4wd actuator

This post is just to help / guide , some people on Toyotas , 4wd actuator .
- Toyota tacomas 4x4 used ADD (front actuator) and transfer case actuator.

Based from experience, I went off-roading , when I tried to engage 4wd . It won’t engage. Thinking I had did something wrong . I turned off my truck and turned it back on , at the same time switched the knob from 2hi to 4hi . It engage. Unfortunately when I was done , I tired to disengage from 4hi . It did . But my front driveshaft, kept spinning when I drove . I didn’t take notice until I was home .

Later that’s day I tried to engage 4hi , that’s when the problem start .

my 4hi light kept blinking,but no 4hi was engaged. I switched to 4low . No movement .

i restarted my truck , tired again . 4hi engage but wouldn’t disengage back to 2hi . The problem kept going for 4 months . I am no mechanic, just a person who likes to fix cars when I have a chance .

What I notice is the transfer case actuator, hose had a crack . Water had gotten inside the actuator rusting and clipping the metal thin strips that control the sensor .
This lead to front actuator engaging to 4hi and transfer case stuck in 2hi
Actuator need to be on the same page to engage 4wd . If not , both lights will come on blinking, or at sometimes just the 4hi .
the fix I found change both . Actuator front and transfer case

before installing the actuator open them up , align both of them . if transfer case in 4hi time the actuator to 4 hi . Same goes for 2hi and 4low.
make sure ur transfer case and front diff are both on the same page .

changing both , actuator will eliminate the blinking lights , and the chances of losing ur 4wd .

based on my experience, no volts were ever played with . Switch didn’t go bad
Actuator with sensor were the only thing replaced , with front diff oil .
Hope this helps .

 

That’ll be a temporary fix but the reason for the mistiming is one of them hanging up. What you did there is just put a bandaid on it to get by and does work but unfortunately you’ll find yourself at the same spot shortly down the road again. These systems are junk junk junk and overly complex.