4Lo Switch - FJ Box Swap

Backstory: went to CO for my first big off roading event and ended up getting these error messages (see below) and 4Lo would never click in. It would just keep blinking away at me. Then I couldn't get out of 4Lo (even though the 4Lo light wasn't on) and had to turn off and let the truck sit for half an hour to reset itself.

Come back and I took the front diff ADD actuator off, cleaned it, soldered the connections up, put electric degreaser on the gears, and slapped it back in with a new gasket. Getting the same error messages and the truck won't go into 4Lo. Any help? Now I feel like I need to take off the T case actuator

 

Paging experts @ShimStack @BigWhiteTRD

 

At this point, I'm thinking about an FJ t case swap with my manual tranny. Thoughts? I do okay with vehicle stuff but I have a couple friends that live for this so I might get em all together and try it (ps this is my only vehicle)

 

What year and is it still under warranty? The power train hs a 5yr, 60k mile coverage. You appear under 60k. Not sure if the transfer case is considered power train or not. I would think YES?

 

According to my VIN, it was first sold 5 years ago AND 2 months.. think they'll still take it?

 

Aw man that sucks. It can't hurt to try if you have a good local dealer. Just hate to see you start to do work on it when maybe, just maybe they would cover it. You could always claim you noticed it 4-5 months ago but didn't have a chance to get in, and totally spaced it on checking the VIN sales date. If it is a 2016 or 2017 model year you could say "errr, I wasn't looking at the number of months, I was just calculating # of years?

Maybe they also offer you a ridiculous amount for it as a trace in towards a 2021 or 2022?

 

Sometimes these actuators just plain go bad. You might need a new one. Adventure Built recently did a video where he tried to fix his actuator not working (he got water in there when the guys that did his gears failed to reattach the breather tube). He cleaned it up nicely but it still didn't work until he actually bought a new actuator.

 

Ha, I've been to dealers all the last week getting numbers and the top I got was around $25k. I'm fine just leaving it and running this one in the ground. I think I may try to fj box swap, just waiting on @BigWhiteTRD to respond to see if it's right or even possible with my manual TRD Sport

 

I would still try it. If you can't find a dealer willing to work with you then I'd consider reaching out to Toyota corporate, they might do something in good faith since you're so close to the time limit and you're under miles.

 

That's annoying tbh, new one is around $500 and I can just buy an FJ box for $500 and delete the electronics. I'll see what the dealer says

 

If u get the impatient, check his post history. He has a couple of posts laying out checking the actuators resistance / wiring to verify its the actuator or something else. Do u have techstream? I think you can do actuator tests to help diagnose.

 

Just did a quick check.. I found the thread but he advised someone who is tech savvy (not me) to use it. I just have to be patient now lol

 

Betcha it's not that hard. U can do it!

 

Dealer looked at the power train warranty and couldn't find the transfer case actuator on there so if I brought it in, it's a 50/50 on if Toyota sends an actuator (1) and accepts my truck which is over the 5 year warranty (2)

 

Here, I will help as best as i can
@Dkarr13
First, what is your short term goal?... Is the focus right now to triage and get truck back in 2hi? Where are you, can you get under the truck? If you need to do a repair right now, do you have an ohmmeter? How about some wire, maybe a flashlight battery pack, etc?
The forum as a whole can provide alot of long term guidance, but if you are trying to get functional right now, lets focus on that.

 

First off I've read a ton of stuff you've posted and wow, lots of knowledge! Second off, I put dielectric degreaser on all the connection points of both actuators and the front diff and it snapped out of 4lo. I'm back in 2wd. Short term goal accomplished.
Long term goal: I plan to have this truck for 150k more miles at least with wheeling in every place I can. This is why I was curious about the fj t case swap. I don't want to get stuck in 4lo again. This time I was at home, next time might be in backwoods Colorado. Have you done the swap? How easy/hard was it? I have a friend that seems confident he can do it, I just want to know what to buy and if it's worth it

 

If the truck is in low gear, and the dash never displayed 4lo, I believe there is a 99% chance that the issue is with the transfer case actuator position feedback sensors (which are inside the actuator), or the wiring/connections to it.

Start by VERY CAREFULLY looking at the connectors and the wiring harness running to the transfer case.
Check for a pin which is recessed and not fully protruding.
(Sometimes you get crazy stuff like this broken wire that happened to one forum goer on the trail)

 

Glad you are functional at the moment. I have NOT done the swap. There are a number of members here who have done the swap. We will have to dig up the threads. My understanding is that it is fully doable, but definitely expect some work to get the right shafts on (per my memory).

I have PRIMARILY worked on helping people with the electronics side of the swap (because I have messed with the 4wd electronics and not done the swap myself). (such as maintaining crawl control and rear e locker after you put in the fj transfer case, but that wont be as important for you).

I will see if i can dig up some of the swap experts (who will have a better recollection of which input shafts work), etc

 

That would be fantastic, sir! I also have a manual transmission trd sport so I don't have crawl control and I don't have the locker so it would just be a straight swap. Only thing I want is a manual 4wd shifter that still lights up my dash when I'm in 4x4 and 4lo

 

I believe
@Bajataco358 has done the swap, (but I think he was automatic)
@HomerTaco
@6_gearT444E

Keeping your dash displays working correctly is actually VERY hard, at least for someone with my skills, which are primarily electro-mechanical in nature.
The 4wd ECU transmits the status signals to the dash via CAN... Dash turns on the lights based on the CAN data.

I think this should help you
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/fj-case-in-a-3rd-gen-tacoma.571689/
@tacotacochaquito