2008 Tacoma tranmission stuck in 4WD low

Yesterday, I backed out of my gravel driveway at my cabin in 4WD low. I had not driven in 4WD for several months and I head a loud clunk when I stopped backing up. Upon driving forward and switching over to 2WD, the transmission was stuck in 4WD low, the light would flash on the dash, but transmission failed to go into 2WD.

I drove it for about 2 miles, tried backing up, turning etc, still stuck in 4WD low. I finally returned back to my cabin and parked it. I thought I was going to have to have it towed to the dealership, but I did some searching on the web, found one other person with similar problem.

The fix was to leave it running for about 30 minutes on asphalt roadway. After it heated up under the vehicle, the transmission switched back into 2WD when I backed up and then drove forward.

When I looked in my owner’s manual, it recommended driving the truck in 4WD at least one a month for (10) miles which will assure the front drive components are lubricated for the automatic disconnecting differential. This is something I have failed to do since I bought the truck; something I overlooked when I first read the manual.

At any regard, I think my failure to comply with the manual recommendations, the cold freezing weather, and the truck sitting without being driven for serveral days caused this problem.

 

Sometimes all it is, is just pushing the clutch in really hard and making sure the truck is in neutral. My truck ocassionally does the same thing.

 

Did you try to go to 4Hi first or right to 2wd?

 

sometimes i have to turn the switch back to 4lo, then mak to 4hi a couple times and it will finally disengage

 

1. do the monthly 4wd engagements, this will keep everything lubed and working. It will also get you used to how your truck reacts when putting it into 4x4.
2. dont try to go from 2wd to 4-lo, or vise versa. Think of it as a step by step. from 2wd go to 4-hi and drive alittle, then stop completely, put in neutral, then put in 4-lo. from there you may need to roll it forward or back to get 4-lo to engage.
Do the same for going from 4-lo, stop/neutral then to 4-hi and drive alittle, then to 2wd.
This is my third truck and i have done this on everyone of them and have never had any problems with any of them. I usually do the once a month engagement on the 1st of every month ( just easier for me to remember )

 

The truck will not go from 4L to 2H. This is normal. It must first go into 4H, then 2H. And that still requires putting the truck in neutral. If it's stubborn, try shifting out of 4L to 4H from a slow roll. Also, the transmission isn't a factor, its the transfer case and front axle disconnect that shifts between 4H, 4L, and 2H.

 

I made a complete stop, then shifted into 2WD from 4WD low and and the light would flash, but it stayed in 4WD low. I tried going from 4WD low to 4WD high several times, stopped, moving, backing up slowly, no luck. It was only after letting it sit on the asphalt running for about 30 minutes that I was able to get it out of 4WD low. Just glad it is working now and I will make sure and do it the right way now.....

 

nice habit! do you do this on dirt?

 

ill answer for him, yes

 

yea, i was being sarcastic. (and a bit jealous). not alot of dirt around me, that i can drive around in. maybe a dirt road behind some home depot.

 

I do it whenever I get caught in traffic...just don't turn. 4LO is nice for almost stopped traffic.

 

You can do it on pavement as long as you are going straight. I do it every now and then for a mile or so when there is no one on the road.

 

FYI: was doing some wheeling today and when I tried to switch out of 4lo it just beeped at me... tried everything I could think of, ended up driving it all the way home in 4lo.

Also, I could not get it out of park without pushing in the little button, the gear selector indicator on the dash was not showing anything, and my turn signals were not working.

As it turns out the IG1 fuse under the dash(#32) blew. It is for the Back-up lights, air conditioning system, passenger airbag manual on-off switch, and SHIFT LOCK SYSTEM.

What happened is I must have shorted out the back-up light circuit at the already broken trailer harness when I dragged it on a nice drop-off.

I hope this helps someone out of a jam... Driving home in 4LO for 10 miles sucked!

 

I had the same problem. Tried all the rolling shifts, checked all the fuses, then I simply switched the selector knob quickly about 7 or 8 times and it went into 4H. Shifted back to 2WD perfectly. Thanks

 

Thanks for all the tips. Went from 4h to 4lo, no probs (wet, muddy road), and had a hell of a time getting back to 4h, then 2h. Anyways, turned it off for 3rd time while reading manual, and finally got her back to 2h.
A little over 2 weeks old, but I'm sure I'll have her more than 10+ yrs.
'08, 171k km.