Help!!! 4WD light blinking and won't go in 4WD!

Hi, I have a 2007 Toyota Tacoma. When I was in the snow in 2WD my rear tires were spinning very fast then I switched to 4WD high. I then heard a very loud clunk sound and it seemed to lock up and grabbed. But then even though it seemed to be in 4WD the green 4WD dash indicator light was flashing on and off and wouldn't stop. Then I drove a few miles and got close to home before trying to switch it back to 2WD. It did seem like I was in 4WD the few miles home as the roads were very slick and I still seemed to have very good traction as I would expect in 4WD. But the 4WD light kept flashing the whole time. Then after switching back to 2WD and driving in reverse and forward again it seemed to go back into 2WD as it seemed to then have very poor traction on the slick road. But the light still keeps flashing and will not go back into 4WD no matter what I try and do. I've also tried disconnecting the battery to reset the system as well. I've read some other posts and forums and have read a lot about the actuator for other similar sounding scenarios. What do you guys think happened? And how much might I be looking at for repairs? Also I'm a big do-it-yourselfer and can handle some fairly complicated jobs and hope to be able to fix whatever it is on my own. So with that said, is it something I may realistically be able to do on my own to save $? And if so would I need any special tools or knowledge other than just basic auto repair skills? Any help with these questions will be greatly appreciated...

 

Just curious but when you flipped to 4WD did you accidentally go all the way over to 4LO?

 

Put it in neutral before switching to 4LO. Try it.

 

if anything you're going to have to replace the actuator

 

x2.

And next time, don't shift into 4wd with your rear tires spinning and your front tires not. That's very hard on the drive line. Either make sure you're stopped or all tires are turning the same speed before shifting into 4wd.

 

Yea hard lesson learned. I never though anything of it until it happened than it made sense to me why you can't do that. So anyone know the best way to troubleshoot it and determine which one it is? And any idea how hard it might be to do on my own?

 

That's very helpful. And good video. So how come just the one front left tire was spinning? Is that normal due to the front end not having a locking diff or did you have an issue with the right side?

 

I'm pretty sure what he was showing you was the actuator at the front diff did not engage, that's why the other side is not spinning.

 

I have a similar problem, I have a 2012, it has never been in 4x4. I switched to 4hi and the light blinks and it won't go into 4x4, WTF