Transfer case actuator help (urgent)

So the past camping trip I went on I started to have some transfer case actuator problems. It would take forever to come out of 4LO and 4H and took many attempts at reversing, pulling forward, restarting, etc. eventually got back into 2H and it was fine but then had the 4H and 4LO lights start to flash while in 2H. I took the actuator cover off in a gas station just to look at it and then put it back on. Lights went off. Now back home, tried testing the 4wd system to see if it would do it again. Sure enough it did, but this time I’m now stuck in 4LO (in the middle of San Francisco… great). Took the cover off again and took off the switch housing? Not sure what it’s called. See first picture.


Inside this housing there are two little metal bits with wires. They are just hanging around not connected to anything besides the sheet metal (I’m far from being an electrician). Does this look right??

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/transfer-case-transfer-cases-in-first-and-2nd-gen-trucks.345652/

 

The little metal bits attached to the wires are called brushes. They are held against the shiny round bit at the bottom of the screw shaft (in the middle of your first pic) by those springs underneath them to form a motor, which turns the screw shaft and engages 4x4.

 

Okay cool. So is there a certain way I need to slide the screw shaft back in? Do I need to align the brushes in there somehow?

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/4wd-system-operation-help-thread.742420/

 

The brushes are already kind of in the right orientation - the convex face goes against the shaft and they should sit down in the groove the springs are in. Your biggest issue is going to be keeping the springs retracted so you can slide it back together.

 

Like this?

 

Yep

 

Alright I got that cover back on. Pretty hard to hold everything together but for future reference I used some tape to hold the springs and brushes back and then slid the tape out once the cover was on. Onto the next thing to diagnose…

 

did this fix your issue?

 

Yeah it seems like it. I just pulled it on the street and successfully went in and out of 2H/4H/4LO multiple times. I didn’t really do much though, just pulled the cover and messed with it a little. I’m weary that it’ll last but we’ll see. I need to do some more research on what could be the real problem, seems like something is getting misaligned in the actuator, or maybe it’s a bad ground or something.

 

Thanks everyone for the quick help! TW is cool

 

Hey op , glad you got it running again! Do you regularly engage the 4wd ? I try to run it every week 4hi and low

 

Yep, couple times a month at least. I’ve been using it regularly throughout winter going to the snow. Never had any problems before my last trip.

 

Looks at this what do you think really happened to my actuator?

 

Looks like the motor inside may have fried itself.
That's the ADD actuator, not the Transfer Case Actuator.

 

Do you think it is safe to drive until I receive the part?

 

I don't see why not, just your 4wd most likely won't work.