Rear differential lock- won’t unlock.

2009 extended cab pre runner 4.0 auto. 148k miles. Pulling truck out of my yard- rear wheel spin. Engage rear diff lock & get right out. Light is on. Press button & light won’t shut off. Tried in park, drive, reverse. Never went over 2-3 mph & less than 50 ft. Rear tires are chirping pulling in driveway so it’s definately locked. Turn off engine, restart & light is on. Is there a quick fix for this?

 

Depending on your idea of quick, you can manually unlock it by pulling the locker actuator... shouldnt take longer than 15 minutes or so... Would also be a good time to see if its the actuator itself causing your issue.

 

Can you explain in more detail please? With my 2 knee replacements less than a year old, crawling around under the truck is difficult. A Toyota dealer is more than 100 miles from me (that’s what I get for moving to a remote area) so I’m wondering if the actuator can be removed or disabled for driving (last option). I’ll crawl under there in a bit & pull the elect plug & see if it’s getting power all the time. I swear I can here a relay clicking on & off behind the glovebox but indicator is lit all the time. Maybe pull a fuse? I’m assuming this is a common problem due to the lack of responses. Kinda boring over all the what wheels to get or what lift or shocks to run. Help a handicapped brother out please. A step by step troubleshooting chart or video would be nice. Looking at a diagram of the actuator online now- looks like it has 5 wires, so it probably has power to 1 lead all the time. I’m just guessing here, if locker is stuck on, would it still show a dash illumination despite what position the switch on dash is in?

 

Another thought- I only tried to unlock the diff driving uphill last night. Maybe try driving down hill turning wheel back & forth would unlock it taking load off axles? I’m assuming you have to be moving to unlock? I’m assuming dash light will remain illuminated until rear unlocks. Never paid that much attention to the light before. I just moved & am trying to unpack. No time for this!

 

Yes turning back and forth, foot off the gas, should pop out. It is a somewhat common issue and has happened to others on here. Dash light will stay on until the diff unlocks.

 

Try turning key to ON (not start)
Push locker button
Put truck into 2WD
Start truck
Drive slowly turning wheel

 

I backed out driveway & drove up street to end. Light on & locked, button off. Hung a u turn & headed downhill. In 50 ft, rear unlocked! Made my day!!!!!
Thank you- thank you- thank you!!!!!!

 

Yeah the e-lockers on these trucks are finnicky...always have been. But it's rare to see one that actually 'gets stuck' locked. They just take some time and finessing to get them to cooperate. Glad you got it worked out.

FYI it's pretty well agreed upon that the more you use it, the better it will behave...when they rarely get used is when people seem to have the most trouble with them. Maybe once a month or so, take it out on some dirt or on a straight road and engage/disengage it a few times to keep it happy

 

[QUOTE="eon_blue, post: 17872813, member: 180213”]

FYI it's pretty well agreed upon that the more you use it, the better it will behave...when they rarely get used is when people seem to have the most trouble with them. Maybe once a month or so, take it out on some dirt or on a straight road and engage/disengage it a few times to keep it happy[/QUOTE] I’m guilty of not using it. I’ll have to engage it more often.

 

Thanks guys you saved me a huge headache today. Looks like I need to hit the dirt roads more