2 different 1st gen transfer case actuators?

2002 TRD, Xtra Cab V6
Hi everyone,
I'm kinda stumped, hoping y'all can help me out.
I've been having an on & off issue with my 4x4. Sometimes it doesn't want to engage and other times it won't come out of 4x4 (sometimes I get the blinking light, sometimes not). Seems like it's worse when it's very cold outside. I pulled the actuator off of the transfer case this past summer and it was all full of moisture and had some corrosion on the inner contacts. I read through the popular posts and watched the videos that show how to clean them up. It helped, but last week it was very cold and it started acting up again.
Anyhow, I'm thinking I'd like to just replace the actuator, but for the life of me, I cannot find this particular part...well, I did find it on one website but it was sold out.
So, in all of the threads and videos that I've seen, this is what the actuator looks like. See how it has the little triangle gear cover and 2 plugs? (1st pic) I can find these all over the place.
Unfortunately, mine doesn't look like that. Mine does NOT have that little triangle cover, and it only has one plug (2nd pic).
Do you guys have any info on this? I've been searching for the part number, but all I can find is the part number for the type in the first pic.
Thank you!

 

Put your VIN into https://www.toyodiy.com/ or https://partsouq.com/ . They should give you the exact part number you need.

Also take a look at this thread for info on the different case and actuator variants: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/1st-gen-transfer-case-identifcation-for-replacement-swap.753707/

 

What @6P4 said.

This is assuming your transfer case is the stock one and wasn't swapped.

The J shift variant may or may not include a signal out as the transfer case was paired with either a manual hub setup (no signal out needed) as well as an ADD setup (signal needed, to communicate with the actuator on the diff).

Then there's push button, which was only on ADD.

There's also the fact that ADD switched from vacuum (1995.-00) to electric (2001-04).

So, as mentioned use your vin.

 

Not confusing at all..

 

Thank you, everyone, I really appreciate the help. I used https://partsouq.com/ as @6P4 mentioned and I found 2 different part numbers. It looks like the OG part was 36410-35080, and the newer part is 36410-35081. I'd obviously like to replace the unit without having to split the t-case open. I'm curious if the drive mechanism would be the same on both the older and newer models. On mine, the little gear that drives the rod is connected to the back of this big circle gear. On the newer version 36410-35081, the drive gear is under the little triangle plate. I'm hoping the 36410-35081 version is compatible, cuz they're way cheaper than the older 36410-35080.

 

Hey Kwikvette, Yes, all very interesting. Mine is original diff', and it's push-button, and electric. As far as I know...

 

Yeah, I didn't even look at your profile details but that is correct - your truck, if stock, electric ADD.

Ensure you choose the correct engine model as well since the input gears vary from that of an I4 transfer case and a V6.

 

Huh, I'm not sure what to make of that. I can't find any difference (apart from price) between the two part numbers in any of the online parts catalogs. According to toydiy, they were used in the exact same trucks, although only the 80 part is actually shown in the part lists.

https://www.toyodiy.com/parts/xref?s=36410-35080&mU=on
https://www.toyodiy.com/parts/xref?s=36410-35081&mU=on

Best guess is that the 81 part superseded the 80 part and that they are interchangeable, but that's a lot of money to spend on just a guess. Might be worth calling your favorite Toyota parts counter to confirm.

 

It's weird, right? I found this info at:

https://autoparts.toyota.com/products/product/actuator-assy-transfer-shift-3641035081?driveline=4WD 3.4L V6 5MT&grade=Standard Extra Cab&series_name=TACOMA&model_year=2002&model_year_code=2002:7553

That site said-

"Brand Toyota Genuine
Previous Version(s) 36410-35080
Part Number 36410-35081"

Which is why I thought the 80 was the older version. I'm scratching my head on the price spectrum of the 81's as well. I mean I know the dealers are always a lot more, but $1739 vs like $250 at Parts Geek and or A-Premium.com. I mean what the heck??

 

That confirms it as far as I'm concerned. 80 is the older version, 81 supersedes it. They should be interchangeable. Now that I look again, I see that same info on Ourisman Toyota's parts site. I don't know how I missed it before.

As far as the price, the $1739 shown on autoparts.toyota.com is MSRP--Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price. It's only a suggestion, just like it sounds. Dealers almost always sell at a fraction of MSRP. Dealers set their own prices, so parts will have slightly different prices at different dealers, and the same dealer will often charge different prices depending on whether you order online, over the phone, or by walking up to the counter. Dealers also have different shipping rates, handling fees, and occasionally charge different taxes. Shop around for the best value. Ourisman Toyota and McGeorge Toyota usually have good prices for online orders.

