Advice Requested: Driving with TOD Check Light

[tom4bren]

My TOD light still starts flashing after about 20 minutes of driving. It's never bothered me enough to check for codes. This has been going on for several years now with no adverse effect (of course for the last year I've been running locking hubs too so that helps).

The light is just telling you that you aren't getting any drive to the front. It won't be able to tell you that your transfer case is about to explode.

[MSHardeman]

Ash, was it very cold when you started the VX? I ask because when we had a super cold snap here in Colorado my TOD check light came on one morning when I started the VX. I went into a slight panic, but had to get to work so I, gingerly, drove on. On my way to work the TOD check light started flashing which sent me into a greater panic, and when the lights on the front wheels of the TOD display started dancing around I just about had a heart attack. During all of this I didn't hear or feel the TOD actually kicking in so I kept soldiering on. I also started to notice that most of the dancing lights happened when I would hit a bump so I figured that it was just a loose connection somewhere. I was going to try and look around to find the problem, but as the temps have warmed up the flashing TOD check light hasn't come back so it's a little hard to diagnose and fix a problem that isn't there any more.

Hopefully your experience will be much the same.

[vt_maverick]

My TOD light still starts flashing after about 20 minutes of driving. It's never bothered me enough to check for codes. This has been going on for several years now with no adverse effect (of course for the last year I've been running locking hubs too so that helps).

The light is just telling you that you aren't getting any drive to the front. It won't be able to tell you that your transfer case is about to explode.

It's good to hear that you can at least drive with it on, hopefully I can do the same until I figure out the fix. I've done a lot of reading in the repair manual and it seems like the TOD ECU just shuts down 4H completely and only powers the rear wheels if it detects any kind of problem. 4L still works fine - is that because it's a manual engagement vs. a computer controlled engagement?

Is there a real chance that a sensor/electrical problem with the TOD system could cause the transfer case to explode (or at least to break and not function)? Or is TOD smart enough to not let that happen?

[tom4bren]

It's good to hear that you can at least drive with it on, hopefully I can do the same until I figure out the fix. I've done a lot of reading in the repair manual and it seems like the TOD ECU just shuts down 4H completely and only powers the rear wheels if it detects any kind of problem. 4L still works fine - is that because it's a manual engagement vs. a computer controlled engagement?

Yes

Is there a real chance that a sensor/electrical problem with the TOD system could cause the transfer case to explode (or at least to break and not function)? Or is TOD smart enough to not let that happen?

No. TOD is the the computer/electronic clutch system in the TOD. The flashing light doesn't tell you anything about the mechanical aspects of the trasnfer case. If there's an electrical issue with TOD it will not cause a mechanical failure.