Advice Requested: Driving with TOD Check Light

[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.