4wd issues(rr locker light, no 4wd indicator light)

Ok.. yet another thread for this beater 02 Tacoma I bought. (3.4 v6)

I put in a 20 amp fuse that was missing from the 4wd slot in the cab fuse box. Now my diff locker light on the dash is on. Does that mean my locker is engaged? It won’t go off (tries the left and right steering wheel trick, should I have done this in 4Lo?). I can now hear a click from the actuator when I press the electric 4wd button. But no indicator light on the dash telling me it’s engaged. I tried to switch a different bulb into the slot on the instrument cluster but still no light unless the one I switched was also a bad bulb. Waiting on some bulbs to come in the mail. Don’t know what step I should take next. Remove the actuator??

 

Sounds like you have multiple issues here. Let's talk through a few of them.

You need to verify what's actually engaged or not in the 4wd and rear locker.

Get all 4 tires up in the air with the truck on jack stands.

Locker: If you rotate one of the rear wheels, does the other rear wheel spin in the same direction? If you abruptly stop that wheel, does the other side stop? If so, then your rear locker is engaged. If pressing the rear locker button on the left side of the steering wheel does not disengage the locker, you may need to remove the rear locker actuator located on the drivers-front-side of the rear axle housing. There are videos detailing this process, and I suggest you look them up before you remove it to familiarize yourself with what you're looking at. The main thing to know is, the relative position the actuator motor is into the position the locker is in must remain the same to reinstall things. If you remove the actuator and then press the dash button, and it moves to the unlocked position, you need to move it back to the locked position to reinstall it, and vise versa. It could be an issue with either the actuator, the gear and rack in the diff to engage/disengage the locker.

4wd: When you push the 4wd button (or move the shifter into 4Lo), two things happen- there is an actuator on the transfer case that engages the front drive shaft, and another actuator on the front axle stub shaft that engages the Automatic Disconnecting Differential (ADD). It's possible for the xfer case to engage, but not the ADD or vise versa. So when you push the button you need to pay attention. There are several threads, and videos that detail out the nuances of each of those actuators, and how to inspect or remove them. Be wary of removing them and actuating them. They are indexed and you can throw that off, making reinstallation a nightmare.

I usually recommend that the harnesses be disconnected to them, and thoroughly cleaned with electronic contact cleaner, given plenty of time to dry, and reassembled to rule out bad/dirty contacts as an issue. This is true for the locker and xfer case, and especially true for the ADD. The ADD connector seems more prone to getting water in it.

Once you know the state of these things, you can move forward figuring out how to get them working.

If your truck is truly stuck with the locker on, do not drive it on high traction (concrete, pavement, etc...) surfaces unless they are covered in mud or snow. As you'd risk blowing up a driveline component.

 

Thanks so much for that. I just put some 2nd gen stock wheels back on, the truck is lifted, and my upper control arm is rubbing the front tires when I Jack it up. Looks scary and I don’t really wanna mess with it much until I get some spacers. But I did get the back tires up and when I rotated one side, the other side moved in the opposite direction. Does this mean the locker is not engaged? Might be in over my head and let someone qualified handle it.