Hello fellow Rogue owners! I have a 2014 Nissan Rogue SL AWD and I noticed that a green AWD symbol is always on in the tachometer dial. There is no way to turn it off. The AWD button only turns on the Lock/Unlock function and when pressed, an amber colored AWD LOCK light comes on, goes off when pressed again. I was just wondering if this was normal or if all other 2014 Nissan Rogue's with AWD do this as well. I don't think it's a malfunction as the car seems to be operating fine otherwise and the light is 'green' in color. I think it might be an indicator just letting you know that the Auto AWD is working properly (?) Could someone please clarify this for me. Thanks!

Mine is also on. Reading the manual is misleading on this topic. The manual basically says that if the light stays on then its a malfunction. However, I contacted a local Nissan dealer and a tech rep told me that its normal because this car has a full-time system.

Thank you for replying. I have also noticed that the manual is just plain wrong in some places as well as misleading. If you to to nissanusa in YouTube and watch the video on AWD for the '14 Rogue, it shows something completely different. I just hope I'm not f'ing up my transmission or anything because I didn't know how to turn it off. I really can find no way to turn it off, if it even needs to be.

ya our AWD is full time i think that symbol is pointless because if we bought an AWD shouldn't we know it's always 100% on

Agreed. I think it is normal. I just had a Nissan tech guy answer this question in another forum. Very weird but okay.

The 2nd gen Rogue is a global model, similar to X-Trail in other markets with part sharing.

On the sister X-Trail models, they have a rotary dial on the center console which has three settings:
- 2WD
- AUTO (which turn on the green AWD/4x4 LED)
- LOCK (which turns on the additional amber AWD LOCK LED)



On our 2nd gen AWD Rogue models, we don't have the dial so the system is in "AUTO" by default.
We also have a separate lock button on the lower driver dash area.
This is similar to our 1st gen AWD Rogue model, so it's nothing new to us.

My best guess is that our 2nd gen AWD Rogue models are in "AUTO" mode by default since we don't have a dial control to force 2WD only, hence the green LED is always on to reflect "AUTO".

This is great information! Thank you for sending it. I've gotten used to the green light thingy and now that I have found out that it is perfectly normal,I feel much better about it. My only grips is that Nissan corrects this in their owners manual, takes out that you should never drive with AWD lock engaged on flat, dry roads (if you have no choice to turn it off anyway), and maybe state in there that the light being on constantly is a normal thing. That'd be greeeaat, mmmkay? <in my best Lumberg voice>. Again, thank you for your insightful knowledge, much appreciated!

I thought the Lock and Unlock button would turn it off as if the car didn't have it. Thanks for clarifying that it is always on but just not "locked". Would love an explanation of what "locked" means.

BeachMom wrote:I thought the Lock and Unlock button would turn it off as if the car didn't have it. Thanks for clarifying that it is always on but just not "locked". Would love an explanation of what "locked" means.

If you hit the locked switched, it stays on at all time up to a certain mph (I guess over 30mph for instance, as it was blowing out/straining certain parts on the vehicle). At all other times, power is only transferred to the necessary slipping wheel, which is why it shows that its always on. You're not really getting power to all wheels at all times in most instances.

RobGinPeabody wrote:My only grips is that Nissan corrects this in their owners manual, takes out that you should never drive with AWD lock engaged on flat, dry roads (if you have no choice to turn it off anyway), and maybe state in there that the light being on constantly is a normal thing.

I believe the manual is stating it correctly.

Driving with the AWD lock engaged as referred to in the manual is when you engage the LOCK using the switch in the driver lower which will illuminate the "amber" AWD LOCK indicator ... they are advising not to keep it in LOCK mode when not needed.

sprocket wrote:

RobGinPeabody wrote:My only grips is that Nissan corrects this in their owners manual, takes out that you should never drive with AWD lock engaged on flat, dry roads (if you have no choice to turn it off anyway), and maybe state in there that the light being on constantly is a normal thing.

I believe the manual is stating it correctly.

Driving with the AWD lock engaged as referred to in the manual is when you engage the LOCK using the switch in the driver lower which will illuminate the "amber" AWD LOCK indicator ... they are advising not to keep it in LOCK mode when not needed.

Yes, but they also state in the manual not to drive with it in "Auto" mode on either if you are on a flat, dry surface; on other words, Auto is okay as long as it is wet/icey and/or slippery, which varies considerably given where you live. That's where they go wrong. Also, they need to state in the manual that the green light stays on all the time and that is it normal. It DOES NOT state this. So, the manual needs to be updated. Anyway, I got the answer I needed (thanks in very large part to YOU! ) and I hope others will read this if they have the same question.

BeachMom wrote:I thought the Lock and Unlock button would turn it off as if the car didn't have it. Thanks for clarifying that it is always on but just not "locked". Would love an explanation of what "locked" means.

1019throw does an excellent job explaining this but, really, I can't see where you would use the lock button anyway except for in rare situations or where you either are or have the potential to be stuck. Glad it helped you out too though BeachMom.

The Always On AWD light is a good thing. Years ago, I had a 2002 Ford Explorer with auto 4WD like the Rogue but Rear wheel as primary and auto 4x4. The 4x4 module went out.... I didn't know it until the first day there was a ton of snow and now all of sudden I only have rear 2WD. Had there been a light to tell me that 4x4 is still functioning or no longer functioning, I would have found out sooner and had it fixed instead of at the worst time.

Well, at least THAT warning works. I'm a little pissed about the washer fluid thing now that I have read your post on that. Nissan??!! This is some simple s*** that wasn't even right!

To the Moderators and/or creators of this forum site....THANK YOU! I'm glad I have a place we can come to talk with other like minded people and we can share our experiences without feeling like we are being high maintenance ourselves instead of our cars (apparently).

Good to know