1999 pathfinder, 4wd light on but not engaging

[traveldude189]

im pretty new to 4wd, ive gone to school for auto repair but ive never dealt with the 4wd system. i bought the pathfinder last saturday and didnt test the 4wd til after i bought it. when i tryed it the light came on but the 4wd didnt engage. when trying to take it out, i could get it from 4wd to 2wd easily but the light stayed on ive checked the fuses and changed the rotors. im thinking it might be the transfer case but im not exactly sure. ive also searched the forum looked thru pages and pages and im not finding anything on the topic. any thoughts would be greatly apprieciated otherwise im going to have to sell the truck onto someone else.

[4Wheeler]

This may not completely relate but I had an almost opposite problem. It was hard to get my 02 out of 4X4 and the light would stay lit. THe lever would shift fine but the rig stayed in 4X4 for quite a while.A change out of the transfer case oil did the trick.

[traveldude189]

guess i could try that

[festerfm]

lol, how about with my 02, the 4wd engages just fine, but no light?? where is the switch located at that turns on the light?

[fastpakr]

Is your '02 an automatic 4wd system? If so, the 4wd light on the dash is an indicator of an error in the system. There is a separate display indicating power to the back wheels (2wd), all wheels (automatic mode), and all wheels plus locked center differential (part time 4wd mode). There's also a LO light to indicating low range is selected.

[festerfm]

Its a stick shift and has the lever for me to put it in 4hi or 4lo. I see the light come on when I turn the key on but not when I engage it. I figure the switch is bad if it has one

[fastpakr]

Is the '4WD' light the only indication that it's in 4wd? Just making sure that it's actually supposed to be lit, given that it's used for a vastly different purpose in mine.

Edit - just confirmed that it's a warning light for you as well. Check page 2-9 and 2-12 at this link:
http://www.courtesyparts.com/pdf/2002-N ... finder.pdf