2009 Hyundai Santa Fe "stuck in 4 wheel drive."

[D60]

Well the most reliable "4wd" (by which I mean part-time, driver selectable and no center diff) will be old school trucks or SUVs with a lever on the floor. Bonus points for manual lockouts (locking hubs at front wheels) but some CAD/IWE systems are reliable enough. You still have a t-case and additional moving parts in the drivetrain (kinda unavoidable) but they're dirt simple.

Coming up in Colorado all my life the benefits of 4wd or even AWD are undeniable, but if you don't need it maintenance may be less with 2wd. For me the benefits FAR outweigh the costs. Audi rocked the rally world with Quattro and revolutionized an industry....

 

[Thermo1223]

I'm considering buying this car from a friend in another town. It has been unused for a while but he remembers it worked OK except "stuck in 4 wheel drive." Since this is a full time automatic system with no driver controls other than an "AWD Lock" button and light I assume he means the light doesn't go out after pressing the button.

This appears to be a "ITM 3E" system which I know nothing about before looking at some websites today. It seems the system is almost all software except for an electric clutch between the driveshaft and the rear differential.

I'm hoping someone here is familiar with this system and knows what might cause this. Is it something that could be expensive?

Also is it safe to drive the car on the highway while it is like that, and if not is there something that can be simply disconnected etc. to make it safe?

It's 90/10 FWD bias just about all of the time unless the front starts to lose traction like most clutch based systems. It's completely safe to drive on dry pavement on or off the highway.

Edit: I read this better and now understand it's stuck on 50/50 lock. Easiest solution is to disconnect the clutch pack & driveshaft until you can get it fixed. I would certainly try to change the fluid as well.

 

[ColinA]

It's 90/10 FWD bias just about all of the time unless the front starts to lose traction like most clutch based systems. It's completely safe to drive on dry pavement on or off the highway.

Edit: I read this better and now understand it's stuck on 50/50 lock. Easiest solution is to disconnect the clutch pack & driveshaft until you can get it fixed. I would certainly try to change the fluid as well.

Thanks everyone for your input. I rang my Hyundai garage and they offered diagnostics and knew Santa Fe's have had coupler problems. I don't think I have the same problem and asked if they would convert to 2WD but they said they wouldn't be allowed to. Yesterday I had the service and MOT done at my local garage and left notes on the problem. When I picked the car up the prop shaft (drive shaft to you guys in the USA!) was in the back of the car! They confirmed that the rear axle was always locked on and removed the prop as a temporary measure to prevent further damage to the AWD system. They said they didn't know much about this system but would look it up. I suspect I need a new electrical clutch box, but am disappointed they didn't run diagnostics to check this.

The car drives nice and free again and no warning lights, so it's a relief. I live 80 miles north of London in the UK and we rarely get snow, so 2WD will be fine. I occasionally look after some trees down a muddy track so will go when conditions aren't too bad, unless I decide it's worth fixing the AWD.