opinion-did i lose my tcase or?

So i was running errands this morning and while on the back roads I came across somebody that had run off the road. It was extremely icy and there was some traffic so I slowed down and pulled into a driveway to turn around to go help. I attempted to put it into four wheel drive while in the driveway but it just blinked at me. Ive been through this before and the ADD has been finicky lately, especially when its really cold and it has been sitting, but I had used it the night before so I didn't expect it to give me trouble, but it did so whatever. I pulled out and stopped to help but her husband was arriving at the same time and had it under control, I had switched it back into 2wd but didnt realize the light was stll blinking until I had entered onto the freeway and noticed that something didnt feel right, thats when i looked and noticed that it was still blinking and about the same time there was a slight pop and I wasnt able to accelerate. I first looked down to see if the truck was running and it was, it basically felt like i had hit neutral so I pulled over came to a stop, shut it off and turned it back on to reset the 4wd. The light turned off and the tcase shifted and off i went. When i got off the freeway i pulled into a parking lot to test the four wheel drive and it shifted right in as it should, the only problem is it is now making a growling noise and will pop out of gear with a load (I applied the emergency brake partially to test). At this point I obviously quit using the four wheel drive. The crappy thing is i wont have access to my shop for about a week and I'm just looking for opinions on wether it could be the shift motor on the tcase possibly being weak or the tcase being toast or? btw this is a 2006 4.0 auto trans.

 

6spd? Clutch fully pressed down?

Auto? Was truck in neutral?

In the user manual....

 

If you read the post again you'll see I posted that it is an automatic. Tcase had popped into neautral now when four wheel engages there's a grumble as if something is grinding

 

No insight here, but it sounds shitty. T case actuators are known to go, but it usually just doesn't shift.

 

@gearcruncher not sure if you're knowledgeable on Tcases but maybe you can help?

 

Thanks DustStorm .
Had to proof read the OP,s post a couple times .
The light blinks when the front differential actuator is in- between a locked front axle ( 4x4) and an unlocked front axle ( 2WD) .
The voltage message to shift into 4x4 and back into 2 wheel drive is sent from the transfer case shift motor to the front diff actuator .

His explanation of a growling noise and neutral feeling along with a popping noise leads me to believe that the motor on the side of the transfer case has created some grief with the 2hi/4hi synchronizer . Its not uncommon for the shift motor to accidentally not go all the way back into 2wd

To eliminate any mechanical problems , he could remove the transfer case shift motor from the transfer case and manually shift the transfer case by hand to verify the synchronizer is all the way back into the 2 wheel drive position .
This is where I would start . try shifting the Tcase manually between 4x4 and 2 wheel drive
The mileage on the truck , lift kits , does he take the truck swimming , all come into play here .

Got more info here
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/transfer-case-transfer-cases-in-first-and-2nd-gen-trucks.345652/

 

Thanks I'll try that. The truck does have high miles on it, around 300k, it has a total chaos long travel kit, and yes it's been swimming a few times I deff use the truck. I'm going to follow your advice here when I can get to my shop and see what's going on.
If it didn't completely shift all the way in to 2wd and, it was driven that way for let's say 5-8 miles, would that cause damage to the synchronizer?

 

Update-so today I decided to play with it in the driveway and see if it would still shift into four wheel. The light would just blink so I turned it back to 2 wheel, shut it off, starred it, light turned off. I backed out and started to drive and instantly felt the grinding I was only feeling when locked into four wheel drive the previous day.
The thing that is throwing me of is that it feels like it's in the front diff. I brushed the idea off because of the fact that the t case kicked into neutral when it first happened. I crawled under the truck in the driveway and the drive line spins free and the t case doesn't seem to be making any noise when spun by hand. The yoke on the front diff however has some slop in it. I don't know if all of this means anything but I thought I'd throw it out there

 

You can eliminate the front driveshaft . Even if your front driveshaft was completely removed and you selected 4x4 , The front add would still light up the 4x4 light on your dash .
The front differential actuator gets its signal from the transfer case to go into 4x4 or 2 wheel drive , The front differential actuator could care less if the front driveshaft is there or not
Your symptom is grinding and popping into neutral .
2 wheel drive and 4 wheel drive inside the transfer case utilize the same mainshaft .You cant pop out of gear ( neutral ) unless the synchronizer is in between 2 wheel drive and 4x4 inside the transfer case .
Can you get 4 low ? A different synchronizer is used for low range . See if the grinding and popping go away in 4 low
The only mechanical device is the synchronizer hub and its related parts to get the synchronizer moving.
The related parts are the shift hub and fork . The aluminum forks are also known for wear .
When the fork wears down , it causes the synchronizer to partially apply which would cause your grinding and popping problem .
The electric motor on the side of the transfer case is also known to get stuck in between 4 high and 2 high .
Try removing the transfer case shift motor and manually shifting the transfer case into 4x4 and then back into 2 wheel drive paying close attention to the light on your dash when testing .Make sure your ignition is on . You dont need to test with the engine running
Doing the manual test will eliminate the synchronizer if the truck no longer pops and grinds .
Either way , these transfer cases are a dime a dozen . You can pick them dirt cheap on Tacoma World or from a wrecking yard.