How To Trouble Shoot 4x4 Actuator

You do need to drain the diff otherwise it's allllllll coming out from that actuator hole lol. Maybe if you lift the passenger side of the truck up a foot or two you might be able to not drain some, but it's really not all that hard

 

Soldering upside down in a teeny space? Sounds like working on helicopters :-D. Ill drop the skid plate and take a look at the space in the next couple of days and decide where to go from there.

 

You're talking about 3" or so in front of the crossmember. Even dropping the diff down and holding it down only clears about half of the actuator. Sounds like putting in way more work to avoid draining some oil lol. Get a clean catch can, wear some gloves, drain it, remove actuator, fix, do it all in reverse. Shouldn't take more than an hour TOPS

 

I

I'll likely end up just draining than replacing the oil after I reinstall it.

 

2500-4000!!!!

this is by far the highest price i have seen quoted

the part new on eBay can be had for under 300 and in many cases under 200, and that is a toyota branded part not an aftermarket unit!!!

the labor is not that tough, it is tricky maybe but it sure is not pulling out a transmission or something..

they are quoting way too high if you ask me

 

interesting, i have not had the problem getting stuck in 4hi
my issue has been not being able to get the light to stay on in 4hi, it keeps flashing so I can not use 4lo but I know for sure 4hi is engaged

In my case my ADD will not turn 4hi off as well, I have to turn the dial to 2wd then turn the car off fully, turn key on engine off you should hear the clunk of 4hi disengagement

 

Wow. Trouble shoot that shit yourself. Put it in 4x4, if your front driveshaft won't turn, its your front diff actuator. If it turns, then its something in your Transfer case. I'd try replacing your actuators yourself first before going with the dealer

 

I just installed a new front ADD thinking it would fix my 4hi not engaging and still nothing. Is there a relay or something else I'm missing? I checked the fuse below drivers side and it's good. I'm almost certain the ADD is not getting power because each time I switch to 4hi I don't hear any noise or clicks coming from the actuator motor. Could it be my 4WD ECU went bad?

 

Can you hear your actuator in your Transfer case click? Did you try taking apart the Front Diff actuator and see if the motor is still connected?

 

I don't hear anything at all. The green light blinks soon as I turn on my truck without it being in 4hi. I recall when everything worked the moment I switched the knob to 4hi I heard the actuator motor work in the front add. It seems like it's locked out somehow and I can't get it to reset. I pulled my select knob switch and tested it per the Toyota specs and it's good. I'm stumped and can't figure it out. I applied voltage to the new actuator and it moves the fork without any problems so the motor is getting voltage.

 

is it just me or does it seem like us with 6 speeds are having these add issues more so than the automatics...???

@Charlie213 you purchased a brand spankin new one?? from a dealership? or dealership via eBay maybe??

 

Have someone else turn the knob while you hold your face next to your transfer case actuator, you should hear a click, AND you front driveshaft should be solid at that point. If nothing happens it means your transfer case actuator is either dead or not receiving power. If you hear it click and your DS is solid, do the whole thing again but hold your face next to the front differential actuator, if you hear nothing, do the thing on the front page of this thread.

 

I got it from Cameltoyota. It looks legit.

 

Is there a way to reset the system. I feel like the green light blinking won't allow me to do anything. I'm going to unplug my 4WD ECU and see if that resets it.

 

Put 4x4 knob back to 2WD, turn truck off completely, take keys out, open and close door

 

That worked before but now it doesn't want to stop blinking. At times the 4Lo decides to start blinking and this is with the switch on 2WD

 

pull your positive battery cable off for like 15 minutes, then try what I told you to do before to find out where its at. If there is an issue, this will not clear the issue, it will simply reset the computer and anything on the dash flashing for now. Unless your actuators are stuck in place, then it wont clear shit and you're either gonna be on your back wrenching for a while, or your about to spend alot of money at the dealership.

 

Gonna have to pull the skids off and trouble shoot this.

Thanks @blackhawke88 for the info

 

Thought I'd update my findings. Front actuator looked prestine (10 yr old truck w/ lots of wheeling). But the transfer case actuator was a diff story


Water snuck in through the breather hole (more on that later) and the water was causing the electical current to connect all metal contacting points - which is what you don't want. I read somewhere on here that someone put dialectic grease on there, but you dont want to do that either for the same reason.

After cleaning the gunk, one of the metal contacts was corroded just like someone had posted in this thread


The reason is because the way the actuator sits, when water is in there it will rest in that area. But the good thing is that its not completely corroded through. I literally put it back together just as you're seeing it - no grease, extra soldering, etc.

So the moral of the story, if you're going to submerge the underside of the truck in water, make sure the breather hose is in good condition. Mine was frayed pretty bad so I cut the frayed section off


Then I put the hose back on and ziptied it