How To Trouble Shoot 4x4 Actuator

That collar should rotate freely left to right. Try and spin the wheels and rotate again. As for the warranty and product info, I have no idea.

 

So to update my situation -

After replacing the 4WD actuator with the Rockauto Standard Auto Parts / Aisin unit, truck was still flashing 4WD indicator and 4 Lo continuously, while being stuck in 4 Lo.

I put my ear to the T-Case Actuator and had someone switch between 4 Lo and 4 Hi and was hearing no sounds at all.

So I took the T-Case Actuator off, opened it up (two of the 3 bolts sheared off that holds the plastic half to the metal half), and despite the fact that 2 of the 3 bolt holes on the plastic side were split, the inside was in surprising good shape. No corrosion of the contacts inside at all. The motor looked very rusty on the outside, but I applied 20V from a cordless drill battery to pins 1 and 2 and the motor spun freely (to my surprise!).

So I pushed the rod in manually all the way to put it in the desired 2 H mode, and I lined up the contacts on the T-case actuator to 2WD position and bolted it back up. I had to drill out the sheared bolts - luckily had some 8mm bolts from a Kawasaki 2-stroke kit that fit perfectly.

Put it back on the truck, got in and started it up, and bam - a quick blink of the 4WD indicator then it went off! Perfect - now I'm in 2 H! Took it for a test drive and it switches in and out of 2H and 4H with ease. I didn't try 4 Lo as I didn't want to push my luck at this point.

 

Just realized the rear part from RockAuto is not the Transfer Case actuator but a different part for the rear diff.

 

Damn, I thought mine was bad when I pulled it, it was packed full of sand LOL no wonder it got stuck. I soldered the motor tips dumped the sand, not in that order, and greased it up and boom it all worked. But yeah that's a rough one for sure

 

So I was testing my old actuator motor from a 12v source - than I mistakenly set my new add motor to that side without unplugging the source- sh*t grazed a pin on the connector tab on the new motor and a small pop & puff of black smoke came out. Is my new motor now also screwed ? There's no way to open up the connector housing to check if I blew a cap. Or could I plug it into the harness and see if my 4wd light starts going off like a Xmas tree ?

 

check the motor resistance, other than that the rest of the pins are just contacts there’s not much to “burn up” in there.

 

Yea, I powered up the truck and there seemed to be no issue with the 4wd light. It could have been the brush on electrical tape. After I soldered the connections on the new motor I put brush on electrical tape over the contacts to prevent corrosion. I love the stuff. I put it over the seam line after I opened up the motor and I put it over the screws. Its great for protecting joints from water intrusion and the screws from corrosion.

 

So weird issue. When I turned on the car it was binded. Couldn't reverse, drive, or neutral. I unplugged the add harness, restarted the car and it was blinking 4lo. Turned off the car, plugged it back in and restarted the car. Now its normal- didn't test 4wd yet because I gotta add a little more diff fluid after I get that damn stripped drain bolt out. My question is did the ecu have to re-read the add position ? Or was it just dry from the initial fluid drain and had to relubricate ?

 

Maybe someone can help. I slowly lost the ability to get into 4hi or 4lo. I replaces the add with a new one, no change light just flashes. What is odd if I set the actuator to either To

go from 2wd to 4wd, 12v+ at pin 1
To go from 4wd to 2wd, 12v+ at pin 2

The truck blinks 4lo on startup. If I set the add to mid level using a 9v the 4lo goes away. Could it be a bad position sensor at the transfer case ?

The below link helped a lot in moving the actuator without taking it off again...using a 9v & 12v source


https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/4wd-actuator-troubleshooting-transfer-case-and-add.578262/

 

FYI I broke my transfer case When I engaged 4wd when rear tires spinning in mud and front tires stationary on blacktop.

 

$110 36410-34015 3641034015

36410-34015

What happened ? Just wouldn't engage afterward & blinking light

 

4lo has nothing to do with the ADD. If that light is on its either the detent switch on the transfer case is the transfer case actuator.

 

I guess common sense is not so common

 

Thanks, that's where I'm heading. Sensors /switches on the tc actuator. I can't find anything on the procedure for opening the plastic face casing for the tc actuator since it seems to be important all gears sit at specific spots. I can mark it in opening but I can't even find if gears will fall out when I open it. There is plenty of info on the add but not on the tc actuator.

 

The driveshaft spins to the front diff. So either I messed up the front add or is it possible one of the 2 sensors on the transfer case actuator are bad ? Or can the limit switch be bad inside the transfer case actuator ?

 

if driveshaft spins the transfer case is in 2wd despite what your lights are telling you. The detent switches determine if it’s in 4lo, but that’s determined thru the ECU. Normally if all is well the detent switch will tell the 4wd ECU it’s in 4lo if the limit switches are also where they belong. However if the limit switches indicate the actuator is in an intermediate position it will cause the 4wd ECU to time out after a 4lo request and flash the light. My suggestion is to pull the detent switch and check that first. If that tests good than it’s the actuator or a bound up shift rail.

 

Are you able to shift into 4hi without issue?

 

Detent switch ? You mean tc transfer indicator switch on the actuator ?

 

Either way I fixed it on my own. My 4wd initiates better than when the truck was new. The most informative information I got was the above pin/ voltage link to set the add in the correct position.

 

yes