Well, I've not had this problem with my 2K X, but a friend at work has a 99 Pathy that it recently happened to.

The roads were spotty with snow. One area was completely covered and the next was clear. Well, she drove the whole way to work in 4WD. About 15 minutes into her commute, the 4WD indicator started to blink/flicker and then turned off. She said she didn't hear any noises. I'll ask her for more details tomorrow. I will also ask if I can take it for a drive to see what it's doing.

Anyone else heard of this before? The Xterra is my first 4WD truck so I'm only 86K miles into the knowlegebase. Expert help would be greatly appreciated.

Peace!
Sebes

That happened to me once, but in my case, I had not fully engaged the the transfer case shifter all the way down till it stopped. It was somewhere between 2H and 4H. It did not make any grinding noise but the light did flicker on and off a few times and the Xterra was still in 2H. I shifted it back into 2H then gave a nice pull into 4H and the problem was solved.

In your case, it could be something more. Just passing on my experience.

-dp

I remember from a much earlier problem I had, someone telling me that the pathfinders had permanantly locked hubs in some model years. I think it was Brent (Offroad X) on the Xterrafirma board. Anyway, check to see if her front hubs are the autolocker type (similar to yours) or look different (smaller). If they are the fully locked ones, then it is likely she didn't have the TC lever engaged all the way. If they are the autolockers, I am still inclined to believe it is the TC lever not fully engaged too, but the type of hubs could rule out other possibilities. Usually driving on dry pavement in 4wd will make it difficult to get it out of 4wd due to binding. Obviously there are some wear/breakage concerns, but limited amounts shouldn't damage it that quickly. Either way, I would try what Distant Planet did and see if it works.

All Pathfinders since 96 come with always-locked drive flanges. This merely means that the front axles, diff, and driveshaft rotate regardless of what position the lever is in. The lever is what dictates 2WD or 4WD. Either the lever wasn't fully engaged and wiggled back to a semi-2Hi position, or the sensor on the t-case had a problem and wasn't indicating the proper condition. The 99 wasn't available with the all-mode AWD t-case, so it's little different than the Xterra.

Brent

Snow and ice = wet. I bet that the wiring is either loose or chaffed and is shorting the light out. I don't know why everyone spazzes about that silly 4wd light on the dash. If the lever is in 4H position, it's in 4wd. The t-case shifter mech. is about as simple as you can get design-wise. You have to make an effort to get it "in-between" 2H and 4H, as there is very little movement of the shift rails in the t-case when compared to the movement you see at the lever in the cab.

Just another reason why I did not bother hooking up all the t-case electricals when I converted mine to 4wd...