2WD to 4WD FAILURE

I guess getting out in shitty weather in traffic wasn’t an issue. I live on a two mile dirt mountain road. Every freakin day in the winter I had to unlock them after leaving the snow covered road and lock them again before I came in. At least the post office was with in a mile of the dirt road. I had a twenty mile drive over the interstate to work.....so I wasn’t about to run that with the hubs in.....though I did once a week for lubrication. Yup, a big PITA

 

Well @BigWhiteTRD you were right. They put a band new ECU on my truck and it didn't change a thing. Still had the failure immediately after starting the truck. So... after talking with Toyota Corp it was decided to order a new actuator and install it.

 

Sorry to hear that
Glad they are still working it...
Now, do we put money on which actuator...

 

Oh crap!!! There’s 1 for 4HI and another 1for 4LO ?

 

This is why I like mechanically actuated t/cases , no electronics to fail

 

actually, 1 in front diff (ADD actuator) that engages or disengages the front diff
1 in transfer case that goes from 2hi to 4hi to 4lo.

(by spoofing the front actuator we get 2 wheel lo mod...)

 

Well they are still working on it as of now. Will update when I hear something.

 

There's always the curmudgeons that repeatedly come out to tell the guys with a new vehicle failure, how any vehicle older than theirs is the best, and they own the last mohican. They're still skeptical of those new fandangled powa-winders ,and waiting for them to break 2-3 decades later.

 

Then I should live to be 100 years old. My wife....damn!

 

Shit I would be pissed off if i got this message on my dashboard...

 

I here you. Toyota is slow making improvements and they were with auto hubs.....once in, they were bullet proof though.

 

Why did you bother unlocking the front hubs??? If you didn't have the T-case in 4WD it's not harmful to leave the front hubs locked.

 

I drove twenty miles one way on the highway at 65-70 . Locking the shafts to the wheels then turns the front differential and front cv joints for 40 miles. The mileage was much worse on those trucks with the drag not to mention the Additional wear. Besides, I never drove over 50 with the hubs in.

If it was stormy and roads were snow covered, I did Leave them engaged

 

Well I was able to pick my truck up last night and they had to replace the ADD valve ( Automatic Differential Disconnect). They said they checked it before and it was working but after a visual inspection they found out it wasn't working.
It's hard to believe that a 4x4 component cant be in water because if it is, it'll short out.
I see a lot of photos and videos of Tacoma's going through water and they aren't affected. Is there a work around this valve? A way to delete it from the system. Seems to be a very week component.

 

some pics of the inside

 

UM THE LIFFT PULLS UR AXLES OUT AND CHANGES PINION ANGLE, ETC !4X4= 101

 

There's a lot of stuff out there for the second Gen:

4WD ADD delete. Is it that simple?
How to: Deleting ADD system
Front Diff ADD delete. Need help with 4x4 wiring.

Nothing for third gens I've found. It may be a good reference point for the work involved to delete it though.

 

I’ve read that. Was hoping to see some info on 3rd gens. Good starting point though. Thanks.