[murano123]

I drove for nearly a day or two with the AWD button engaged accidentally. I probably reached for sunglasses or something in the storagespace below the center pod and may have accidentally turned on the AWD button.

I made several turns and Uturns and experienced jerks before I realized and turned it off. I went to a dealer and had them inspect and they said no damage has been done to the drivedrain.

When you reach for something in the below the centerpod say sunglasses or keys or anything, just be careful not to accidentally turn on the AWD Lock button.

Poor design, they should have kept this button elsewhere and not next to storage space or heated seat controls which are frequently used.

They should have kept it below the VDC Off switch where it makes sense.

 

[SugarRushMurano]

NO HARM DONE... reason: (m)

THE AWD LOCK will dis-engage above 20 mph...

When you press the AWD lock. You are 'forcing' the car to go AWD, but this is only can valid when your speed is under 20mph.
When you are driving above 20mph, the AWD will kicks in auto mode. When a slip to one wheel is detected, the computer will compensate and re-adjust torgue to other axle/wheels for corrections.
Most of the time, if no slip, your car is FWD.

The AWD indicator WILL still lights up. This is just to remind you that the AWD lock will cut in again when you get back under 20mph.
This application is useful, let say while climbing steep uphill on muddy-wet-road. You dont normally drive *FAST*, you drive with lower gear ratio and need torgue and dont want slips.

So nissan people already consider this "reaching-for-sunglasses-mistakenly-engage-the-awd-lock" issue after all. :headslap:

 

[murano123]

SugarRushMurano,

The problem is not what speed you are driving. The problem is when you make right, left, Uturns with the AWD Lock button engaged, when the front wheels spin many times more than the rear wheels. When making a solid UTurn, the front wheels spin a lot while the rear wheels are almost stationary. Since the AWD is in Lock mode, something has to slip or let go to allow this (I don't know which mechanical parts get busted in this process, probably crank shaft or some solid iron transmission component). This causes the vehicle to jolt heavily several times as though it went on a series of bumps, something I don't want you to experience.

 

[dklanecky1]

I don't mean this to be a flame of any kind but didn't you notice the yellow "AWD LOCK" on your instrument panel?

I used mine (AWD Lock) yesterday for the first time so maybe I was just more aware of it but everytime I looked anywhere near the instrument panel, that light being on was unavoidable.

I kind of agree that mounting the switch below or near the VDC would have made a lot of sense. I'll have to watch out for this in the future.

 

[darrylburke]

Murano123:

I think you may be a bit more paranoid then you need to be.. I agree with the "theory" you use with the AWD lock, but if you look at all the aspects in the AWD system, you can see that there are a lot of aspects which should allow it to operate in lock mode for an extendedn period of time with no problems..

1) the fact that it turns off at 18mph (30 km/h) so the transmission does not overwork and get to hot (the main problem/design issues with full time awd system)

2) The "ratio" of wheel turn from front to back.. unless you are turning the wheel a signifigant amount, the ratio should not be that bad.. plus unless you are doing a hard left/right turn you don not even notice the car acts differently

3) The "what will wear out".. if you look at all the parts in the AWD, the "softest" or easiest to wear out (in my opinion) would be the rubber on the tires.. whats why you feel the "jerk" its the slipping of the tires against the pavement.. and in winter conditions you probably not even notice it due to the snow on the pavement (I'm not sure where you are from , but I'm in toronto, where we are currently gettign 15-25 cm of snow right now..)

 

[murano123]

I noticed the AWD button only after driving a couple of times.

It never snows here and the jolt is not the same as the rubber burning. Ideally when ratios are different on the front/rear wheels, you would expect the AWD system to slip the tires that tend to spin slower to prevent damage to the drivetrain. Murano doesn't slip the tires on paved roads, instead it jolts.

 

[darrylburke]

the rubber doesn't "burn" but it's the part in the whole system which would wear out (if there was any "tension" in the transmission)

I'm not sure you know what I mean. it's hard to describe in writing..


the "jolting" is the tires momentarly slipping on the pavement (since the transmission is tying to turn all 4 wheels at the same rate, and since they are not all going the same direction (in a sharp turn) one of the set is going to have to "Slip" and this "jolting is a short "slip" of the tire (then the pressure the transmission puts on the wheel is released, and it re grips the road.. it will do this in "cycles" as the force builds up to turn the tire again..)

it's like this in almost all AWD/4WD system.. Eg. my chev trailblazer is REALLY bad at this.. when I have it in locked 4wd and I turn all the way, it feels like I'm pushing a 4 tons brick on the front, as soon as I lift off the gas, then front drops about 3-4 inches, the whole thing feels majorly slugish when the wheel are turned all the way and 4wd is locked.

I would suspect that you would need some type of dynamic gear ration that would detect the tires "turn from center" and then adjust the rotation ration from the axel the more the tire is turned..

 

[trevmiesterj]

Well, since this thread brings up the AWD Lock on the dash, how come you only see the other AWD light when you start the car? Is this just supposed to tell the owner that they have it on their car or is there another use?

For instance, in situations that I was certain the car was in AWD, the light never went on on the dash.

So what is it there for?

 

[Eric L.]

Well, since this thread brings up the AWD Lock on the dash, how come you only see the other AWD light when you start the car? Is this just supposed to tell the owner that they have it on their car or is there another use?

For instance, in situations that I was certain the car was in AWD, the light never went on on the dash.

So what is it there for?

It would have been cool for the other AWD light to signal whenever AWD is automatically engaged (nice to see when you get your moneys worth from the AWD system) but alas Nissan in its infinite wisdom decided to use the AWD light as a dummy light that comes on whenever there is a fault in the AWD system. The light also comes on normally for a brief moment when you start the car, as part of the "internal diagnostics" when you start the vehicle.

 

[GMTURBO43]

The only light we have is the one in the gauge cluster. Turn it on "AWD Lock" illuminated. Turn it off " " .

What other light are you referring to? Is there something on the NAV screen?

 

[Eric L.]

The only light we have is the one in the gauge cluster. Turn it on "AWD Lock" illuminated. Turn it off " " .

What other light are you referring to? Is there something on the NAV screen?

Nope there are 2 AWD lights on the dash. They may not be in the same guage pod though. One says AWD, the other is AWD Lock

 

[trevmiesterj]

The only light we have is the one in the gauge cluster. Turn it on "AWD Lock" illuminated. Turn it off " " .

Eric's right. I believe it is just to the left of the AWD LOCK light only flashing for an instant upon ignition and apparently, staying dormant until something goes coo coo with the AWD system. Look closely and you will see it.

It's probably best it doesn't flash when AWD automatically engages- I would have for sure put the Murano in a snowbank by now staring at it constantly while taking a corner too fast.

:4: