Uhhh, Emercency Drive light on? Help?

[gos2slo]

Forgive me if this is a dumb question, but I'm a little confused.

I have a 79 J-10, 360/Th400/Quadratrac.

I pulled the gauge pod and replaced all the light bulbs , (like 13 of em!) and put Quaratrac knob in the dash, and flipped it back and forth a few times to see what it does (I still dont really know what it does mechanically.)

Now there is a light on the dash that says Emergency Drive, and it wont go off. I tried messing with the knob, the transfer case, forward and back, parked and rolling. Nada. How do I know if its actually engaged, and how do I turn it off? I'm totally stumped.

Thanks!
Chris

[M1Garandfan]

Do not drive on the street until you get that situation fixed. My 78 Cherokee has the same light. In my glove box is the emergency lock out switch I don't know where yours is. This switch will turn the emergency drive on and off. It is vacume driven. Make sure you did not accidently pull a vacume line off the switch.

[Whb]

Chris,

I have a '79 wagoneer with the same drive train setup you do. The emergency drive switch is a vacuum switch that locks the quadratrac differential, which is useful if you're stuck with a wheel spinning, but not so useful if you need to turn on pavement. You can tell if the emergency drive is actually engaged by making a sharp, slow turn; if the tires scuff and bump and it sounds like something is very wrong (because the differential is locked up) then you are in emergency drive. Assuming you didn't pull a vacuum hose loose accidentally--my favorite trick--you can usually get it to disengage by driving slowly in reverse in an s-pattern for 15-20 feet or so. You may need to do this a couple of times but you'll know right away when it has disengaged. Mine has refused to disengage on more than one occasion until I did that.

--Bill

[M1Garandfan]

Hey Whb,

Good info, I never knew that backing up stuff.

Thanks

[gos2slo]

Wow, how weird. OK Bill, you got it, I'll give it a shot in the AM. Is there a fix for this?

My knob is set to normal drive, no vacuum lines were ever disconnected from the switch, is there a way to test it? And yeah, it IS engaged, it squawked when turning into my driveway.

Can anyone point me to a vacuum diagram for the Quadratrac so I can see what it looks like (I havent boughht a manual for it just yet, waiting til payday)

THanks a million,
Chris

[PhilSine]

There is a diagram but here is some info. There are 3 inputs on that switch. The middle one is from the engine vacuum, the top and bottom ones go to the trnsfer case e-drive vacuum switch. There are 2 little inputs on top of your transfer case that the 2 hoses connect to. I forget which is engaged and wich is normal drive. You'll have to hook it all up blindly and expirement. That's how I fixed mine. If you get it backwards, no big deal, just switch them.

[Langdon]

The E-Drive vacum diaphragm is on the top rear of the passenger side of the case. It's about 4" diameter with 2 nipples. The REar nipple is RElease...you can apply vac with a hand pump or by mouth to release it until you get the switch sorted out :cool:

[KivaKid]

I have the 1980 service manual...let me know if you still might need that diagram, I'd be happy to scan it for you.....

[gos2slo]

Thanks KivaKid, I figured it all out. My QT switch was shot, and so was one of the vacuum lines, so I replaced the vauum line, and jerry rigged the switch so unlock the case, backed it up ten feet, VOILA no more dash light. Thanks guys!

Any clues on where to get a new switch, or where to source electrical vacuum solenoids so I can make a new setup?