toyota just called and said my "ADD Motor" is bad on my front diff.

$1050 to fix it.

are these things easy to change? or should I man up and pay the shop to do it?

 

It took me three hours. Just remember to drain your front diff before you take it off/out, I learned the hard way.

Fork over the $350 for the part, and do it yourself, they are jacking you for $700 in labor.

I would also recommend lifting the truck up, I did it all on the ground, and it was contortion to get to the four bolts.

 

they were saying the part is $921, and that it'd be $1050 total for the job.

where can I find this part?

 

That doesn't make sense, unless something broke in your diff. But the Add actuator is what I replaced, it ended up being about $350.

What were the symptoms when you took it in? And some more information on your truck.

 

2002 Tacoma TRD V6 etc...

this guy said it was the "Automatic Differential Disconnect" motor that attached on the Front Differential. they did a diagnostic check and said all the switches were good, and that the 4x4 actuator was good as well, but for some reason all those switches/actuator wasn't getting the signal it needed to engage, and that it's because this "Automatic Differential Disconnect" was broke. Even though it's not in 4x4 it's not totally disengaging, therefore it's not letting it engage



background, I was on a muddy hill about to slide off a cliff, I put it in neutral, hit the 4x4 button and when I popped the clutch and gave it the gas it slammed in pretty hard, but it was in gear and I drove to the top of the hill, I hit the button and it 'supposedly' disengaged and has worked since. Apparently Toyota says the ADD is the problem

 

When my actuator went out, I had a similar situation. It came out of 4wd, I thought, my gas mileage was really shitty, 13-14 mpg. When I pulled the actuator out, the clutch assembly on it was about half in half out, so I never really came out of 4wd. Occasionally while driving the 4wd light would come on, but it wouldn't be in 4wd.

I really think that this ADD they are talking about is the actuator. Which for my 04 and your 02 should be the same.

At toyodiy.com, they give me this part number and price.

41400 ACTUATOR ASSY, DIFFERENTIAL VACUUM
41400‑34013 RZN161, 171, VZN1701 $370.10

I think when I bought the replacement part, it was just under that price.

To give credit to my opinion, I'll post the two supporting documents they are using to try and screw you.

 

before I took it to Toyota, I had my local/trusted mechanic look at it, he said they were able to test the actuator and it checked out OK, they said they bypassed all the switches and put some voltage to the actuator and it acted as though it engaged, and the toyota boys said the actuator checked out OK as well.

this is starting to getting frustrating,

from what Toyota told me there's a motor up on the front diff that engages the live hubs and that this is the problem.

I told them that $1000 would break my bank, so the guy gave me a part number and everything, told me that it was 100% what the problem was and that if I could track the part down, I could probably do it myself. I asked a couple different times if it was the actuator and he repeatedly said now, it checked out OK.

part no. 41450-35010 Automatic Disconnecting Differential motor

 

all i have to say is HOLY SHIT!!!!

i just got back from toyota. I walked in there planning on forking over the cash to have this done. So I get to chatting with the guy who's gathering my paperwork as I'm telling him how broke I am, he tells me to try and track down a used one and do it myself because it wasn't that hard of a job. I told him I called every junk yard in the area they had nothing (because as it turns out, they gave me the wrong part number). So I settle up with the service they did and I go check in with the parts counter to get a final price on this part because I'm going to try to do it myself. I show the guy the part number and he says "Well that's not right, that's not the part you need, because I was out there when the guy found the problem, the part you need is $280" I start getting frustrated and said that they called me yesterday and said the part was $921. I start showing my frustration and my lack of confidence on what was actually the problem. So the parts guy calls the mechanic in, pulls the part, and the mechanic confirms that was the problem, 100%. I'm still skeptical at this point because we're talking about $700 difference and I've gotten two different stories now. So the 'manager' walks in and they get him involved, and it turns out the was the one who priced the job and he says "Oh, well I must have looked up the wrong part", doesn't apologize, doesn't say hardly anything and just walks out. So I'm stoked I finally find out the problem and learn that it's at a fraction of the cost I thought it was going to be, and also that I'm able to do it myself.

So at this point I'm happy and as I'm driving home I start putting this whole debacle together in my head and I think well it was just and honest mistake, what do they have to gain by raking me over the coals on this. But then I realized that if was indeed was an honest mistake, and the guy who priced the job KNEW he priced the wrong part, why didn't they call me and clear it up. Because the manager guy knew exactly who I was, what truck was mine, and what the problem was without even looking anything up. And the fact that he didn't apologize and immediately left the room got me thinking somehow he was up to no good.


