just to re-itterate, I'm new here and have never owned any 4x4 vehicle or an automatic.

However I'm 52 years old and a quick learner.

I had a test drive in a Terrano R3MR 2.7TD Auto this weekend but was confused about the various settings available.
This model has a switch on the dash with 2WD, 4WD and LOCK.
The first two are obvious but what does LOCK do?

Secondly, I never used the seperate Hi/low lever....when would this be used?
What setting would be for normal road driving?
Presumably the different ratios are for very steep incline driving uphill or downhill?

Finally, the auto gearbox has the usual PARK, DRIVE, NEUTRAL and REVERSE but it also has 1 and 2.....when would these be used?

I KNOW this is basic stuff for most of you, but does any kind member have the patience to explain it to me in plain English?

Cheers.

[Lazy-Ferret]

Just to re-itterate, I'm new here and have never owned any 4x4 vehicle or an automatic.

However I'm 52 years old and a quick learner.

I had a test drive in a Terrano R3MR 2.7TD Auto this weekend but was confused about the various settings available.
This model has a switch on the dash with 2WD, 4WD and LOCK.
The first two are obvious but what does LOCK do?

Secondly, I never used the seperate Hi/low lever....when would this be used?
What setting would be for normal road driving?
Presumably the different ratios are for very steep incline driving uphill or downhill?

Finally, the auto gearbox has the usual PARK, DRIVE, NEUTRAL and REVERSE but it also has 1 and 2.....when would these be used?

I KNOW this is basic stuff for most of you, but does any kind member have the patience to explain it to me in plain English?

Cheers.

Lock is to lock the diffs. Even when in 4 wheel drive, if one wheel on each axle slips, you loose forward momentum. By locking the diffs, you put drive to all 4 wheels, but it will only want to go in a straight line.

Basically (Very) you leave it in 2wd High all the time unless....

Slippery roads, like snow/mud and on wet fields, you can use 4wd High. Basically drive it like a 2 wheel drive staying in as high a gear as possible, to reduce putting too much power to the wheels. Don't use on a surface where the wheels can not slip a bit, as when in 4 wheel drive, the front and rear wheels have no differential between them, so will all be trying to travel at the same speed

4wd Low, is used very rarely, and more for either "Proper" off road driving, or when you want a lot of power to say, tow something out. It is mainly used when you want to travel very slowly, either to use the engine braking going down steep slippery hills, or over rough terrain, where you don't want to stop, but you want to be able to crawl along so as not to damage anything.

The 1 and 2 on the gearbox allow you to hold it in a gear, again this would be used when trying to come down a steep slippery hill in 4wd Low, so you can use the full effect of the engine breaking. It is also quite useful when towing, as ou can use it to stop the automatic gearbox from changing up, not having enough power to stay there and then changing back down again, having the power to change up...etc. Basically, it will allow the box to change down, but not back up past the selected gear. So if you were driving along and put it in 2, it will change from what ever higher gear it was in, down to 2, and if you then stopped, it would change down to 1, but when you pulled away again, it would go up to second, but not any higher.

Very basic descriptions, but hopefully will give you some ideas.

[Waypher]

Lock is to lock the diffs. Even when in 4 wheel drive, if one wheel on each axle slips, you loose forward momentum. By locking the diffs, you put drive to all 4 wheels, but it will only want to go in a straight line.

Basically (Very) you leave it in 2wd High all the time unless....

Slippery roads, like snow/mud and on wet fields, you can use 4wd High. Basically drive it like a 2 wheel drive staying in as high a gear as possible, to reduce putting too much power to the wheels. Don't use on a surface where the wheels can not slip a bit, as when in 4 wheel drive, the front and rear wheels have no differential between them, so will all be trying to travel at the same speed

4wd Low, is used very rarely, and more for either "Proper" off road driving, or when you want a lot of power to say, tow something out. It is mainly used when you want to travel very slowly, either to use the engine braking going down steep slippery hills, or over rough terrain, where you don't want to stop, but you want to be able to crawl along so as not to damage anything.

The 1 and 2 on the gearbox allow you to hold it in a gear, again this would be used when trying to come down a steep slippery hill in 4wd Low, so you can use the full effect of the engine breaking. It is also quite useful when towing, as ou can use it to stop the automatic gearbox from changing up, not having enough power to stay there and then changing back down again, having the power to change up...etc. Basically, it will allow the box to change down, but not back up past the selected gear. So if you were driving along and put it in 2, it will change from what ever higher gear it was in, down to 2, and if you then stopped, it would change down to 1, but when you pulled away again, it would go up to second, but not any higher.

Very basic descriptions, but hopefully will give you some ideas.

Cheers for taking the time with those answers Clive.

