4wd won't engage

That's true, but even having not done that it should take a lot longer than 13k miles to start having problems related to that. I'd be more concerned if something had 100k+ on it and had never had 4WD engaged ...

 

Did you try letting air out of the tires? If not, next time give that a try, lower air pressure to about 15psi for the sand and you will be surprised how much of a difference that can make. It helps even if you're already stuck, but buried and resting on the frame is another issue. If you're buried down to the frame you'll have to get a friend to pull you out. If you're solo then you can dig down a bit, put a jack in there (put something flat under the jack ... worst case use your license plate, but it's gonna fuck it up), lift the truck up and cram some sticks under the tires. Lower tire pressure to 15psi, and then you should be able to crawl out

 

4hi engages/disengages w/o stopping or clutch use.

 

I hear ya. I live on a small island and do a bit of beach driving. I leave my tires aired down to 20, and will go lower if I need to. 20psi and 4wd will generally do the trick. I took for granted that 4wd engaged, stuck about a mile out. Whoops

 

Yea, I learned about driving on the beach at Huguenot Park in Jacksonville, FL when I was younger. Always a fun time!

 

This week the big snow storm came and I put my 4WD into 4Hi and it kept blinking and will not engage no matter what I do. Tried forward, backup, stop, sped up, etc. nothing worked. The last time I used the 4WD was last winter and it worked fine for the last 8 winters. Brought the truck in to the dealer for a diagnose and they came back with a bad front differential 4WD actuator. Total cost $1k (ouch). They had 2.5 hours labor + parts and now it is engaging fine both 4Hi and 4Low but it took a little bit longer to engage than I remembered, like 200 feet or more. So I guess from now on I just have to remember to use 4WD once a month like the manual says. Other then this, my 08 Tacoma never had any issues in the last 8+ years.

 

My Ford had a problem going into 4wd. It was a bad transfer case motor. Pretty easy to replace was a plug and 3 bolts or so. Good thing you have it under warranty. Hopefully easy fix.