Something similar happened to me a few years ago. I backed my right rear wheel into a slight ditch adjacent to an absolutely level rural driveway. I liked to have never gotten out. Three people had to push me.

Wolfgang advised me that I had to make absolutely sure that I did not have a foot on the brake while trying to crawl out of the ditch. I cannot be absolutely certain that I did not have one foot on the brake while I was trying to gain forward momentum, because I was afraid of slipping further back into the ditch.

He says that when you step on the brake, it turns off the 4ETS system. I have not tried to replicate the situation to see if I could drive out of the same ditch now.


Another time, when I was backing a load of hay on a trailer off road, I ended up in a situation where the right rear wheel was actually several inches off the ground. I unhitched the trailer (the wheel remained up in the air), and the system seemed to work flawlessly, and I drove right out. The wheel would spin for a second, then I could hear some different mechanical sounds and traction was restored. (I will have to admit, that after I got out of that situation, I went and got my 1973 Land Rover Series III to finish the job that I had started with the ML.)

george d