Tacoma is parked in snow and won't shift into 4H.

Yea i think people forget that most of these questions are answered in the manual..

 

I hear people say their trucks won't go in 4wd all the time, regardless of brand of truck, and I have always thought it had to be operator error, but who knows.

All I can say is I have had this 2017 taco for about 17 months and it has never failed to go into 4wd on incline, decline, stationary, in neutral, you name the condition and it has gone into 4wd.

Take it to the dealer and report back. One of two things will happen; either there is a problem that needs fixing or they will show you what you did wrong.

 

You should of had the automatic 4wd system in my 2001 tundra....sometimes it would refuse to engage in 4wd, when it did you'd think the entire transfer case fell out on the road. The entire truck would shake with a big clunk...same for disengaging it to 2wd. This tacoma is nothing of the sort....just turn the knob and the green dash led becomes lit. Your now in 4wd hi...no muss, or fuss. Not even a sound.

 

I haven't had my Tacoma do it, although it has taken a bit of time before. Our 2019 4Runner had issues one time but that was resolved by moving it a bit. Never once an issue in my GMC; moving or not.

 

I never had an issue with my chevy's either, though the 4wd system could not pull me out of my cul-de-sac. GM's viscous coupled center diff is not very good at power transfer and mine felt like it was not much better than a 2wd truck. That was on both a 1500 and a 2500. The 2500 is the one I could not pull out of my cul de sac with.

 

Or the third and much more likely case - he will be told that's just how these trucks work (because it is) and be sent on his way.

 

no, more likely, when he takes it in, it will work as it is supposed to and they will say there is nothing wrong and send him on his way.

 

had zero issue today with truck facing a slight decline from a stop to 4Hi to 4Lo to get truck into street to allow the sun to help thaw my driveway

 

Never had that issue. But I did high-center the truck twice in the snow. Once was enough to start carrying a shovel. I was glad I had that shovel the next time.

 

.....and manual hubs.
That’s one of the many drawbacks with the autos.

 

Turning the steering wheel slightly the the left and right will sometimes engage it.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/free-wheel-manual-hubs-conversion.513930/

 

Yup, I know it’s possible and I did it on my old pathfinder.
That’s why the op was stuck in his driveway.

 

How deep is the snow? Got a shovel handy?

 

Without a picture I'll bet two minutes without a shovel would have gotten you moving enough to engage 4x4 if not enough to just roll out in 2wd.

 

Well that's strange.

It's not even a Friday thread!

 

I’l throw an idea your way that happened to me that was very unexpected. Drifted off the road into 1-2’ of snow last winter, couldn’t get the system to go from 4hi to 4lo or even into 2wd. Buddy dragged me out and lights were going crazy on the dash, no 4hi or lo but it was in 2wd so I limped to the shop. No changes in gear, out of gear, rocking, neutral or anything. Crawled under truck to find two wires broke off the actuator harness where it meets the connector….crunchy snow and ice or just cheap wiring. Got some wire and managed to reconnect via splices, when I got home I soldered the jumper and it’s worked since. I guess my point is the wiring for the transfer case are exposed and fragile in the cold, so if you drove over/through some snow you may have another problem than just engaging the actuator.

 

If I'm expecting snow I'll leave the truck in 4wd the night before, especially if parked outside.

 

I had the same issue this morning. Driveway is an incline. Put it in reverse and when right in. I suspect this is not a problem, merely the nature of the beast.