80 series transfer swap

[dumbdunce]

due to the cost of swapping the gearbox (requires another clutch plate to be bought/built) I am swapping only the transfer from my '97 DX 1HZ part timer into my '96 GXL 1HD-FT.

the mechanicals all appear to be a straight swap with no drama. what wiring issues will I have, with the centre lock diff wiring in the GXL and the "4WD" light switch wiring in the DX/ Ideally I would like the "4WD" light to work in the GXL, next preference is for the centre diff lock light to come on with engagement of the front drive. any ideas? I haven't looked under the GXL yet. the transfer is out of the DX and on the bench getting a new seal.

[dumbdunce]

ok the transfers are swapped, now as to the wiring I *think* I can unplug the harnesses near the starter motor and swap them over and everything will work as it should. can anyone confirm?

cheers

Brian

[RV80]

I'm sure dow50r has done this swap on his. Shoot him a pm.

[dumbdunce]

I'm sure dow50r has done this swap on his. Shoot him a pm.

have done, waiting for his enlightening reply...

[RV80]

How'd you go?

[dumbdunce]

How'd you go?

no word from Andrew, but I swapped the wiring harness with the transfer, now when I put it in 4WD it lights the "centre diff lock" light - less than ideal but it will do for now. I have a sneaking suspicion that the "centre diff lock light" and the '4WD" light are switched the same, it's just a case of which globe you have in the instrument cluster. have to pull the cluster out to wire up the other locker lights, so will fiddle with it then.

drives nice, much less backlash and noticably more power.

[RV80]

drives nice, much less backlash and noticably more power.

Same as mine, after the part-time kit went in

[dow50r]

Hi
Some of us have to work you know.....and there is no internet that i can get hold of at work.....so as you have found, the centre diff light comes on when put in 4wd....yo could have used the original harness too.
Now any lux or earlier cruiser (60+) FWH will fit on, but....the constant uses longer c/v's than your 97 dx, so an extra circlipin theer takes up enouigh slack to make it all work.....or swap c/v's
Andrew

[dumbdunce]

Hi
Some of us have to work you know.....and there is no internet that i can get hold of at work.....so as you have found, the centre diff light comes on when put in 4wd....yo could have used the original harness too.
Now any lux or earlier cruiser (60+) FWH will fit on, but....the constant uses longer c/v's than your 97 dx, so an extra circlipin theer takes up enouigh slack to make it all work.....or swap c/v's
Andrew

pfft work is over rated!

the DX garbox/transfer harness is much simpler so thought it best to swap - it wasn't difficult, just a little bit of contortion involved.

I am going to swap the entire front axle off the DX since it has locker, castor plates, bumpstop extensions and FWH's already fitted, and has only 110,000 part-time km - the GXL has 180,000 full time km so it's a no-brainer.

no ideas on getting the '4WD' light to work instead of the 'center diff lock' light?

cheers

[dow50r]

The only possible/probable way to do that would be to swap over the strip that the globes shine through in the dash.
Andrew

[dumbdunce]

The only possible/probable way to do that would be to swap over the strip that the globes shine through in the dash.
Andrew

hmm are you sure? I have a couple of GXL clusters here and they both have both a 4WD light and a centre difflock light, and the cluster in the DX also has all the difflock lights and 4WD light, in all the same places...

I'll try and get a look at the wiring diagrams today. I had a look at the back of the 2 clusters and the track for the 4WD light and the centre lock light go to completely different plugs on the instrument wiring harness, which is a bit mysterious, since the wiring harnesses are more or less identical between the vehicles, and the 4WD/centre lock switch is the same between the two gearbox/transfer wiring harnesses.

[dumbdunce]

hm ok I had a look at the wiring diagrams, there is no evidence to suggest that both lights are the same circuit, but no evidence that they are not. helpfully, the colour of the wire for the 4WD indicator light is not labelled, but it is clearly switched to ground by the transfer switch directly. according to the constant 4Wd diagram, the centre diff lock is controlled by the diff lock ECU (which I thought was only on f/r locker equipped 80's), but the light is still switched exclusively by the indicator switch on the transfer. since the switch is the same, and the wiring harnesses, for that switch at least, are the same, there is something fishy going on at the instrument end. when I have time I will pull the cluster out and fiddle.

cheers

Brian