Stuck in 4wd, making a whining noise, truck is not moving.

I’m In South Lake Tahoe driving home. Some people needed help. I helped them get out of the snow. I put it in neutral and put it on 4lo as soon as I clicked it over it started to make a whining noise as I stepped on the accelerator. Now it won’t disengage and my truck won’t move.

 

Put it in 2WD, turn the truck off, and restart the truck.
I don’t know why, but sometimes that does the trick.

 

Tried that. Didn’t work.

 

Recommend changing title to include words [HELP]

Are you located where you can crawl under and check for broken wiring etc?

Do you have tools to remove the transfer actuator and manually operate it? (Or would even want to do that?

 

I had to leave the truck. Getting it towed tomorrow hopefully, depending on weather conditions. I’m not in any danger or anything. Just curious on what people think is wrong. I’m on a main road so was able to get help back into South Lake Tahoe hotels.

 

Statistically, one of the electric actuators shit the bed. Depending on the failure, the 4wd will failsafe and prevent further operation of any kind. I think it likely this occurred here.

That said, it is possible for a catastrophic failure in the system, but happens rarely and usually only if doing something weird while changing modes, etc.

Wont be able to say much more without getting it on jack stands.
Just keep in mind, even if it's an actuator problem, a used transfer case with an actuator may be easier (if it's in transfer case and actuator), or just a new front ADD actuator

 

Thank you. Much appreciated

 

(Note, the reason it was recommended to switch back to 2wd and power cycle, is that clears temporary fail-safe conditions and often gets back to 2wd successfully. That often does work to get moving)

Good luck. Let us know if you want more troubleshooting help (if that is possible)

 

In that case would it go back in 4wd?

 

Usually no, usually can get it back to 2wd
(Because we know that the actuators had valid 2wd position feedback earlier in the day, otherwise you would have been stuck at home... so often can get back to that valid 2wd and get moving...)

 

Thanks bro.

 

Procedure for 4Lo is as follows:

I'm sure you did all of this - but wondered if the 'Foot on the Brake' was applied when you did it.

1. Stop Your Toyota Tacoma and Keep Your Foot on the Brake.
2. Shift Your Toyota Tacoma into Neutral.
3. Turn the 4WD Control Dial to 4L – Low Range 4WD.

Sameish thing for getting out of 4Lo...

Complete stop.
Foot on brake.
Shift to Neutral.
Switch out of 4Lo to 4Hi then to 2WD if ready for that.
I'd give all of these 'actions' 2-3 seconds in between as well.

Other than all this let us know how it turns out.

 

did you shift out of neutral before it was done shifting into 4lo? careful with that

 

Yeah I did all those steps. 100% sure my foot was on the brake. I was Messing with it for awhile. I’m not near the truck right now. So I can’t do anything at the moment. I’ll keep you all posted about what went wrong as soon as I know.

 

Annnd the check engine light is on too forgot to mention that

 

Do you engage your 4wd at least once a month?

 

Yeah about once a month I engage it to keep things lubricated.