Won't go into 4H or 4Lo

I tried to get my truck into 4 wheel drive last night and it just kept blinking at me. I stopped the truck and put it in neutral (manual tranny)then switched into 4Hi. it continued to blink even after pushing in the clutch to move into 4Lo . I know this means it has not engaged into 4 wheel drive. I tried putting into gear to get to engage too and frankly the owners manual was no help in trouble shooting. The blinking lights came right back on even after shutting the truck off. I am quite concerned considering that I baby this truck and have never dawged her . Any suggestions besides paying out the wazoo at the dealership?

 

Neautral, clutch to the floor, then 4hi. slowly let clutch out and roll forward until it engages.

Again neutral with clutch to the floor, switch to 4lo. Let clutch out ad it should engage.

It has to be fully engaged at 4hi before going to 4lo.

 

put it in 4hi without stopping or doing anything. It needs to move and engage in 4hi before it can go into 4lo. The key is moving in 4hi to get it to engage. Once that happens, stop the truck, put it in neutral, and press the clutch all the way. With the clutch pressed in and stopped, switch it from 4hi to 4lo. Then slowly let off the clutch and move forward.

It sounds like your not letting it go into 4hi (because it takes movement to do this) which is required before going into 4lo. Make sense?

 

not much help since i have auto. but i know even with the auto you have to move for it to engage. also i don’t usually stop to put it in 4H.

also welcome from east TN

 

shifting into 4 HI or 4 LO uses the same clutch switch as has to be pushed in for the engine to start.
You already know how big the dent is on your floor from pushing that clutch all the way down to start the thing.

 

Thanks all for the help... well... most of you. I'm a girl and I know the difference between engine issues and four wheel drive issues... lol.

 

I'm not going to echo what everyone else is saying. All I'm going to add is that you should use the 4wd at least a few miles each month, to help work the front drive shaft/parts/etc and make sure they will engage when you really need them to.

 

Hmm, no. Just turn the knob.

lovemytoughyota, there are two places where parts have to line up in order to shift into 4wd. In the transfer case there is a synchronized gear to engage the chain, and in the front end, there are two toothed shafts that need to be aligned for the collar to slip over them.

The synchronized gear in the transfer case shouldn't be too difficult to engage, however, if the teeth are exactly in the wrong place, it could require you to rock the vehicle a little bit front to back.

The front end splined shafts can be a problem sometimes. If they are out of alignment, which they are most of the time, then you may need to spin the front wheels relative to each other. You can do this by cranking the steering wheel hard over and gently driving forward. Very gently, or you could break it.

 

Got her to go into both hi and lo last night . thanks again.