Question about 4LO & Diff Lock

I put the truck in 4LO for the first time and heard a warning chime the entire time it was in 4LO. Thought that was strange (normal?) and then I went to activate the locker. The light blinked but it never engaged, tried from a stop first then crawled slow but the light just kept blinking while the 4LO indicator kept chiming. I read the light should be on steady when it's engaged but that never happened.

What am I missing here? And yes I was on soft sand not pavement.

 

Forgot to add the vehicle was in neutral too, just never engaged.

 

You got to be at a complete stop, and have the clutch pressed all the way to the floor. You have to go from 4 HI to 4 LO. You can't just go from 2 hi straight into 4LO. Try this, and after you get it working, come back to this post and give me a rep.

--klown

 

-Was stopped
-Auto Tranny (in nuetral)
-Brakes applied

It drove fine in 4HI, wanting to test the locker I put it in 4LO (sequence above) and just got a beep......... same beep if it weren't in Nuetral. Because in didn't get in 4LO the rear diff never engaged either.

It seems like a sensor is faulty, the linkage is not right, or I am an idiot. (always possible) I have owned several 4X4 trucks/Jeeps and never had a problem with 4WD. Except the CJ7, had to rock that back and forth a little to get in and out of 4WD. This just confuses me.

 

Don't know what to tell you man, I didn't know you had an auto. Can you gimme a rep anyways since I tried to help you out?

 

just so we're clear.... you drove it in 4hi. came to a complete stop, shifted to neutral, turned the knob to 4lo, put it back in drive and still got the chime?

 

If you did it in this sequence it shoulda worked like a charm, unless something is wrong.

 

Correct.

I thought it was strange, hadn't used it before but the chime indicated something wasn't right. Put it in park, down to 2nd and tried all gears knowing it should be nuetral (only nuetral) to engage. Tried backing up (had to do that with the Jeep) and then back to nuetral but still nothing.

I will try it again, later and see what's up. It's still under warranty. Once it's in LOW it should allow me to engage the rear diff right? I understand it takes a few (up to 5 secs) to lock............ that indicator would blink but not engage either I guess because 4LO didn't ingage.

 

yeah, if you followed all those steps and it didnt work you may need to take a trip to the dealer.

as far as the locker goes, i think you may have to already be in 4lo then shift into neutral again, hit the button, and shift back into drive while never leaving 4lo. i seem to remember that being how i got mine to lock but i could be wrong. i dont think you can engage the locker while engaging 4lo, i think its a seperate process. does anybody know?

 

It shouldn't have any sequence. As long as the following conditions are met: 4LO, Locker button Depressed and under 5 mph.
But I did the locker mod at 27 miles, so it's a bit foggy.

I suspect the 4LO condition is affecting the locker, and the locker circuit is fine. Once you get the 4LO worked out, the locker will be fine. Thats what I get from the schematics anyway.

 

i think he has to already be in 4lo for the locker to engage, which means he will have to put it in 4lo, then roll a few feet to get it engaged, then go back and put it in neutral again to engage the locker. does that make sense or am i way off?

 

Umm, not related to the locker, but the 4 lo, if its chimeing when you swithc to 4 lo it means that 4lo hasnt engaged, tryin puttin it in 4lo and driving forward, or reverse untill chiming stops, that means your in 4lo, then if u still can't engage locker I dont know what to tell ye, but I would start by getting it engaged in 4lo so that its not chiming!

 

4Lo didn't engage, hence the locker didn't engage.

It's going in for the rear leaf TSB tommorow AM, I'll have them look at this too.

 

ye ok thats what I was getting at, didnt know if u had firgured that being the problem, sux that you cant get 4lo to engage, buts its nice toyota has a chime, I had a 2004 f150 which wasnt engaging in 4lo and mine didnt chime, its just let me spin w/e up inside the transfer case, dont know exactly what happened but waranty covered it!

 

Have you been in 4 lo before this attempt?

It seems like the actuator or whatever needs to break in just like the rest of the truck.

I seem to remeber it taking mine a good long while to engage the first time, hard to remember was 6000 miles and a year ago.

But a buddy just bought an 08 regular cab 4x4, and when he brought it by for a lesson on how the 4wd operate (his first 4x4) it took nearly three laps around the field to get 4lo to engage and dis-engage, but it wouked like a charm after that.

Rock is back and forth a bit, then go back to neutral and try again.

Yes, as already has been stated the locker will not engage unless 4 lo is engaged, so if you had not gotten 4lo to engage, then the locker would not engage either (in stock un-modded form that is)

BTW, Toyota, your consumers seem to want the manual transfer case lever back!!!

 

Bring Back The Shift Lever!!!!!!!

 

ding ding ding.....the FJ has it, why not the Taco!!

Another problem with the truck, the actuators seem to 'stick' if not used. I had similar problems with 4lo as well as with the locker. I have since done the locker mod and try to engage the locker at least once a month just to keep things moving.

Next time you try to shift to 4lo, be sure to either open the door, or roll the window down, you will hear a noticeable click/engage sound when the transfer case shifts, same for the locker engaging. Sometimes you have to rock the truck back and forth for it to actually engage. Definitely be sure to bring it up with the dealer when you take it in....just don't mention the locker-mod to them

 

Well I tried it again, drove around some more and after a few minutes it finally locked in, shall I saw I was able to engage LO. The rear diff locker also worked. I bought it used, 8800 miles and doubt this feature was ever used before.

Thanks for the advice of driving around, and yeah definitely strange. This is my 4th 4X4 and 1st without a lever. I miss the CJ7, it had to be man-handled in and out of gear while rocking the drivetrain back and forth.