ABS sensor - 2WD-4WD shift failure

Driving into town in cold snowy conditions when the dashboard lit up. ABS system failure, check brakes but no check engine light. To make matters worse, 2WD-4WD mode change failure. Took it to the dealership. After 2-1/2 hrs of diagnosing the various sensors, they said it was the sensor on the differential and it would take 3-4 weeks to get one in. It's pretty disturbing to find out that if a sensor, (or the wire harness) fails, one can lose the use of 4WD. It makes me miss my old 1990 Toyota pickup with manual hubs.

My question: does anyone know of a way to over-ride the programming to allow me to use 4WD while waiting for the replacement sensor?

 

One other thing, I can't use cruise control either. Has anyone lost access to ABS, Traction Control, 2WD-4WD selection and cruise control in one event? I would like to hear how it was resolved.

 

you can manually shift the transfer case actuator....it's a pain in the ass though

 

If you really want to eliminate all of the electronic stuff you can put in a manual engagement transfer case out of an fj cruiser.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/fj-case-in-a-3rd-gen-tacoma.571689/

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/4wd-ecu-spoofer-for-fj-transfer-case-install.693450/

 

Not sure about going in/out of 4WD, but a lowly loose gas cap code kills your ability to use cruise control until that fault is cleared.

 

Sounds like a wheel speed issue.

Install a manual shift FJ/4Runner case and do the ADD delete.

 

The EXACT same thing just happened on my 2020 Tacoma TRD Off-road... going to dealership tomorrow to see. Also lost blind-spot monitoring and some other features. Did your repair work out?

 

So if I am driving and encounter some slippery stuff like snow and lose ABS some really smart engineer decided to handicap me further by limiting my ability to get better traction? What other good ideas can they come up with? Maybe when the tire pressure monitor fails it should lock the steering column and flip down the sun visor

 

Same thing with my truck, Taking it to a shop that's smarter than me so i can find out why/what/how. I really hoped/expected better. Like my father says "not mad, just disappointed"

 

The truck uses the ABS sensors to monitor the speed of each wheel in 4x4. It needs to know for the multitude of different traction aid/assist modes these trucks have.

Third gens will set CEL codes for 4x4 mis-operation. So I highly doubt OP's issue was with the ADD. But we'll never know cause he hasnt been on here since his post back in Feb 2022.

 

I had similiar dash illumination on my 2020 OR. Scan tool pointed me to rear right ab sensor, but in my case problem was with faulty bearing , causing sensor to give errors while reading speed

 

Anyone have anything on this? While snow wheeling I had this happen and it's saying right rear abs sensor has an open circuit. Truck is stuck in 4 low so I limped it home and can't drive it till I get it out of 4x4