Anyone that's selling cheaper than a dealer is probably selling a remanufactured or non-OEM part. Sometimes such parts are fine, sometimes they're prone to premature failure. I'm not sure in this case.

 

Were you able to find the right part? I’m also looking for the same one for my 02 double cab.

 

I have this one on the way from Parts Geek - https://www.partsgeek.com/ss/?i=1&ssq=APTCM0040. Hoping it's the one I'm looking for. If it's the other model I'll hook up the one plug and see if it functions. If it functions, I guess the next step is looking to see if the mounting points are the same, and if the drive gear and rod teeth patterns are compatible. I'll let ya know how it goes!

 

Hey 1stGenSven , I'm in the exact same boat here with intermittent 4WD. I've already replaced the front diff actuator which helped for a while but now it seems to be this TC motor/actuator that is failing. Mine is a 03 Access Cab Manual and the TC motor is the same model you showed in your second pic to start the thread that only has one electrical connection coming off the metal housing and does NOT have the triangle plate covering the shift rod gear. I cannot find this 36410-35081 part anywhere other than OEM sites for $1,200+ and would instead prefer to try out the million aftermarket ones I can find that have the dual connectors and triangle plate for $200 but am worried it won't be compatible. A few questions if you've got the time:

• Did the part you ordered from "PartsGeek" end up being the 35081 and matched your original motor or was it the one with the dual connectors and triangle plate?
• If it was the latter did it work - was it compatible?
• Also, how did you remove the original part from the TC assembly and shift rod? The only videos I've seen of guys being able to do this was through removing the triangle plate on the other model motors and pulling the rod gear out which then allowed them to slide it off while the rod stayed in the TC. How did you remove these original ones without the triangle plate and access to pulling that gear?

Thanks for any info you might be able to share on this as I'm stuck looking at having to drop both the TC and $1K+!!!

 

Hey Garrcus, I just got around to dealing with mine the other day, and have been meaning to post an update. So, here we go!
First things first...the part I got from Parts Geek was the newer model WITH the triangle gear cover : /
This led to one of my main questions, which was whether the drive gear of the Parts Geek version had the same teeth pattern as OME unit. I pulled the cap off of my existing unit and pulled the entire inner assembly out. *** Take note of the position of the assembly (the "clocking"), before you pull it out*** The drive gear is a fixed part of the inner assembly on our version, as opposed to being a removable gear like on the Parts Geek version, and in most of the videos etc. (pics 1&2).
Once this is done you can unbolt the actuator from the TC, and pull it right off. This will expose the rod that goes into the TC. With the rod exposed, I was able to confirm that the teeth pattern was indeed the same on both units. I actually just took the new unit and held it up against the existing rod with the teeth married together to confirm (pic 3). While I was confirming the tooth pattern I noticed that the number of teeth was different. The Parts Geek unit had more teeth extending down the rod (red circle pic 3). I assume the number of teeth doesn't really matter, and since you're not even using the new push rod, I believe it's kinda a moot point. That being said, I ran into an unexpected roadblock and had to pull an audible...
So, at this point, I've got the push rod that goes into the TC exposed. I'm thinking that I'm just going to pull the triangle cover off, remove the little gear, bolt the actuator to the TC, put the little gear back in (like in the videos), put the triangle cover back on, plug in the one plug and be off and running.
Um, no...I pulled the gear out, slipped the actuator over the push rod, bolted the actuator to the TC, and then attempted for no less than an hour to insert that little gear, and I absolutely could NOT get it in there. The inner circumference of the gear is a spline drive with extremely fine teeth. No matter what I did I could NOT get the inner spline and the outer teeth in a position to allow me to drop the gear back in place. I also tried pulling the cap off, removing the inner assembly, dropping the gear into position, and then reinserting the inner assembly, but ran into the same problem...that inner spline was just too fine, and I couldn't get it to line up. (really frustrating). If you could look down into the little triangle hole while you're inserting the gear that would make a world of difference, but the dang drive shaft is directly in the way, so ya can't get your head up there to see what the heck you're doing (didn't feel like removing the driveshaft).
Sooo, long story short, I bolted my old actuator back over the push rod, inserted the OME inner assembly (the inner assembly is basically just a big spring, and since the symptoms were electronic I assumed this spring assembly had nothing to do with the problem). ***Make sure to insert the inner assembly in the same clocking position as when you remove it*** Then I just slapped the cap from the new Parts Geek assembly on there and it's working perfectly. The cap contains the drive motor. I'm 98% sure the drive motor was what was causing me problems. It was either the drive motor or the contacts inside the cap were pitted from corrosion. Either way, by just putting the new cap on there, ya get a new drive motor and fresh new contacts.
Hopefully that all makes sense, but feel free to hit me up if you need further info.

