Truck won't come out of 4 lo.

OP, were you able to get home today?

 

Don't forget about Blue Ball. At least it's only 15mins from Intercourse

 

Yup, 9.8 miles away to be exact. Thank god for small favors LOL

 

I've also read somewhere that it needs to be on level ground to go in and out of 4Lo
my manual is easy to go into 4Lo but always is a b**** to get back to 4Hi the few times I've used it

 

OP doesn't seem to be reading this anymore, but to anyone who may stumble upon this thread in the future:

What is highlighted in the video above will only remove your T-Case from 4wd, your front ADD will still be locked in 4wd. Separating the front diff is another task entirely, one that is not as easy. You will be able to do freeway speeds in a pinch, but your truck will still drive poorly relative to true 2Hi.

Also, by doing this, you un-sync the front add and your t-case, and your truck will not like this. Dash error messages will appear. Re-timing your 4wd system is not super easy, so only pull your t-case actuator if you are mechanically inclined.

 

You will continue to drive your front driveshaft, with the associated parasitic drain, however I never noticed that I could feel any driving difference with the ADD locked and the transfer case in 2hi (while developing 2lo mod) vs the ADD unlocked. (not saying there isnt more drag, but I didnt notice any issue with high speed handling, low speed maneuvering, etc.)

I find putting the truck ADD into and out of 2wd and 4wd manually is pretty easy with just a few pieces of wire and ~6v battery, but the manual method will leave the actuator in an electrically unacceptable feedback location, so after you are all done with the manual ADD positioning, leave it in a mid position so the truck will position it correctly.

The truck will not care AT ALL about a loss of sync between the front ADD and the transfer case actuator. If you do a 3rd gen '2lo mod' and mess up the sequence, you are causing this exactly all the time. In that case, when you power up the truck after resetting the switches the truck will move each actuator back to the correct commanded position (if the actuators are healthy and responding). The truck doesnt care at all if the ADD is locked and the transfer case in 2hi and the dash switch in 4hi when you turn on the ignition... First thing it does it just fix that. So yes, it will cause dash lights while you have it messed up, but that will go away as soon as you fix any underlying issues and restart the truck.

However, retiming the transfer case itself is a NIGHTMARE, and is required if you disassemble the transfer actuator and force the case into 2hi as shown.... but if it gets you home, I would do it without a second thought.

 

Can confirm the 3rd gen t-case actuator is not fun to work on. But I *think* if you managed to get the actuator out, get the t-case into 2Hi (physically get the shift rod in place) and then put the actuator back into 2Hi and reinstalled then the ECU should take care of the ADD on the next startup. Assuming the t-case is all good to go and that the 4x4 knob lines up with the 2Hi state

 

This is correct, but the retiming of the the t-case actuator is the difficult part. The first thing the truck does on startup is to put both the t-case and ADD into the position determined by the knob inside the truck, IF there are no issues with either of the two systems positions. If you reinstall the t-case actuator without getting the timing just right (I've done it manually, it takes a very precise location) then your truck will do nothing. It will not drive the ADD into 2wd if it knows the t-case is not positioned correctly.

 

Agreed with all of that, was trying to highlight what will happen immediately after messing with the system.

I worked with you specifically when I had serious 4wd system issues.......

 

There is nothing about this that make sense. Running 75w90 oil vs 75w, or 75w85 etc isn’t going to have such a significant difference in cold temps that it would bind the transfer case or diffs up and prevent them from engaging.

What would be more plausible is that you had moisture in your actuator and it froze causing them to not function properly, or corrosion - which is an issue that several people have reported having on 2nd gen and now 3rd gen Tacoma’s.

 

Hear me out.. Put in in reverse and floor it.

 

Not sure what happened to OP but I’ll drop this year in case they are still struggling.

Timing the gears is a massive pain in the ass, but getting home might be more important and you can deal with it there. Assuming you don’t need 4wd to get you there?

Here is my post with basically the exact same issue you had, except I was stuck in 4H after a poor shift out of 4L:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/4wd-won’t-engage-disengage.696584/

 

As you said, and I hope he made it out OK.

 

@Wampas cat

You make it?

 

I just bought a 22.
ive experienced lots of flashing indicator lights when attempting engagement in and out of 4 low.
the E locker provides its own challenges and flashing lightshow.
ive driven many 4x4 systems over the years. some were not very useful once the vehicle was stuck.
i try to exercise the gen 3 actuators frequently until the actuators inspire my confidence in them.
so far not feeling the confidence i should be feeling.
Sympathise with OP.
i would hate to be scrambling to unfuck the system in the field.

previous post claimed truck must be level to engage 4low.
i hope this is not the case.

 

OP is either found a new bear friend, or walking home

 

Sasquatch lives!

 

Maybe he's pushing his truck?

 

I would argue the OEM Toyota fluid is much different than the gear oil. I camp in colder weather than most do, so have experience in very cold conditions that most never see.

I have no water in my actuator, and the problem was repeatable with 75/90 in there, and 100% never occurred again, ever, when I swapped back to Toyota LF Low Friction fluid.

The Toyota low friction fluid has a completely different look and colour. There’s a reason they ship it over from Japan, but yeah if you wanna run 10W30, Crisco, or Red’N’Tacky in there, or whatever, fill your boots.