Ok, so my dealer told me my AWD LOCK was there in case my car needs to be towed or something to cancel the AWD, I now know he was an idiot. my question is I can't find if your supposed to be stopped or moving to lock the AWD on. I turned it on while stopped and the lock light came on, when trying to stop again (only going 15-20mph) I was sliding and I kept sliding every time I brake. I am just really confused on how to get the AWD to work in bad conditions or if I need to get new tires. It is very icy today and I was a bit disappointed.

First off, AWD lock has nothing to do with your braking system. Turning it off or on will do nothing to impact how the vehicle behaves while braking in slippery conditions. This would likely be more a function of your tires.

Our vehicles have a centre differential which divides the engine power between the front wheels and the rear wheels. Our vehicles operate primarily as front wheel drive vehicles until slippage of the front wheels is detected, at which point some power will be sent to the back wheels. When and how much power gets sent to the back wheels is controlled by the car's computer. However, in bad conditions you may not want to wait until the front wheels start to spin before power goes to the back.

By pressing AWD Lock, you are telling the car that you want power sent to the back regardless of if the front wheels are spinning. Rather than waiting for slippage to occur, power is split front/rear from the get-go. The car "locks" the centre differential so power is always sent to the back.

It is important to note that this only works up to 30 km/h or so. Beyond that speed, the system unlocks the centre diff and the car reverts back to front wheel drive unless front wheel slippage is detected, at which point it will route some power to the back wheels. Also note that our vehicles automatically start off in AWD mode when starting from a stop.

Dealer has not clue what he's talking about. Refer to your owners manual for proper towing procedure.

indybuggy wrote:Ok, so my dealer told me my AWD LOCK was there in case my car needs to be towed or something to cancel the AWD, I now know he was an idiot. my question is I can't find if your supposed to be stopped or moving to lock the AWD on. I turned it on while stopped and the lock light came on, when trying to stop again (only going 15-20mph) I was sliding and I kept sliding every time I brake. I am just really confused on how to get the AWD to work in bad conditions or if I need to get new tires. It is very icy today and I was a bit disappointed.

THANK YOU! helps a lot. i still want to know does it matter if your stopped or moving when you press the AWD lock?

Doesn't matter, you can press it when ever you want. Same with the TCS/VDC button.

indybuggy wrote:THANK YOU! helps a lot. i still want to know does it matter if your stopped or moving when you press the AWD lock?

You can use the AWD lock while moving like others have suggested. But there are times it shouldn't be used:

pg 5-22 in the owners manual:

Quote »WARNING. Do not operate the AWD LOCK switch when making a turn or backing up.. Do not operate the AWD LOCK switch with the front wheel spinning.[/quote]