 

Hey Vinny,
I just posted a little update on this. LMK if you have any questions.

 

Thanks for the update sir! I went ahead and ordered the same "partsgeek" part and will attempt a similar repair when it arrives. Thanks again for all the info and I'll update the post with my progress as well. Love these forums and how everyone is willing to help each other out.

 

Quick update on my attempt at this - I received the "partsgeek" part and ran into the same issue with installing the small ring gear once put back onto the original drive shaft, man that thing just will not drop in!!! The only thing I can think of is that the original drive shaft must be slightly larger than the newer model ones therefore not allowing it to fit. So, I went ahead with your method of using the original metal casing and drive gear assembly and mating that up with the new drive motor and contacts in the black plastic casing. I also swapped over the newer 4Hi Sensor onto the original metal housing about half way through my troubleshooting just to ensure that wasn't an issue and to get the most out of the newly purchased part.

It all went together pretty easily but for the life of me I am unable to get it to work. I must have taken those 3 bolts and the black plastic housing off and on 20-30 times as I attempted to get the clocking/timing right but with no luck. I'd either get the flashing green light on the dash or nothing at all. I attempted two main clocking techniques that I will describe below with the subsequent reactions or lack thereof on the actuator:

Counterclockwise - 2Hi Setting
In this position from what I understand the TC drive shaft is pushed into the TC as far as it will go toward the front of the vehicle and the outer most contactor prong oriented to about 3 o'clock should be on blank plastic on the contactor assembly (see pics below for reference - combination of my pics and ones I've found in all of the various threads online). I did confirm the truck is currently in 2Hi which is why I started here and where most of my attempts were made. I tried at this position probably 15+ times and moved the assembly clockwise by 1/4" increments to see if I could get the clocking correct. For most of them I just got the flashing green light on the dash and when I would press the "4WD" button on the gear shift inside the vehicle nothing would happen, no noise of the motor or anything else and no tension on the drive gear spring when I would pull the black housing back off.







Clockwise half-way position - 4Hi Setting
In this position I would rotate the drive shaft out of the TC by using the drive gear assembly to where the recess in the drive shaft should be on the 4Hi sensor on top. From here I would start the truck with the "4WD" button already engaged to try and sync it up with the sensor and ECU. However, I did not get a solid green light as if it was in 4Hi but nor did I get a flashing light it was just nothing and when I would press the "4WD" on the gear shift inside the vehicle I could hear the motor engage and rotate the drive gear assembly - however nothing would happen, no solid or flashing green light it would just rotate each time I hit the button. When I would take the black plastic housing off again the drive gear assembly and associated spring would be under tension and pop back into place once removed. Not sure what the hell that means though.

I may try a few more attempts but getting to the point of taking it into a shop and seeing if they can diagnose what is going on. My fear is that they will simply say you need a new actuator or an entirely new TC instead of trying to troubleshoot the actual issue. Any other ideas or suggestions from anyone would be greatly appreciated!!!

 

Hi Garrcus,
I believe in the 2 HI position, the rod is extended all the way out of the transfer case. When you go into 4HI and 4 LOW, the actuator pushes the rod deeper into the TC. When I installed mine, the truck was in 2 HI. The 3 little tabs were in what I would call the 1:00 position. There's a ridge/tab inside the metal housing, and then an edge on the spring mechanism. The edge on the spring mechanism goes directly to the left of the ridge/tab on the case. This is what stops the spring mechanism from just spinning around in circles as the motor drives it. The edge on the spring and the tab on the inner case make contact, and then the spring loads when you put it into 4HI/4LOW.
Kinda hard to show in pics, but LMK if these help/makes sense.

 

1stGenSven you are a life saver my friend!!!! I guess I read one too many threads and watched one too many videos on this repair and was all sorts of turned around. You are the only one I've seen suggest the clocking in this way and it worked like a charm!!! Perhaps it's specific to our year truck or I'm just not as good at researching as I thought. Either way I did exactly what you suggested and it worked on the first try and has worked in and out of 2Hi, 4Hi and 4L for the past day or so with me constantly testing it. Thank you again sir and really appreciate this community!