Well this is my first post have a 2000 kodiak today when riding down a steep hill (in low range) the rear wheels began to slide (from engine brake) so I hit the button to 4wd , when it engaged it made aloud clunk in the front differential hope it didn't damage anything 4wd system still works fine. Is it really ok to shift in and out of 4wd when moving? I do it all the time first time i had a problem think it was cuz of the torque from the hill.

 

No, You have to be stoped. you should read your owners manual.

 

the manual says to stop cuz switching between 2wd and 4wd can be dangerous it changes the handling, i am not worried about the handling wondered if it was bad for the machine. says nothing about this in manual , my dealer said it would be ok if i let up on the gas when shifting to and from 4wd. i do it all the time this is the first time it made a noise i can't be the only one to switch when moving stopping is a pain in the @#$

 

It is ok to switch between 2 and 4 drive when moving BUT the front and rear tires MUST be moving the same speed. So if you are spinning the rear tires in the mud and hit the 4wd button it will grind. Likewise the same will happen when going down a hill because the front tires were spinning faster. The yamaha system is very simple a gear just moves forward and back to enguage the diff. So what is happening is when you enguage it with diffrent wheel speeds the gears wont line up and you are gona get some noise. Even with all the nice high dollar shift on the fly sport utes and pickups you cant shift into 4wd if the rear wheels are spinning.

 

I have never shifted on the fly on mine and would not. It probably doesn't hurt it most of the time though. It's no big deal to stop and put it in anyway. Any noise or grinding could not be good for it.

 

Yes,
Make sure that all the wheels are moving the same speed. It works Good.
A Safety note on hill climbing and descending and 4 wheel drive.
When in 4x4 and you use a brake you are in effect, using all the brakes or should I say, providing braking action for all the wheels.
So when going down a hill and the rears slide, you should feather the fronts carefully to keep from doing an Endo. Throwing it into 4x4 will cause your locked up rears to hold the front differential locked and then LOOK OUT.
Going up a fairly steep hill (this is from personal experience) and hitting soft terrain and digging 4 holes, (I hit the hill too slow) and then needing to come back down, not thinking, I left her in 4x4. All was good until my rears bound up because of my holding the front brakes on. She looped over and I JUST did get a body roll done to move out of the way. Bruised Lower Back, Trashed Hella Light, Bent Steering Stem @ $85.00, bent handle bars $23.00. Totally trashed pride in front of the chicks.



Now I did not see your hill but I wanted to ad this. Safety First Guys.

 

I noticed a clunk sound when going from 4 to 2wd even when I stopped to do the shift. It seemes like eventhough I stopped and pushed the button it didn't completely disengage until I drove a short distance then I here a clunk sound as if it is finnally kicking out. Has anyone else experienced this?

 

no, you might wanna have that checked out mine has been fine. i realize now the clunk was cuz the front and rear wheels weren't traviling the same speed when i switched to 4wd. mine engages and disengages rather quickly the only noise is the sound of the electric motor that does the shifting no clunk, won't make the same mistake twice make sure tires are traviling the same speed when shifting just like my truck ! I should have know better!!

 

Mine also makes a little "clunk" sound when disengaging from 4x4 to 2 wheel drive. All i do is disengage it then drive rather slowly for a short distance until i hear it make a noise.