MONTERO 4H Speed and Manumatic Limitations?
 

Hello Everyone. New owner of an 06 Montero. While driving from San Antonio to Houston, it started raining and wanted to switch to 4H (All wheel drive). Needless to say I didn't get the balls to switch from 2H to 4H as I'm new to 4wd/AWD world. My question is it okay to switch from 2H to 4H going 65-70mph? Does 4H have a limit as to how fast you can drive it? Will I be able to cruise 75-80mph on 4H without damage to the 4wd system? Can I use 4H all the time? Understand that I am talking about 4H and not 4HLc.

Another question is switching to manumatic while on the go. Is there a limit as to when to engage manumatic (at certain speed limit).

I appreciate the response, as I am a newbie when it comes to the Montero's features. :D

what does your owners manual say ?????

Yeah, first place I could have looked, if I have a manual for the vehix. I'm the 3rd owner of the vehix, so the manual may have been with the initial or the secondary owner. Vehix was sold as is. Thanks for the reply Mxmikie

You can switch between 2H and 4H (in ether direction) at any speed up to 60mph. If you are going above that speed and attempt to make a switch, the system will not execute until vehicle speed drops below 60. The lights for front wheels on the display will be flashing, but nothing will happen. You can leave the vehicle in 4H all the time. This is AWD mode and it will not hurt anything. In fact the manual says that if you are pulling a trailer, you MUST to have it in 4H. My guess is that this way torque is distributed between all axles rather then just rear.
As far as switching between Automatic and Manumatic modes, you can do it at any speed in ether direction. Just remember that you are in Manual mode once you stop :).

Thanks for the response Hunter. I tried switching from 2H to 4H at around 40mph and I didn't even feel the transfer. It was a pretty smooth transition.

I tried switching over to the manumatic, it was more gimicki to me and prefer the automatic setting.

Automatic vs. Manual mode
 

I find switching to manual transmission mode helps when I am actually off-road and driving up and down inclines. This way I can better control the speed, especially going downhill. Another situation that helps in the area where I live is when I am driving on the highways up very long grades. I can put the vehicle in proper gear (4th or 3rd, depending on speed and load) and it stays there instead of shifting up and down as it happens in automatic. I'm sure you'll find the time when the manual mode is useful.
Now go and get some dirt in the wheel wells and on the roof of your Montero.
These were bred to off-road and it's a crime to keep it on the hardtop only :)