"Very basic" is what I was after !:thumbs

[Lazy-Ferret]

Cheers for taking the time with those answers Clive.

"Very basic" is what I was after !:thumbs

No problem, we all have to start somewhere, the only problem is, they can become quite addictive once you start to discover just what they really can do.

I have had 4wd on and off for many years, but I have only had my T2 for a month, and have not got an owners manual for it yet. Luckily my first 4x4 was a Vitara, and Suzuki gave me a free dirt weekend, to teach me how to use it. Great fun :D

One thing you do need to do on most other 4x4's, so I am assuming the Nissan will be the same is to put it into 4WD once month and drive a couple of hundred yards in a straight line just to move the oil and grease around.

Once you have taken it out of 4wd, reverse up about 5 or so yards to release the free wheeling hubs (I am making an assumption that you have auto hubs here), put it back into 2wd, and carry on as normal for another month.

[Waypher]

No problem, we all have to start somewhere, the only problem is, they can become quite addictive once you start to discover just what they really can do.

I have had 4wd on and off for many years, but I have only had my T2 for a month, and have not got an owners manual for it yet. Luckily my first 4x4 was a Vitara, and Suzuki gave me a free dirt weekend, to teach me how to use it. Great fun :D

One thing you do need to do on most other 4x4's, so I am assuming the Nissan will be the same is to put it into 4WD once month and drive a couple of hundred yards in a straight line just to move the oil and grease around.

Once you have taken it out of 4wd, reverse up about 5 or so yards to release the free wheeling hubs (I am making an assumption that you have auto hubs here), put it back into 2wd, and carry on as normal for another month.

I know what you mean about addictive.
During the test drive the seller directed me up a rocky, muddy woodland path after telling me to select 4WD.
I'm sure it wasn't challenging to you lot but I felt like I'd climbed Everest in it!
Definitely put a big grin on my face.:)

[supergnome]

A workshop manual is for free on here, See briggie for the link. David.

[briggie]

A workshop manual is for free on here, See briggie for the link. David.

http://79.170.43.200/nature4life.co.uk/briggie/index.html

[Thomas-the-Terrano2]

Just to re-itterate, I'm new here and have never owned any 4x4 vehicle or an automatic.

However I'm 52 years old and a quick learner.

I had a test drive in a Terrano R3MR 2.7TD Auto this weekend but was confused about the various settings available.
This model has a switch on the dash with 2WD, 4WD and LOCK.
The first two are obvious but what does LOCK do?

Secondly, I never used the seperate Hi/low lever....when would this be used?
What setting would be for normal road driving?
Presumably the different ratios are for very steep incline driving uphill or downhill?

Finally, the auto gearbox has the usual PARK, DRIVE, NEUTRAL and REVERSE but it also has 1 and 2.....when would these be used?

I KNOW this is basic stuff for most of you, but does any kind member have the patience to explain it to me in plain English?

Cheers.

hi, can you list the positions of the transfer lever.

is the 2wd , 4wd and lock else where?

are there mentions of lo and hi?

[solarman216]

Not had a lot to do with auto's but I think Lock will hold the current gear until unlocked again, handy for instance going down a long hill you are able to hold a low gear for engine braking without it hunting up and down the box, Rick

[Thomas-the-Terrano2]

my train of thought was that the transfer is like the r20

so would have 2hi 4hi neutral 4lo but some trucks such
as shoguns have that option to have 4wd without centre
locked, then proper locked centre, then low box.

but as per rick seen ref to lock on a jap auto box as well.

[Lazy-Ferret]

One of the first ones we looked at was an Auto, before we found they had a greatly reduced pulling power and stopped looking at them.

It had a stick to shift from 4 high to 4 Low, but a switch on the dash to select 2WD, 4WD, and lock. I read that it uses a torque converter to act as a sort of centre diff, so if you have to select "lock" to lock the torque converter, making it like the manual transfer box.

[96terrano]

One of the first ones we looked at was an Auto, before we found they had a greatly reduced pulling power and stopped looking at them.

It had a stick to shift from 4 high to 4 Low, but a switch on the dash to select 2WD, 4WD, and lock. I read that it uses a torque converter to act as a sort of centre diff, so if you have to select "lock" to lock the torque converter, making it like the manual transfer box.

Torque converter is in the same location as a clutch on a MT "I think" :augie

[Lazy-Ferret]

Torque converter is in the same location as a clutch on a MT "I think" :augie

Yeah, I know, but I am only saying what I read somewhere...

If you do a search on Google images, for RM3-R there are some pictures of the dash, unfortunately the actual switch is nearly always behind the selector, but on one or two, if you look closely you can see the switch, down where the cigarette lighter is on the normal T2