Anyways looks like I'll be putting this one on myself




so kroggy, is this the part you did? drain the oil first right? can I reuse the oil? do I need any special tools on this?

 

Yep, sure was! I thought something seemed wrong about the whole situation. I'm pissed you got that for $280, I paid $70 more than that.

As I said before, you can definitely do it yourself. I used a really long ratchet extension to get to the top bolts, and box wrenches on the bottom. I would also recommend using jack stands, or those plastic lift things to get the truck up so there is more working room. Being 5'9" and having small hands helped me a bunch.

Pick up some RTV silocone gasket sealer, because there is no gasket for the part.

I would pick up new diff oil just for the purpose of you know it was done right. I'm sure you could use it again if you really wanted, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. 3 Quarts should be more than enough, I used valvoline synpower

$29 75W-90 Synthetic Gear Lube - 1 Quart (Pack of 2)

75W-90, because I couldn't afford to spend $60 on top for royal purple, I think I ended up spending half that for valvoline.

And one last word of advice for your install: Be prepared to cuss when trying to get the unit back into place correctly and line up the actuator with the clutch sleeve, it's tight, or remember how you got the old one out.

Anymore questions post up or send me a PM. GL!

 

hey fellas,

i just installed this item today. but after install the 4X4 is still not working. not too sure what else the problem could be.
the old actuator was missing a tooth on the rack of the rack and pinion setup so it kind of had to be the unit that was the problem.

the thing that i'm worried about is that when the stealership diagnosed the problem around christmas they must have had it off right? and when they reinstalled it i don't think they put any oil back in the diff because very little came out when i took it off in my driveway.
in the time they diagnosed it and i worked on it today i put close to 500 miles on it.
so i'm kinda worried about what kinda damage would have happened in that time.
any thoughts??


Alex D

 

As far as I'm aware, I believe I posted the FSM Pages on this earlier in the thread, they don't need to take it off, unless they find that it's working but not engaging. They voltage test the unit and listen for it working. I would assume that they wouldn't take it off, due to the fact they would have to refill the diff carrier anyway, something they charge out the ass to do anyway.

Second note, I'm not sure how much came out, but there is 3-4 quarts of oil in there, so I don't think that much would come out, but you may have been low in the first place.

Other than that, I hope its not screwed. New gears would suck.

 

well shit! i'm in the same boat as AlexanderD is. I installed the new part and I still have no 4x4. This is turning into a complete nightmare. It only took me about an hour to get this thing installed, and it went pretty smooth too. It just popped right in place no problem, I put some gasket sealer on it, filled it back up with oil and I still don't have 4wd. The only thing that is different now is before when I hit the button there was nothing, no clicks, no clunks, just complete silence. Now that I have this new part on and I hit the button I can here some little electrical clicks, two clicks "click-click" and it sounds like it coming from shifter area, but it doesn't engage, and then I hit the button again and the same "click-click" but nothing.

 

yeah, I put the vacum line back on, it just slid right on the little peg, is there anywhere else I need to check for vacum issues?

 

yup i also just plugged in the line.

as for the oil thing. it seems as if they had it off because the sealant seemed new and they charged me for 2 hours of shop time and using a multimeter to check resistances and all that shouldn't have taken 2 hours. fuck, i really don't like dealerships. they just seem to screw you at every turn!
i'm just gunna have to call them up and see what else the problem could be. which they will no doubt charge me an arm and a leg to 'diagnose'.

i'll report back as soon as i find anything out.

cheers,
AD
ps. thanks for the ideas fellas!

 

so, the dealer took the connector off and tested everything. it all tested right so they hooked it back up and it worked like a charm. needless to say i am a happy camper!!

 

any of you guys have an old add to sell or donate? I need the plastic body. Email or pm me please!

 

there's a reason they call it the Stealership

 

I do, but I'm not sure I want to get rid of it. When I get around to it I want to take it apart and see if I can get it working again. You know, for when SHTF.

 

That's really too bad. 4WD systems have been going down the drain ever since AMC came out with quadratrack full time 4WD.

I junked all the ADD stuff on my T100 and put free hubs on it. From the day I got the thing is would not disengage in cold weather. Sure, the dealer will work on it but, for hundreds every time it goes in. Manual works and it works every time. It's sad we now have to pay extra for things which only work some of the time.

It's insane that so many systems are in motion when 99 percent of the time we are on dry road. The ADD still has motion in the spider gears in the differential which churns up heavy gear oil and wastes fuel.

How did we get here?